Rae Dawn Chong


Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress best known for her roles in the films Quest for Fire, Beat Street, The Color Purple and Commando, Boulevard and Time Runner. She is the daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong.

Early life

Chong was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the first daughter of comedian/actor Tommy Chong. Her father is of Chinese and Scots-Irish descent and her birth mother, Gail Lewis, was of Black Canadian descent. Her half-sister Robbi Chong, by Maxine Sneed, is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers 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 have pursued acting careers.
Chong has said that her paternal grandfather left a poor village in China in the 1930s to live with an aunt in Vancouver, where Chinese immigrants were mostly sequestered in a small area due to racial discrimination, and that although he spoke Cantonese, 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." However, later in life, her grandfather "saw the error of his ways and embraced his heritage."

Career

After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was Quest for Fire, for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Other notable roles have been in the films Choose Me, Beat Street, The Color Purple, and Commando. She appeared with her father in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers, and Far Out Man.
Her most active period in films was during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. She has continued working in television and film. She was considered for the role of Anne Lindsey in .
Chong played the love interest in Mick Jagger's video "Just Another Night".
At 19 years old, Chris Pratt was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company 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.

Personal life

Chong married Owen Bayliss, a stockbroker, and they had a son named Morgan. They divorced in 1982. In 1989, she married actor C. Thomas Howell, her co-star in the feature film Soul Man. They divorced in 1990. In 2011, Chong married Nathan Ulrich. They divorced in 2014.

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978Stony IslandJanetta
1981Quest for FireIka
1984Choose MePearl Antoine
1984Cheech & Chong's The Corsican BrothersThe Gypsy
1984Beat StreetTracy Carlson
1984Fear CityLeila
1985City LimitsYogi
1985American FlyersSarah
1985CommandoCindy
1985The Color PurpleSqueak
1986Soul ManSarah Walker
1987Running Out of LuckSlave Girl
1987The SqueezeRachel Dobs
1987The PrincipalHilary Orozco
1988Walking After Midnight
1989Rude AwakeningMarlene
1990'CarolaSegment: "Lover's Vow"
1990Far Out ManHerself
1990ChaindanceIlene Curtis
1990DenialJulie
1990AmazonPaola
1991The BorrowerDiana Pierce
1992NitecapHost
1993When the Party's OverM.J.
1993Time RunnerKaren Donaldson
1994BoulevardOla
1994BocaJ.J.
1995Power of AttorneyJoan Armstrong
1995Crying FreemanDetective Forge
1995The BreakJennifer Hudson
1995HideawayRose Orwetto
1996StarlightArianna
1996Mask of DeathCassandra Turner
1997HighballHerself
1997Goodbye AmericaDanzig
1998Small TimeThe Woman
1999Dangerous AttractionAnn Rich
2000The VisitFelicia
2005ConstellationJenita
2006'Sister Caroline
2006Deadly SkiesMadison Taylor
2010Vivian
2011Jeff, Who Lives at HomeCarol
2012ShiverDetective Burdine
2012Pegasus vs. ChimeraMayda
2013Knock 'em DeadJenny Logan

Television