Frank Tang (born Dai Jung Tong) was a Chinese-American character actor, filmmaker, community leader, and restaurateur who was best-known for directing the 1936 Cantonese-language film ''
Sum Hun''.
Biography
Frank was born in San Francisco into a big Chinese-American family. His parents, Yee Tong and Wong Shee, were immigrants. His brother
Kam Tong would also become an actor.
He began his career in Hollywood in the late 1920s, and he got a rare chance to work as a director in 1936, when he teamed up with
Bruce Wong and
Esther Eng
Esther Eng ( – January 25, 1970), born Ng Kam-ha, was a Cantonese–American film director and the first female director to direct Chinese-language films in the United States. Eng made four feature films in America, and five in Hong Kong.Wei, 20 ...
to make the Cantonese-language American film ''
Sum Hun''. He'd appear in over a dozen films afterward in smaller roles, in addition to serving as a technical advisor.
Later in life, he owned and operated a restaurant called Tang's in Los Angeles's Chinatown neighborhood.
He died in 1968 at the age of 62 after an illness, and was survived by his wife, Birdie, and several siblings.
Selected filmography
As director:
* ''
Sum Hun'' (1936)
As actor:
*''
The Hunters The Hunters may refer to:
In film
* ''The Hunters'' (1957 film), an anthropological film directed by Robert Gardner and John Marshall
* ''The Hunters'' (1958 film), an adaptation of the James Salter novel, starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagne ...
'' (1958)
*''
The Lineup'' (1958)
*''
The Seventh Sin'' (1957)
*''
Soldier of Fortune'' (1955)
*''
God Is My Co-Pilot'' (1945)
*''
Objective, Burma!'' (1945)
*''
Dragon Seed'' (1944)
*''
The Purple Heart'' (1944)
*''
Destination Tokyo
''Destination Tokyo'' is a 1943 black and white American submarine war film. The film was directed by Delmer Daves in his directorial debut,McGee, Scott"Articles: 'Destination Tokyo' (1944)."''TCM.com'', 2019. Retrieved: August 15, 2019. and th ...
'' (1943)
*''
The Man from Down Under
''The Man from Down Under'' is an American 1943 drama film starring Charles Laughton as a man who raises two war orphans.
It was called "Hollywood's first full-length film dealing exclusively with Australia and Australians".
Plot
After the end ...
'' (1943)
*''
Salute to the Marines'' (1943)
*''
We've Never Been Licked'' (1943)
*''
West of Shanghai'' (1937)
*''
The Leathernecks Have Landed'' (1936)
*''
The Great Divide'' (1929)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang, Frank
American film directors
American male film actors
American male actors of Chinese descent
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from San Francisco
American film directors of Chinese descent
1905 births
1968 deaths