{{short description|American actor}}
{{Infobox person | name = Peter Chong | birth_name = John Kohnie Kuh | birth_date = December 2, 1898 | birth_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | death_date = {{dda|1985|1|13|1898|12|2}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | education = Oberlin College | occupation = Actor | spouse = {{Plainlist| * {{marriage|Soo Yong|1929|1933|end=div.}} * {{marriage|Eileen Loh|1945}} }} }}
'''Peter Chong''' (born '''John Kohnie Kuh''', and sometimes credited as '''Goo Chong''' or '''Peter Chong Goe'''; December 2, 1898 – January 13, 1985) was a Chinese-American character actor who worked in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=76elDwAAQBAJ&q=%22peter+chong%22+actor&pg=PA1741|title=The Encyclopedia of Best Films: A Century of All the Finest Movies, K-R|last=Nash|first=Jay Robert|date=2019-11-01|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781538134153|language=en}}</ref>
== Biography ==
=== Origins === Chong was born in 1898 at Honolulu, Hawaii.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/421990666/?terms=%22goo+chong%22|title=McClintick May Run Legend on Cut Rates|last=|first=|date=22 Oct 1938|website=The New York Daily News|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> He attended Oberlin College; he eventually earned a master's degree and a PhD.
=== Acting career === He appeared in a number of Broadway productions and had a vaudeville act before going to Hollywood to work in film.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/544871260/?terms=%22goo+chong%22|title=Gossip of the Theatre|last=|first=|date=15 Nov 1928|website=The Standard Union|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.playbill.com/person/peter-chong-goe-vault-0000095290|title=Peter Chong Goe|website=Playbill|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> When he arrived in Los Angeles, he was under contract at Warner Brothers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/52914985/?terms=%22peter+chong%22+actor|title=Theatre|last=Pollack|first=Arthur|date=20 Dec 1946|website=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> He also worked part-time as an interpreter for the Los Angeles Police Department.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/385963325/?terms=%22peter+chong%22+actor|title=Chong in Picture|last=|first=|date=14 May 1953|website=The Los Angeles Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> For much of his career, he was cast in Japanese, Indonesian, and Hawaiian roles — he didn't play a Chinese role until 1953.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/580119825/?terms=%22peter+chong%22|title=Peter Chong Finally Cast as Chinese|last=|first=|date=18 Feb 1953|website=The Valley Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref>
=== Personal life === He and his first wife, Ah He "Soo" Young, had a vaudeville act together.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/320882900/?terms=%22peter+chong%22+actor|title=Chinese Elope!|last=|first=|date=29 Jul 1927|website=The Central New Jersey Home News|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref> His second marriage was to Eileen Loh, a schoolteacher; they had a daughter together named Molly.
== Partial filmography == {{Div col}} *''The Letter'' (1929) - Servant (uncredited) *''Mission to Moscow'' (1943) - Japanese Ambassador Shigemitsu (uncredited) *''Around the World'' (1943) - Mr. Wong (uncredited) *''Up in Arms'' (1944) - Japanese Lieutenant (uncredited) *''The Purple Heart'' (1944) - Mitsuru Toyama *''Betrayal from the East'' (1945) - Capt. Yasuda (uncredited) *''First Yank Into Tokyo'' (1945) - Dr. Kai Koon (uncredited) *''The Beginning or the End'' (1947) - Japanese General (uncredited) *''Intrigue'' (1947) - Editor *''To the Ends of the Earth'' (1948) - Joe (uncredited) *''Easter Parade'' (1948)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MZHPgXgIjfoC&q=%22peter+chong%22+actor&pg=PA3|title=Screening Asian Americans|last1=Feng|first1=Peter X.|last2=Affron|first2=Charles|last3=Affron|first3=Mirella Jona|last4=Lyons|first4=Robert|date=2002|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=9780813530253|language=en}}</ref> - Sam - Don's Valet (uncredited) *''On the Town'' (1949) - Bartender (uncredited) *''The Reformer and the Redhead'' (1950) - Henry - Chinese Cook (uncredited) *''Francis Goes to the Races'' (1951) - Wong, Travers' Servant (uncredited) *''Smuggler's Gold'' (1951) - Boat Captain (uncredited) *''Smuggler's Island'' (1951) - Cajo (uncredited) *''Peking Express'' (1951) - Dining Car Steward (uncredited) *''A Yank in Indo-China'' (1952) - General Wang *''The World in His Arms'' (1952) - Wung Lo (uncredited) *''Target Hong Kong'' (1953) - Mandarin (uncredited) *''Remains to Be Seen'' (1953) - Ling Tan *''South Sea Woman'' (1953) - Woo Ching (uncredited) *''Torch Song'' (1953) - Peter *''Forbidden'' (1953) - Dr. Sing (uncredited) *''Miss Sadie Thompson'' (1953) - Chung (uncredited) *''Hell and High Water'' (1954) - Japanese Eddy (uncredited) *''The Left Hand of God'' (1955) - Fen Tso Lin - Merchant (uncredited) *''Tribute to a Bad Man'' (1956) - Cooky *''The Inn of the Sixth Happiness'' (1958) - Yang *''This Earth Is Mine'' (1959) - Chu *''The Mountain Road'' (1960) - Chinese Colonel {{div col end}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Peter}} Category:1898 births Category:1985 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:Male actors from Jersey City, New Jersey Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:American male actors of Chinese descent
{{US-film-actor-stub}}