Philip Ahn

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 Ahns 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 ManySplendored 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 ABCs Adventures in Paradise four episodes of the ABCWarner Brothers crime drama Hawaiian Eye and the CBS crime drama Hawaii FiveO He made three appearances each on Crossroads Bonanza and MASH He would also appear in two television movies Ahns 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