Asian American oldest actor James Hong is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

At 93 years of age, Everything Everywhere All At Once actor James Hong is presently the oldest celebrity to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The actor was joined by Daniel Dae Kim and Jamie Lee Curtis for the ceremony with the three dancing a traditional lion dance with other performers. The Lost actor began a crowdfunding campaign to get James his star, which raised its goal of $55,000 (£44,000) in four days in 2020.

Prolific Asian American character actor James Hong got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The 93-year-old veteran actor is one of 19 talents of Asian descent to get the honor and becomes the oldest person to get a star.

James Hong, 93, the barrier-breaking Asian actor, became the oldest person ever to get a star on Tuesday. The actor accepted his fan-funded star as drums beat, cymbals clanged and Chinese lion dancers celebrated on the road.

With a career spanning 70 years, chances are, you’ve seen James Hong in any one (at least one) of his 700 film and TV credits. The prolific actor has shown up in the original Hawaii Five-O series, Big Trouble in Little China, the Mulan remake, and the Kung Fu Panda film franchise.

With over 700 credits and memorable roles in notorious movies like Blade Runner, Chinatown, and the Kung Fu Panda films, James Hong has had a long-running career in Hollywood going back to 1954.

Regardless of being a commonly recognized name, it took a petition and a crowdfunding campaign started by fellow Asian-American actor Daniel Dae Kim for James Hong to acquire an unmistakable spot in Hollywood history. On Tuesday (May 10), he became the latest beneficiary of a star on Los Angeles’ Hollywood Walk of Fame – and the oldest person to accept the honor.

Introducing in the ceremony were actors Daniel Dae Kim and Everything, Everywhere, All at Once co-star Jamie Lee Curtis who gave speeches to honor James Hong’s legacy in Hollywood films.

Parading a bright red Hanfu, James Hong did not make any speeches, instead, he celebrated and absorbed the event with a traditional lion dance performance.

James Hong himself did not make any speeches at the star’s unveiling ceremony, which was loaded with traditional Chinese lion dance and martial arts performances. Instead, he picked to soak in the atmosphere, in any event, going such an extreme as to join the performers and show off a few of his moves.

“As you can see I don’t have any kind of speeches because I’m not that kind of person,” he said to the crowd.

“I just come here, I want to feel the moment, to just be here and see people who I haven’t seen in a long time.”

James Hong even joined the performers, flaunting martial arts moves and breaking down in dance.

Daniel Dae Kim talked about the battle embraced by Asian American actors in the past breaking into the industry, referencing his challenges breaking in fail to measure up to James Hong’s battle scaling Hollywood at its generally heartless to Asian actors.

“I’m equally confident in saying that no one will have blazed the trail the way that James Hong has,” Daniel Dae Kim said during his speech.

“Today, during the heart of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, it’s only fitting that we honor someone who personifies the term ‘trailblazer.’”

Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis likewise praised James Hong’s kindness and elegance claiming that it was at last time he got recognition in Hollywood.

“I don’t know how I’m going to survive the day with all these compliments, my head is getting too big.” James Hong joked.

The actor’s star is the 2,723rd on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, situated at 6931 Hollywood Boulevard before Madame Tussauds.

Daniel Dae Kim and Jamie Lee Curtis – who co-starred with James Hong in Everything Everywhere All At Once – gave speeches at the ceremony to honor the veteran actor’s renowned career, with Curtis claiming that Hong’s contributions to Hollywood gained the appreciation they deserved extremely past due.

In the interim, Daniel Dae Kim referred to the battles that James Hong looked at as an Asian-American actor whose career started when Hollywood was not kind to people of color, soon after the end of World War II. He proceeded to refer to Hong as “someone who personifies the term ‘trailblazer’”.

Ostensibly, the battle for Asian Americans in Hollywood to earn respect for their work is nowhere near finished. Out of the 2,723 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, James Hong’s is only one of 19 belonging to people of Asian descent. It tends to be viewed as before Madame Tussauds at Hollywood Boulevard.

James Hong has more than 650 film credits. In 2020, actor-producer Daniel Dae Kim began a crowdfunding campaign to raise the $55,000 required for the star, and the goal was reached in somewhere around four days, the entertainment website announced.

James Hong is the only living actor to have worked with Clark Gable and Groucho Marx, as per The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. He’s additionally one of only 19 people of Asian descent to acquire a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That list incorporates Anna May Wong, Mako, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu.

James Hong is 31 years older than the Walk of Fame. He is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood since leaving Minnesota for the West Coast almost 70 years ago. He has shown up in “Blade Runner” and “Chinatown” and loaned his voice to animated features, for example, “Kung Fu Panda” and “Mulan.”

Hong played roles in “Turning Red” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” his latest film, where he was featured close by Jamie Lee Curtis.

Hong, who is Chinese American, was born in Minnesota and served stateside in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

An appearance on Marx’s game show, “You Bet Your Life,” in which he imitated the host, made a buzz and landed him his first agent and scores of offers from nightclubs.

Notwithstanding his impressive list of credits, James Hong said his street was difficult.

“In the early days, there were no opportunities whatsoever,” James Hong told. “Opportunities were very few and Asians were still looked down upon as this silent minority. In a sense, I feel I was born too early because there were no chances.”

“Thank you, James, for your body of work, your quality of work, and your strength of character,” Daniel Dae Kim said during Tuesday’s ceremony.