Kim Chan (December 28, 1917 – October 5, 2008) was a Chinese–American actor and producer. He was most notable for his roles as Lo Si, a.k.a. The Ancient, in Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Mr. Kim in The Fifth Element.
Early life, family and education
Kim Shung Chan was born in Guangdong, then under the government of the Republic of China. His father was a restaurant owner. Kim Chan emigrated to the US in 1928.
Career
Chan was a familiar character actor, especially when he was elderly. An early role that brought him notice was in the Martin Scorsese classic The King of Comedy with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis, in which he played Lewis' butler.
He played the character Lo Si a.k.a. The Ancient in 52 episodes of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues from 1993 thru 1997. He also played the villainous monk Ping Hai on the TV series. The series was a revised version of the original 1973 classic, Kung Fu with both series starring David Carradine. He played the recurring villain The Eggman in four episodes of the science fiction TV series Now and Again. He appeared in many guest roles in series, including Mad About You (1998), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2002), and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2004).
Other film roles include Uncle Benny Chan in Lethal Weapon 4(1998), the father of Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) in Shanghai Knights(2003), Mr. Kim in The Fifth Element (1997), Fuji in Who's the Man? (1993), Benny Wong in The Corruptor(1999), The Master in Zen Noir (2004), and a cameo appearance as a waiter in Private Parts (1997). He was also a producer on Zen Noir.
He was featured in a photography exhibit when he was in his 90s. In October 2009, a year after his death, Chan appeared on the cover of the journal The Gerontologist beside his photography portrait.
Honors and awards
In November 1999, the Screen Actors Guild presented Chan with an award for lifetime achievement. He received another award for lifetime achievement in August 2004 at the Rhode Island International Film Festival.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
- Kim Chan at IMDb
- Kim Chan's obituary (in Chinese)
- The Low Rent Kim Chan Fan Club
- Sole, Magdalena. "A Zen Tale". TransImage. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- Lin, Thomas (19 June 2007). "A Tough Act I, but the Second Has Some Funny Bits". Newspaper Article. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- Grimes, William. "Kim Chan, Who Had Roles in TV and 'King of Comedy,' Is Dead". Nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-07-18.
- Lennon, Sheila. "Time Lapse Blog". Blog. Providence Journal. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
