John Lone
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John Lone (Traditional Chinese: 尊龍; pinyin: Zūn Lóng; born October 13, 1952 as 吳國良) is an Asian American actor.
He was born in Hong Kong as Dzyn Lung. He was born to a Portuguese mother and Chinese father. Though little is known of the actual circumstance of his early life, he initially was raised in a Hong Kong orphanage. Eventually, he began training in Hong Kong's Chiu Chiu Academy and the Peking Opera. It was here, at the age of ten he was given the name Johnny. He later chose the name Lone to reflect the fact that he was an orphan.
Sponsored by an American family, he left the Peking Opera troup and immigrated to Los Angeles, California. In the United States he continued his performing arts studies at American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, California. Eventually, he moved to New York City, to pursue a career in the theater. He struggled for a time until the actor Mako recognized his talent and suggested him for a role in, David Henry Hwang’s first play F.O.B. From his performance in this play, Lone received an Obie Award. While in New York City he was discovered by the talent agent agent Jadin Wong, who helped him to launch his career. Wong subsequently discovered Joan Chen, Bai Ling, Lucy Liu, Ken Leung and Kai Wong.
His first major role in films was as the title character in Iceman. He is probably best known for his portrayal of the Emperor Puyi in The Last Emperor and as corrupt Hong Kong cop Ricky Tan in Rush Hour 2.
Despite his Hollywood fame, he chose to further his career in the Asian market. He played an emperor again in a 30 episode TV drama series 《乾隆與香妃》in 2004.
[edit] Partial filmography
- Iceman (1984)
- Year of the Dragon (1985)
- The Last Emperor (1987) - Puyi
- The Moderns (1988)
- Echoes of Paradise (1989)
- Shadow of China (1990)
- Shanghai 1920 (1991)
- M. Butterfly (1993)
- The Shadow (1994)
- The Hunted (1995)
- Rush Hour 2 (2001)
