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Philip Ahn

Philip Ahn

Birthday: 1905-03-29 | Place of Birth: Highland Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Philip Ahn (born Pil Lip Ahn (안필립), March 29, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was a Korean American actor. He was the first Korean American film actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ahn's first film was A Scream in the Night in 1935. He appeared in the Bing Crosby film Anything Goes, though director Lewis Milestone had initially rejected him because his English was too good for the part. His first credited roles came in 1936 in The General Died at Dawn and Stowaway, opposite Shirley Temple. He starred opposite Anna May Wong in Daughter of Shanghai (1937) and King of Chinatown (1937). During World War II, Ahn often played Japanese villains in war films. Mistakenly thought to be Japanese, he received several death threats. He enlisted in the United States Army, having served in the Special Services as an entertainer. He was discharged early because of an injured ankle and returned to making films. Ahn appeared in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Around the World in Eighty Days, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Paradise, Hawaiian Style, with Elvis Presley. He got to play Korean characters in Korean War movies such as Battle Circus (1953) and Battle Hymn (1956). In 1952, Ahn made his television debut on the Schlitz Playhouse, a series he would make three additional appearances on. Ahn would also be cast in four episodes of ABC's Adventures in Paradise, four episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers crime drama Hawaiian Eye, and the CBS crime drama Hawaii Five-O. He made three appearances each on Crossroads, Bonanza, and M*A*S*H. He would also appear in two television movies. Ahn's most notable television role was as "Master Kan" on the television series Kung Fu. A Presbyterian, Ahn felt that the Taoist homilies his character quoted did not contradict his own religious faith.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1973
Jonathan Livingston Seagull

as    Chang

1972
The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake

as    Mao Tse Tung (uncredited)

1972
Kung Fu

as    Master Kan

1967
Thoroughly Modern Millie

as    Tea

1963
Diamond Head

as    Mr. Immacona

1960
Yesterday's Enemy

as    Yamazuki

1958
Hong Kong Confidential

as    Tan Chung

1955
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing

as    Third Uncle

1954
Hell's Half Acre

as    Roger Kong

1954
His Majesty O'Keefe

as    Sien Tang, Dentist

1953
Target Hong Kong

as    Sin How

1952
Macao

as    Itzumi

1951
I Was an American Spy

as    Capt. Arito

1951
China Corsair

as    Wong San

1949
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture

as    Wong Chung Shee

1948
The Creeper

as    Ah Wong - Restaurant Owner

1948
The Miracle of the Bells

as    Ming Gow

1948
Rogues' Regiment

as    Tran Duy Gian

1947
The Chinese Ring

as    Captain Kong

1947
Intrigue

as    Louie Chin

1945
Back to Bataan

as    Col. Coroki

1945
China Sky

as    Dr. Kim

1945
China's Little Devils

as    Farmer

1945
Betrayal from the East

as    Kato

1943
Behind the Rising Sun

as    Japanese Officer Murdering Takahashi

1943
China

as    Lin Cho

1943
December 7th

as    Shinto Priest (uncredited)

1943
1942
A Yank on the Burma Road

as    Dr. Franklin Ling

1942
China Girl

as    Kai Young