Nathan Jung (November 29, 1946 – April 24, 2021) was an American actor and stuntman. Due to his height, he was usually cast in "heavy" or "enforcer" roles.

Career

Television

Jung played the character of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

on ''

Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...

'' in the episode, "

The Savage Curtain "The Savage Curtain" is the twenty-second episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann (based on an original story by Roddenberry) and directed by He ...

" (1969), an axe-wielding villain named "The Dark Rider" who fought

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...

in the TV series ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

'' on the episode "Arrogant Dragon" (1974), and appeared opposite

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

as a Tong Enforcer in Lee's only pure acting (and non-martial arts) role on the TV show ''

Here Come the Brides ''Here Come the Brides'' is an American comedy Western series from Screen Gems that aired on the ABC television network from September 25, 1968 to April 3, 1970. It was loosely based on Asa Mercer's efforts in the 1860s to import marriageable wom ...

'', in the episode "Marriage, Chinese Style" (1969). Jung also played Saburyo, Helen Funai's cousin on an episode of ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

'' entitled "Home Sweet Home" (1974). Jung has been on a number of other TV shows including ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' (as Won Chu), ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'' (as "Itchy" in the episode "Nightlight" (1976)), ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...

'' (as the Korean Man), ''

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo ''The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo'' is an American action comedy television series that ran on NBC from September 18, 1979, to May 5, 1981. For its second season the show was renamed ''Lobo''. The program aired Tuesday nights, at 8:00p.m. Easte ...

'' (as Kahuna), ''

Manimal ''Manimal'' is an American superhero television series created by Glen A. Larson and Donald R. Boyle, it ran on NBC from September 30 to December 17, 1983. The show centers on the character Jonathan Chase ( Simon MacCorkindale), a shape-shiftin ...

'' (as Tang), ''

Magnum P.I. ''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on th ...

'' (as Yaikra), ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...

'' (as Chi), ''

Falcon Crest ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...

'' (as Chao-Li's cousin), ''

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries ''The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries'' (re-titled ''The Hardy Boys'' for season three) is an American television mystery series based on the ''Hardy Boys'' and ''Nancy Drew'' juvenile novels. The series, which ran from January 30, 1977, to Janu ...

'' (as Cho-Lin), ''

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

'' (as the henchman "Mongol" that goes toe-to-toe against

Fred Dryer John Frederick Dryer (born July 6, 1946) is an American actor, radio host, screenwriter and former professional football player. He was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 years, participating in 176 games starting in ...

), ''

Riptide A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal flo ...

'' (as Kona,

Al Leong Albert Leong (born September 30, 1952), also known as Al "Ka Bong" Leong, is an American stuntman and actor. Characterized by his martial arts skills (including Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Kali, and Jujutsu), long wavy hair, and a pro ...

's colleague), ''

Joe Forrester ''Joe Forrester'' is an American crime/drama television series, starring Lloyd Bridges as a uniformed foot patrol officer in a run-down neighborhood of Los Angeles. Patricia Crowley co-starred as Georgia Cameron, Joe's romantic interest. Former N ...

'', and ''

The New Mike Hammer ''Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer'' (later titled ''The New Mike Hammer''), with Stacy Keach in the title role, is an American crime drama television series that originally aired on CBS from January 28, 1984, to May 13, 1987. The series consisted ...

''. Jung has also appeared in the TV shows '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' (in two episodes - "Chi of Steel" (1995) and "Illusions of Grandeur" (1994) - as "Jzuk-Mao"), ''

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...

'' (as the villain Wen in the ''Martial Law'' pilot episode, "Shanghai Express" (1998)), as well as ''

Highway to Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth in order t ...

'' (as Yoji), '' Burke's Law'', '' Dear John'' and ''

Tour of Duty For military personnel, a tour of duty is usually a period of time spent in combat or in a hostile environment. In an army, for instance, soldiers on active duty serve 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the length of their service commitment. ...

''.

Film

Jung has acted in the films ''

Surf Ninjas ''Surf Ninjas'' is a 1993 American family comedy film involving martial arts, directed by Neal Israel and written by Dan Gordon. The film stars Ernie Reyes Jr., Rob Schneider, Nicolas Cowan and Leslie Nielsen. ''Surf Ninjas'' follows two teenage ...

'' (as

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (11 February 192628 November 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. Nielsen was bo ...

's henchman, Manchu), as the henchman Bulkus in

John Landis John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American comedy and fantasy filmmaker and actor. He is best known for the comedy films that he has directed – such as ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' (1977), ''Animal House, National Lampoon's Animal ...

's first film, ''

Kentucky Fried Movie ''The Kentucky Fried Movie'' is a 1977 American independent sketch comedy film, produced by Kim Jorgensen, Larry Kostroff, and Robert K. Weiss, and directed by John Landis. Among the numerous star cameos are George Lazenby, Bill Bixby, Henry G ...

'' (as Bulkus in the ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'' spoof segment entitled '' A Fistful of Yen''), as The Wing Kong Hatchet Man in ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong. ...

'', as the Bonsai Club Manager in ''

Showdown in Little Tokyo ''Showdown in Little Tokyo'' is a 1991 American buddy cop action film directed by Mark L. Lester, who also produced with Martin E. Caan. The film stars Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee; it was the latter's first American film role. The film was rele ...

'' (speaking a line of dialogue in Japanese to stars

Dolph Lundgren Hans Lundgren (, ; born 3 November 1957), better known as Dolph Lundgren, is a Swedish actor, filmmaker and martial artist. His breakthrough came in 1985, when he starred in ''Rocky IV'' as the imposing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. Since then, Lu ...

and

Brandon Lee Brandon Bruce Lee (February 1, 1965 – March 31, 1993) was an American actor and martial artist. Establishing himself as a rising action star in the early 1990s, he landed his breakthrough role as Eric Draven in the dark fantasy film ''The ...

, making him one of the few actors to appear in movies or TV shows alongside both

and his son

), and also appeared in films such as

Sam Raimi Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Spider-Man (2002 film series), ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007) and the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present). He also directed the 1 ...

's ''

Darkman ''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is br ...

'' (as the Chinese Warrior), ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'' (as the Tibetan Kidnapper), ''

American Yakuza ''American Yakuza'' is a 1993 American crime film directed by Frank Cappello and starring Viggo Mortensen, Ryo Ishibashi, Michael Nouri, Franklyn Ajaye, Yuji Okumoto, Anzu Lawson, and Robert Forster. The screenplay by John Allen Nelson and Max ...

'' (as The Big Yakuza), ''

Beverly Hills Ninja ''Beverly Hills Ninja'' is a 1997 American martial arts comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Mark Feldberg and Mitch Klebanoff. The film stars Chris Farley, Nicollette Sheridan, Nathaniel Parker, with Chris Rock, and Robin Shou. The m ...

'' (as the Fisherman), ''

Corvette Summer ''Corvette Summer'' is a 1978 American adventure comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins. It was Mark Hamill's first screen appearance after the unexpected success of ''Star Wars'' the previous year. Hamill stars as a California teenager who head ...

'' (as the bouncer that roughs up

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards f ...

's character), ''Longshot'' (as Odd Job) and more. Jung has also acted in Asian American independent films such as

Justin Lin Justin Lin (, born October 11, 1971) is a Taiwanese Americans, Taiwanese-American film director. His films have grossed US$2.3 billion worldwide as of March 2017. He is best known for his directorial work on ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002), the ...

's ''

Finishing The Game ''Finishing the Game'' is a 2007 mockumentary film directed by Justin Lin focusing on Bruce Lee's final movie ''Game of Death'' (1972), which was unfinished at the time of his death. Shot in 18 days,''Finishing the Game'' comically satirizes the ...

'' (as Bob, the Nazi villain that faces off against

Roger Fan Roger Fan (born August 11, 1972) is a Taiwanese-American film, theater, and television actor best known for his collaborations with Justin Lin and his appearances in the films '' Annapolis'', '' Finishing the Game'' and '' Better Luck Tomorrow''. ...

's Breeze Loo) in the "Fists of Fuhrer" segment that was directed by

Evan Jackson Leong Evan Jackson Leong (or Evan Leong) is a director and documentary filmmaker. Leong is likely most known for his documentary '' Linsanity'' about Jeremy Lin, which made its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He has also directed th ...

(Director of the film '' Linsanity: The Movie'') and

Juwan Chung Juwan Chung (born 1983) is an American director and writer. His gangland film ''Baby'' won a Special Jury Prize for Best Feature, Narrative at the 2007 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and lead Actor David Huynh won a Special Jury Prize at ...

's ''

Baby An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

'' (as the Restaurant Guy in a scene opposite

David Huynh David Huynh (born February 5, 1983) is a Canadian actor. Early life Huynh was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, briefly studied at the University of Manitoba focusing on a major in theater and a minor in film studies. Huynh continue ...

, who played the title character). Jung also appears as himself, the narrator, in

Timothy Tau Timothy Tau (born Timothy Tau Hsieh ( ); Chinese: 謝韜; pinyin: Xiè Tāo) is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 ''Hyphen magazine, Hyphen'' Asian American Writers' Workshop Short St ...

's short documentary, ''Nathan Jung v.

'', where he recounts the first time he met

(played by Jason Yee) on the set of the TV show ''

'' in 1969 and with Allen Rowe portraying a younger version of him in narrative flashbacks; the film also won a Best Original Script and Best Comedy award at the 2018 Asians on Film Festival and has screened at the 2019

Seattle Asian American Film Festival The Seattle Asian American Film Festival was founded in 1985 and has been revived over the years by different producers. The current iteration was founded in 2012 and made its debut in 2013 by co-founders Kevin Bang and Vanessa Au. It is a reviva ...

, the 2018 Taiwanese American Film Festival and the 2018

Vancouver Asian Film Festival The Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia for about 4–5 days in November. Launching in 1996, it is Canada’s oldest Asian film festival, exhibiting films and videos by North Ameri ...

. Upon Jung's death on April 24, 2021, ''Nathan Jung v. Bruce Lee'' was shared and his death was covered by outlets including ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

'', ''

SyFy Wire Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

'', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (UK), ''

The Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

'' (UK), ''

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

'',News.com.au, Star Trek actor Nathan Jung dies aged 74, https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/star-trek-actor-nathan-jung-dies-aged-74/news-story/49c6a57b858c65827b3524607a0361d8 ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', ''

NY Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Ta ...

'', ''

Heavy.com Heavy is a news aggregation platform based in New York City. It operates through its flagship website, Heavy.com, and Spanish-language platform, AhoraMismo.com. The website specializes in "5 Fast Facts" posts, which aggregate facts about trending ...

'', ''

Yahoo! Lifestyle Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

'', ''Daily Star Trek News'', ''Comicbook.com'', ''Outsider'', ''AsAm News'', ''iHorror'', ''Giant Freakin Robot'' and more.

Personal life

Jung died in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on April 24, 2021, at the age of 74.

Selected filmography

Film

Assorted TV Roles

References

External links

*
Nathan Jung Filmography
on

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jung, Nathan 1946 births 2021 deaths American male actors of Chinese descent Male actors from Bakersfield, California