Biography
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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.
Filmography
all 151
Movies 100
TV Shows 51
Anna May Wong - Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend (2007)
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die (1976)
Wonder Woman (1975)
Switch (1975)
Police Woman (1974)
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)
The Magician (1973)
Kung Fu (1972)
The Streets of San Francisco (1972)
M*A*S*H (1972)
Anna and the King (1972)
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon (1972)
Sanford and Son (1972)
The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake (1970)
Love, American Style (1969)
Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Cocoon (1968)
It Takes a Thief (1968)
Mannix (1967)
The Karate Killers (1967)
Ironside (1967)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Mission: Impossible (1966)
The Time Tunnel (1966)
Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
The F.B.I. (1965)
The Wild Wild West (1965)
Laredo (1965)
The Big Valley (1965)
Shock Corridor (1963)
A Girl Named Tamiko (1962)
Diamond Head (1962)
Stoney Burke (1962)
Ensign O'Toole (1962)
Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962)
Kraft Mystery Theatre (1961)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
The Great Impostor (1960)
The Islanders (1960)
My Three Sons (1960)
The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1960)
Pete and Gladys (1960)
Checkmate (1960)
Johnny Midnight (1960)
Never So Few (1959)
Hawaiian Eye (1959)
Adventures in Paradise (1959)
The Rebel (1959)
The Third Man (1959)
Bonanza (1959)
Yesterday's Enemy (1959)
Tightrope (1959)
One Step Beyond (1959)
Lawman (1958)
Hong Kong Confidential (1958)
Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958)
Jefferson Drum (1958)
Perry Mason (1957)
Have Gun, Will Travel (1957)
Richard Diamond, Private Detective (1957)
The Way to the Gold (1957)
Battle Hymn (1957)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Hey, Jeannie! (1956)
Telephone Time (1956)
Jungle Jim (1955)
Navy Log (1955)
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)
General Electric Theater (1953)
Fair Wind to Java (1953)
Battle Zone (1952)
Four Star Playhouse (1952)
Red Snow (1952)
Macao (1952)
Japanese War Bride (1952)
Dragnet (1951)
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1951)
Secrets of Monte Carlo (1951)
China Corsair (1951)
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (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)
Singapore (1947)
They Were Expendable (1945)
Back to Bataan (1945)
China's Little Devils (1945)
China Sky (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)
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)
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)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1905-03-29
Deathday1978-02-28 (72 years old)
Birth PlaceLos Angeles, United States of America
ReligionPresbyterian Church in the United States
FatherAhn Chang-ho
SiblingsSusan Ahn Cuddy, Ralph Ahn
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known As Phillip Ahn, Phil Ahn, Philip Ann, Pil Lip Ahn, Pillip Ahn
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame
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