Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film '' Stony Island'', and in 1981 starred in the fantasy film ''

Quest for Fire ''Quest for Fire'' may refer to: * '' The Quest for Fire'', a 1911 novel by J. H. Rosny * ''Quest for Fire'' (film), a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 novel * "Quest for Fire", a song by Iron Maiden from 1983's ''Piece of Mind ''Piece of Min ...

'', for which she received Genie Award for Best Actress. Chong later starred in films ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...

'' (1984), '' American Flyers'' (1985), ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (1985), ''

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'' (1985), '' Soul Man'' (1986), ''

The Principal ''The Principal'' is a 1987 crime thriller action film starring Jim Belushi, Louis Gossett Jr. and Rae Dawn Chong. Written by Frank Deese and directed by Christopher Cain, it was filmed in Oakland, California, and at Northgate High School in ...

'' (1987), ''

Tales from the Darkside ''Tales from the Darkside'' is an American anthology horror TV series created by George A. Romero. Debuting in October 1983 with a pilot episode and then being picked up for syndication in September 1984, the show ran for 4 seasons through Ju ...

'' (1990), '' Time Runner'' (1993), and ''

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

'' (1994). She is the daughter of comedian and actor

Tommy Chong Thomas B. Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, musician, activist. He is known for his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, as well as playing the character Leo on Fox's ' ...

Early life

Chong was born on February 28, 1961, in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, the first daughter of actor/comedian

. Her father is of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and Scots-Irish descent and her birth mother, Gail Lewis, was of Black Canadian descent. Her sister

Robbi Chong Robbi Lynn Chong (born May 28, 1965) is a Canadian actress and former model. Early life Chong was born on May 28, 1965, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the second daughter of Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong, an actor, comedian, director and write ...

, by Maxine Sneed, is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers (one adopted) and a half-sister by their father's second wife. In addition to Rae Dawn, two of her sisters and her adopted brother

Marcus Chong Marcus Scott Chong (né Wyatt; born July 8, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for playing Miguel Mendez in the short-lived crime drama, ''Street Justice'' (1991–1993), real-life activist Huey P. Newton in ''Panther'' (1995), directed by ...

have pursued acting careers. Chong has said that her paternal grandfather left a poor village in

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 ...

in the 1930s to live with an aunt in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, where Chinese immigrants were mostly sequestered in a small area due to racial discrimination, and that although he spoke

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

, he refused to teach it to his children or grandchildren. She said, "I think my grandfather had great racial shame, which was hard on us growing up. ... We grew up desperate to know anything about our Chinese culture." Later in life, though, her grandfather "saw the error of his ways and embraced his heritage."Pratt, Paul E
"Growing Up a Chong"
, ''AsianWeek'', 18 November 2005.

Career

After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was ''

'' (1981), for which she won the

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Other notable roles have been in the films ''

Choose Me ''Choose Me'' is a 1984 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Alan Rudolph, starring Geneviève Bujold, Keith Carradine, and Lesley Ann Warren. The film is a look at sex and love in 1980s Los Angeles centered around a dive ...

'' (1984), ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (1985), and ''

'' (1985). She appeared with her father in '' Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers'' (1984) and '' Far Out Man'' (1990). In 1985, Chong played the love interest in

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

's video " Just Another Night". At 19 years old,

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for playing Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015). He also appeared in The WB drama series ''Everwood'' (2002–2006) an ...

was waiting tables at the

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Bubba Gump Shrimp Company is an American seafood restaurant chain inspired by the 1994 film ''Forrest Gump''. As of October 2022, thirty-four Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurants operate worldwide. Twenty-two of these locations are in the United ...

restaurant in Maui when he was scouted by Chong; she cast him in her directorial debut, the short horror film ''Cursed Part 3'', which was filmed 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' ...

in 2000. On television, Chong starred opposite Adrian Pasdar in the science fiction drama series '' Mysterious Ways'' from 2000 to 2002. later she starred in the first season of Lifetime comedy-drama series '' Wild Card'' opposite

Joely Fisher Joely Fisher ( /ˈdʒoʊˌli/ born October 29, 1967) is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Cl ...

. She returned to television appearing in two episodes of '' Better Things'' in 2016, and two episodes of ''

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

'' (2018-19). In 2021, she played

Betty Currie Betty Grace Currie (née Williams; born November 10, 1939) is an American government official who served as the personal secretary for Bill Clinton during his tenure as president of the United States. She became well known as a figure in the Lew ...

in the FX series '' Impeachment: American Crime Story''. In 2021, Chong was honored with the "Invisible Woman Award" from the

Women Film Critics Circle The Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC) is a film critics Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in ...

for "Supporting performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored" for her performance in the drama film ''The Sleeping Negro''. In 2022, Chong portrayed Florence de Pointe du Lac in the

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** ...

series ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

''.

Personal life

Chong married Owen Bayliss, a stockbroker, and they had a son named Morgan. They divorced in 1982.Rae Dawn Chong Biography (1961-)
JRank, Film Reference, accessed 10 May 2017 In 1989, she married actor

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

, her co-star in the feature film ''Soul Man''. They divorced in 1990. In 2011, Chong married Nathan Ulrich (one of the founders of

Xootr Xootr (pronounced "zoo-ter") is a manufacturer of folding kick scooters and was formerly a seller of folding bicycles. Xootr scooters are characterized by 180 mm wheels with aluminum hubs, and a hand brake for the front wheel (for the rear o ...

). They divorced in 2014.

Pop culture references

Chong has a song named after her titled "Raedawn", the eighth track of ''

Vaudeville Villain ''Vaudeville Villain'' is the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer MF DOOM, released on September 16, 2003 under the pseudonym of Viktor Vaughn. All of the tracks are produced by Sound-Ink record label members Heat Sensor, King ...

'', the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer

MF DOOM Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

, released under the alias Viktor Vaughn. He confirms the reference in his lyrics "New drink, named it after Chong daughter".New drink, named it after Chong daughter
. Comedian Stephen Lynch also has a song about Chong—"R.D.C. (Opie's Lament)"—as the 12th track on his 2000 debut album ''

A Little Bit Special A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

''. In the television show '' Psych'', the main characters Shawn and Gus have a "bi-annual Rae Dawn Chong marathon".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Rae Dawn 1961 births Living people 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Actresses from Edmonton Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Black Canadian actresses Canadian child actresses Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian film actresses Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of French descent Canadian people of Ulster-Scottish descent Canadian television actresses