Leo Fong

Background

Fong has a bachelor of arts degree in physical education, a masters of theology degree as well as a degree in social work.

Early years

Fong was born in the Xinhui district of the city of Jiangmen, located in the province of Canton, China in 1928. At the age of five, he arrived in Seattle, Washington with his parents and siblings, where they were detained for a time, as was common with immigrants from Asia. Upon being released in Seattle, the family traveled overland to Chicago, where Leo's maternal uncle owned a restaurant, and where his father had been guaranteed work. After enough time working at the restaurant, Leo's father Richard had saved enough money to purchase a small grocery store in the tiny agricultural community of Widener, Arkansas. After suffering racial taunts at school, going home telling his father and finding out what they actually meant and then later suffering further racial taunts, he got into a fight at school and he was unfairly punished by a teacher. At age 12 he bought a book called The Fundamentals of Boxing by Barney Ross. He studied the book from cover to cover and learned how to defend himself from bullies. He took up boxing at age 15. Having a knock out punch, his amateur record was 18–7.

His entry into eastern martial arts began in the 1950s with judo and jiu jitsu. Through the years he studied and practiced various martial arts styles to the point where he developed his own style called Wei Kune Do.

He was a friend of famed martial artist Bruce Lee and managed to have a sparring session with him. Fong appeared on the cover of the 10th anniversary edition of Black Belt magazine. Bruce Lee arranged it. At first Fong was reluctant to appear on the cover, but Lee insisted. Fong asked him why and Lee said that it would be cool to have a minister and martial arts expert on the cover.

1970s to 1990s

The first film in which he acted was Murder In The Orient (1974), a Filipino martial arts exploitation film that co-starred Ronald L. Marchini and also featured Eva Reyes and Rodolfo 'Boy' Garcia. In 1975 he starred in Bamboo Trap with Filipino actors George Estregan, Chanda Romero, Eddie Garcia, Rez Cortez and martial arts cult hero Ron van Clief.

Since the late '70s as well as being the main actor in films, he has branched out into writing, directing, and producing films. Some of his films in the seventies to mid-'80s featured the same stock of actors, Cameron Mitchell, Hope Holiday and Stack Pierce.

2000s

A more recent film of his is Transformed, a 2005 film with a somewhat Christian theme and anti-drug message that featured Tadashi Yamashita and Fred Williamson. This was the second time that he had appeared in a film with Williamson. The first was Blind Rage, a 1978 film about a gang of blind men that rob a bank. As well as acting in Transformed, he also directed and produced it, composed the theme song and was involved in the editing. His latest film work includes Drifter TKD, a 2008 film in which he played Master Lee and The Last Musketeer 2009 which he produced. Also in the 2000s Fong has played the part of a reporter in Office Paranormal that also stars Shalim Ortiz and Robert Miano.

Characters

James Long first appeared in the Frank Harris directed 1984 film Killpoint. L.A based Long teams up with an FBI agent (played by Richard Rowntree) in hunting down the men that sole weapons from the National Guard armory, and stop them from selling them to street gangs. Long appeared again in the 1993 film Showdown which was about a Mafia retirement village called Sanctuary which is invaded by a biker gang. Werner Hoetzinger, Michelle McCormick, Richard Lynch and Troy Donahue also appear in the film.

In 1986, Joe Wong first appeared in another Frank Harris directed 1986 film, Low Blow, that also starred Cameron Mitchell, Stack Pierce and Diane Stevenett. He was a San Francisco based PI, operating from his untidy office. His mission in that film was to rescue a young heiress from a strange religious cult. Wong reappeared in the 1986 film Blood Street which Fong co-directed with George Chung. His services are requested by a woman requests his services by a woman who walks into his office one day. She needs Wong to find her missing husband Aldo. Wong embarks on a journey though the world of the criminal. Along the way he encounters a father and son team of Solomon and Bones, played by Stack Pierce and Chuck Jeffreys. Wong appeared a third time in Hard Way Heroes that also starred Patrick Johnson , Joseph Guinan and Mel Novak.

Selected filmography

Actor

Fighting Style

Wei Kune Do (Way of the Integrated Fist): A complete system based on its roots in Jeet Kune Do, Serrada Escrima, Western Boxing, Choy Lay Fut, Northern Shaolin, Wrestling, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Judo, Jujutsu, Arnis, and Wing Chun.