Rae Dawn Chong
| Rae Dawn Chong | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 28, 1961 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Spouse(s) | Owen Baylis (?–1982) C. Thomas Howell (1989–90) Nathan Ulrich (2011–present) |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Maxine (née Sneed) Chong Tommy Chong |
Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian-American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films Quest for Fire (1981), The Color Purple (1985), Commando (1985), and Time Runner (1993). She is the daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong.
Chong was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the first daughter of Maxine Sneed and comedian/actor Tommy Chong. Chong's father is of Chinese and Scotch-Irish descent, and her mother is of Afro-Canadian and Cherokee descent. Her sister Robbi Chong is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers (one adopted) and a half-sister by their father's second wife. In addition to Rae Dawn, two of her sisters and their half-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 Canada, and although he spoke Cantonese, he refused to teach his children or grandchildren; "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."
After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was Quest for Fire (1981), 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 (1984), Beat Street (1984), The Color Purple (1985), and Commando (1985). She appeared with her father in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984), and Far Out Man (1990).
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