Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'',

Julie Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

sitcom ''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'', Dot in the final season of ''

Grace Under Fire ''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her ...

'', and the voices for

Amy Wong This article lists the many characters of ''Futurama,'' an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a ...

in ''

Futurama ''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...

'', Dana Tan in ''

Batman Beyond ''Batman Beyond'' (known as ''Batman of the Future'' outside the United States) is an American superhero animated television series developed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation in collaborati ...

'', Jinx and Gizmo in ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' and ''

Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics fictional superhero team. The series was announce ...

'', Minh and Connie Souphanousinphone in ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It aired its original non-syndicated run from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, and centers on the Hills, an Am ...

'', and Numbuh 3 in '' Codename: Kids Next Door''. She portrayed Celia Mack in the Disney Channel series ''

Andi Mack ''Andi Mack'' is an American family comedy-drama television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on April 7, 2017. It ran for three seasons and 57 episodes, concluding on July 26, 2019. The series stars Peyton Elizabet ...

'' and also played Mrs. Tran in the CW series ''

Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

''.

Early life

Tom was born in the Chicago suburb of

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located o ...

,Tom in the daughter of Nancy (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Dare) and Chan Tom, Jr. She has a brother named Chip. Their parents were born in Chicago, and their grandparents came from

Kaiping Kaiping (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Hoiping, is a county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. It is located ín the western section of the Pearl River Delta and administered as part of the prefecture-level city of Jiangmen. ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Raised in Highland Park, she grew up as a Catholic in a largely Jewish neighborhood.

Career

Theatre

At the age of 17, Tom landed a spot with a touring company of ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...

'' and was cast in the Broadway production of the show less than a year later in the role of Connie. She won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

for her Off-Broadway acting and was cast in the Broadway shows ''

Hurlyburly ''Hurlyburly'' is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984. The title refers to dialogue from Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''. Plot ''Hurlyburly'' depicts the intersecting lives of several low-to-mid-level Hollywood players in the 198 ...

'' and ''

Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...

''. In Chicago she starred in the

Goodman Theater Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the lan ...

's production of '' 'Tis Pity She's a Whore''.

Film

Tom had several small roles in movies including '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', ''

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

'', '' See No Evil, Hear No Evil'', and '' Blue Steel''. Her biggest role up until that point was as a waitress in the

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film ''The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and has won an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards for his role ...

film ''

Cadillac Man ''Cadillac Man'' is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Robin Williams and Tim Robbins. The plot of the film centers on car salesman Joey O'Brien (Williams) whose life is consumed by turmoil, which all comes ...

''. This role led to being a guest on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

''. Tom landed a lead role in the film '' The Joy Luck Club'' in 1993, which led to roles in other films such as '' When a Man Loves a Woman'' and ''

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

''. Since the mid-1990s, Tom has focused primarily on voiceover roles. She has appeared in a few live-action films, including the 2003 comedy ''

Bad Santa ''Bad Santa'' is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy film directed by Terry Zwigoff and written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, with a supporting cast of Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, Joh ...

'' and the critically acclaimed 2004 film '' In Good Company''.

Television

Lauren Tom's first role in television was that of Miko Wakamatsu on '' The Facts of Life''. She subsequently appeared on '' The Equalizer'', ''Catfish With Black Bean Sauce'', ''

thirtysomething ''Thirtysomething'' is an American drama television series created by Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz for United Artists Television (under MGM/UA Television) and aired on ABC from September 29, 1987, to May 28, 1991."The 'don't trust any ...

'', ''

Quantum Leap ''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a phys ...

'', '' Chicago Hope'', '' Homicide: Life on the Street'', ''

'', ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish fashionista from Flushing, Queens, New York, who becomes the nanny of three ch ...

'', '' The Middle'', '' DAG'', ''

The Division ''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The ...

'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', ''

My Wife and Kids ''My Wife and Kids'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from March 28, 2001, to May 17, 2005. The series was produced by Touchstone Television. It starred Damon Wayans as Michael Kyle, the patriarch of an African-American family. Wayans and v ...

'', '' Barbershop: The Series'', ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'', ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an Television in the United States, American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department Chief of police#United States, deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator o ...

'', and ''

Men in Trees ''Men in Trees'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series starring Anne Heche as relationship coach Marin Frist, which premiered on September 12, 2006, on ABC. The series is set in the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska, and concerns M ...

''. She also had a supporting role on the 8th and 9th season of the drama series ''

'' as prophet Kevin Tran's mother, Linda Tran. In 2018, she appeared in the second season of the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

drama series '' Goliath''.

Voice acting

Tom began vocal work in the animated series '' Superman: The Animated Series'' playing Angela Chen. From there on, she voiced

Dana Tan Batman (Terrence "Terry" McGinnis Wayne) is a fictional superhero appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and first appeared in the pilot episode of the animated television series '' ...

in ''

'' and had minor roles on ''

Pinky and the Brain ''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and the fourth col ...

'', ''

Extreme Ghostbusters ''Extreme Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series based on the ''Ghostbusters'' franchise. It is a spin-off to the animated series '' The Real Ghostbusters''. The series originally aired on the syndicated Bohbot Kids Network's ...

'', and ''

The Zeta Project ''The Zeta Project'' is an American science fiction animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It first aired on Kids' WB in January 2001. It is a spin-off series based on the character Zeta from the '' Batman Beyond'' episo ...

'' before landing her regular roles on ''

'', where she voiced Minh and Connie Souphanousinphone and later ''

'', where she voices Amy and Inez Wong. Since first playing the character on stage in the 1983 Doonesbury musical, Tom has periodically voiced the character

Honey Huan The comic strip ''Doonesbury'', by Garry Trudeau, features an extensive cast of characters with complex interpersonal relationships; as of 2018, the strip's official website lists twenty-four primary characters, with dozens more having been feat ...

in media related to

, most notably in a series of animated shorts satirizing the 2000 U.S. presidential election. She has also lent her voice to '' All Grown Up!'', '' Rocket Power'', ''

Max Steel Max Steel is a line of action figures produced and owned by the toy company Mattel since 1999. The original figures based on the first TV series were similar to the original 12-inch G.I. Joe toys, consisting almost entirely of different versi ...

'', ''

Handy Manny ''Handy Manny'' is a CGI-animated children's television series that premiered with its first two episodes consecutively on Saturday, September 16, 2006, originally as part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block. On Valentine's Day 2011, th ...

'' as Mrs. Lee and Nelson, ''

Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...

'', ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...

'', ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is a 2004–2006 American superhero animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and ...

'', '' Kim Possible'', and ''

Legion of Super Heroes The Legion of Super-Heroes is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the Legion is a group of superpowered beings living in the 30th and 31st cent ...

''. She has also voiced the villains Gizmo and

Jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeent ...

on ''

'', Yan Lin, Susan, Alchemy on ''

W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...

'', Tasumi on '' The Replacements'', Jake's mom, Counselor Chang on '' American Dragon: Jake Long'', and as Joo Dee on ''

Avatar: The Last Airbender ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' (abbreviated as ''ATLA''), also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Aang'' in some regions or simply ''Avatar'', is an American anime-influenced animated television series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and ...

''. She also guest-starred in ''

The Penguins of Madagascar ''The Penguins of Madagascar'' is an American computer-animated television series co-produced by DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon. It stars nine characters from DreamWorks' animated film ''Madagascar'': the penguins Skipper ( Tom McGrath), ...

'' as Chuck Charles's co-anchor, Bonnie Chang, in "Gator Watch" and "All Tied Up With a Boa". In 2010, she did the voice of Song, Bai Li, and Ming on the animated series, '' Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness'' and also played the role of Jessica in the animated film, ''

Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare ''Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare'' is a 2010 direct-to-DVD animated comedy horror-mystery film; the fifteenth direct-to-video film based upon the ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoon, and was released on September 14, 2010. The film was released seven m ...

''. Other animated movies Tom has voiced include ''

Mulan II ''Mulan II'' is a 2004 American direct-to-video animated musical adventure film produced by the Japanese office of Disneytoon Studios. It is directed by Darrell Rooney and Lynne Southerland. It is a sequel to the 1998 theatrically-released Di ...

'', '' Kim Possible: The Secret Files'', '' Kim Possible Movie: So The Drama'', ''

Kung Fu Panda 2 ''Kung Fu Panda 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is the sequel to ''Kung Fu Panda'' (2008) and the second installment in the ''K ...

'', '' Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'', and the four ''Futurama'' movies: '' Bender's Big Score'', ''

The Beast with a Billion Backs ''Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs'' is a 2008 American direct-to-video adult animated science-fiction comedy- adventure film based on the animated series '' Futurama'', and the second of four straight-to-DVD films that make up the show's ...

'', ''

Bender's Game ''Futurama: Bender's Game'' is a 2008 American direct-to-video adult animated science fantasy comedy film and the third of the four '' Futurama'' films that make up the show's fifth season. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 4, 2008. ...

'', and ''

Into the Wild Green Yonder ''Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder'' is a 2009 American direct-to-video adult animated science fiction comedy- adventure film based on the animated series '' Futurama'', and the fourth and final of the direct-to-DVD films that make up the show' ...

''. She voiced Li Li Stormstout in '' World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria'' and played Hayaku on an episode of '' Turbo FAST''.

Personal life

Tom was previously married to Glenn Lau-Kee. She has since remarried actor Curt Kaplan. Tom and Kaplan have two sons.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tom, Lauren 1961 births Living people Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Los Angeles American actresses of Chinese descent American film actresses American people of Chinese descent American stage actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses Obie Award recipients 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Catholics from Illinois