Philip Ahn
Acting
Born March 29, 1905 · 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.
Films (107)
Kung Fu: The Movie
1986
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
1976
Judgment: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya — General Yamashita
1974
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
1973
The World's Greatest Athlete
1973
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
1972
The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake
1970
Cocoon
1968
The Karate Killers
1967
Thoroughly Modern Millie
1967
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
1966
Shock Corridor
1963
A Girl Named Tamiko
1962
Diamond Head
1962
Confessions of an Opium Eater
1962
One-Eyed Jacks
1961
Dragon by the Tail
1961
The Great Impostor
1960
Never So Few
1959
Yesterday's Enemy
1959
Hong Kong Confidential
1958
The Way to the Gold
1957
Battle Hymn
1957
Around the World in 80 Days
1956
The Left Hand of God
1955
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955
Jump Into Hell
1955
The Shanghai Story
1954
Hell's Half Acre
1954
His Majesty O'Keefe
1954
China Venture
1953
Target Hong Kong
1953
Fair Wind to Java
1953
Battle Zone
1952
Red Snow
1952
Macao
1952
Japanese War Bride
1952
Secrets of Monte Carlo
1951
China Corsair
1951
I Was an American Spy
1951
Halls of Montezuma
1951
The Big Hangover
1950
The Sickle or the Cross
1949
Impact
1949
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
1949
State Department: File 649
1949
Rogues' Regiment
1948
The Creeper
1948
The Cobra Strikes
1948
The Miracle of the Bells
1948
Women in the Night
1948
Intrigue
1947
The Chinese Ring
1947
Saigon
1947
Singapore
1947
They Were Expendable
1945
Back to Bataan
1945
China's Little Devils
1945
China Sky
1945
Blood on the Sun
1945
Betrayal from the East
1945
God Is My Co-Pilot
1945
Forever Yours
1945
The Keys of the Kingdom
1944
Dragon Seed
1944
The Story of Dr. Wassell
1944
The Purple Heart
1944
Around the World
1943
The Man from Down Under
1943
Behind the Rising Sun
1943
China
1943
Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
1943
December 7th
1943
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
1943
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
1943
China Girl
1942
Across the Pacific
1942
Submarine Raider
1942
Let's Get Tough
1942
The Tuttles of Tahiti
1942
Ship Ahoy
1942
A Yank on the Burma Road
1942
They Met in Bombay
1941
Drums of Fu Manchu
1940
The Shadow
1940
Barricade
1939
Disputed Passage
1939
Island of Lost Men
1939
Panama Patrol
1939
King of Chinatown
1939
North of Shanghai
1939
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
1938
Red Barry
1938
Hawaii Calls
1938
Thank You, Mr. Moto
1937
Daughter of Shanghai
1937
Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts
1937
Something to Sing About
1937
Roaring Timber
1937
The Good Earth
1937
China Passage
1937
Stowaway
1936
The General Died at Dawn
1936
Klondike Annie
1936
A Scream in the Night
1935
Shanghai
1935
Desirable
1934