James Lew

Personal Info

Known For:
Acting

Birthday:
September 6, 1952

Place of Birth:
Escalon, California, USA

Social Media

James Lew

Biography

James Jene Fae Lew (born September 6, 1952) is an American actor and martial artist. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, James Lew's destiny was to answer a cattle call in Hollywood for the hugely popular Kung Fu (1972) television series. He went on to star in the now collectible Hong Kong film, Young Dragon (1976). He made the move to big budget studio films in 1984. John Carpenter handpicked him as the Martial Arts Choreographer for 20th Century Fox's now cult film, Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson, David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Madonna, Charlie Sheen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathleen Turner, Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Lee, Snoop Dogg and the list goes on and on.

James was voted "Favorite Action Star" by fans of Inside Martial Arts magazine. Internet fans voted him into the Hall of Fame in the Martial Arts History Museum. Inside Kung Fu Magazine inducted him as one of the "Martial Arts Greats" alongside legends as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and his longtime friend Jackie Chan.

Hit Parader Magazine dubbed him "the king of big-screen martial arts villains." From the deadly killer in Red Sun Rising (1994) to the deadly fighter in the comedy spoof Hot Shots 2 (1993), Lew has proven his chops in both drama and comedy. As a stunt/fight coordinator his creative talents shone in the television series The Crow to recent work on the hit video game, The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005). He handpicked elite members for his company, "Hong Kong Wire Action Team," to bring state of the art action to movies. His formula for longevity in the film industry is diversity, hard work and having a whole lot of fun.

Most recently, James Lew wrote, directed and starred in a movie inspired by his personal experiences in the business titled 18 Fingers of Death! (2006). The story follows Buford Lee (James Lew), the most famous unknown "B"-minus, low-budget, martial-arts movie star and Ronald Mack (Maurice Patton), a young black kid from the hood. Together they laugh and bond together on their quest to finally make Buford's break out movie, 18 Fingers of Death! (2006).

Known For

Filmography

Year Movie Role
2021 Made in Chinatown Lew
2018 Henchman: The Al Leong Story Self
2018 Cucuy: The Boogeyman Beat Cop
2017 Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine Sinjin
2016 Breakout Cap Ruch
2015 Black Salt Abbot Xiao
2015 Frankenstein Hotel Manager
2014 Elwood Big O
2013 G.I. Joe: Retaliation Chinese Leader
2012 The Girl from the Naked Eye Eddie
2012 Safe Underground Casino Guard (uncredited)
2009 Angel of Death Tommy
2009 Star Trek Romulan (uncredited)
2009 Ballistica Chinese Guard #1
2008 Tropic Thunder Flaming Dragon Compound Person (uncredited)
2008 Superhero Movie Shaolin Monk (uncredited)
2007 Rush Hour 3 Triad Assassin (uncredited)
2006 The Circuit III: Street Monk Spider Webb
2006 18 Fingers of Death! Buford Lee
2005 Shira: The Vampire Samurai Xu
2003 Sin Leo Thamaree
2002 Ultimate Fights from the Movies Knife #1 (Timecop) (archive footage)
2002 The Real Deal Black Belt
2002 Outside the Law Cho Sung
2001 Rush Hour 2 Triad Gangster (uncredited)
2000 Deep Core Lou Chang
2000 Gedo James
2000 Traffic DEA Agent - CalTrans
1998 Safe House Asian (uncredited)
1998 Boogie Boy Jason
1998 Rush Hour Juntao's Man in Los Angeles (uncredited)
1998 Lethal Weapon 4 Freighter's Captain
1998 The Replacement Killers Bodyguard
1997 High Voltage Harry
1996 Escape from L.A. Hershe Gang Member
1996 Night Hunter Tom Cutter
1996 Robo Warriors Darius
1996 Balance of Power Shinji Takamura
1996 For Life or Death Kaan Woo
1996 Assault on Dome 4 Quaid, Windham Henchman
1995 Midnight Man Prince Samarki
1995 Excessive Force II: Force on Force Lee
1995 Under Siege 2: Dark Territory Mercenary (uncredited)
1995 Ballistic Woo
1995 Tough and Deadly Thug
1994 Cage II: The Arena of Death Chin
1994 Timecop Knife #1
1994 Red Sun Rising Jaho
1994 The Shadow Mongol
1994 Deadly Target Guard #2 (uncredited)
1994 On Deadly Ground Mercenary at Aegis 1 (uncredited)
1994 Ring of Steel Asian Fighter
1993 American Ninja 5 Viper
1993 Showdown Hit Man
1993 Private Wars Obata
1993 Hot Shots! Part Deux Kick Boxer Opponent
1993 Undercover Blues Novacek's Man
1993 Ulterior Motives Yakuza #5
1992 Mission of Justice Akiro
1992 Rapid Fire Tau's Men at Laundry (uncredited)
1992 Raven: Return of the Black Dragons Black Dragon Henchman
1991 Do or Die Lew
1991 The Perfect Weapon Crewcut
1991 Night of the Warrior Hector Sabatei
1991 Showdown in Little Tokyo Yoshida's Man (uncredited)
1991 Martial Law II: Undercover Spencer Hamilton Man (uncredited)
1990 Aftershock Mr. James
1990 Guns Ninja #1
1990 Martial Law Tong Member
1989 Savage Beach Agent #1
1989 Best of the Best Sae Jin Kwon
1989 Ninja Academy Ninja Trainer
1988 Zodiac America 2: Evil Destroyer
1988 Action Jackson Martial Arts Instructor
1988 Evil Destroyer
1986 Big Trouble in Little China Chang Sing #1
1985 Los Angeles Streetfighter Chan
1984 Killpoint Nighthawk's Gunman #1
1983 Going Berserk Kung Fu Fighter
1979 Young Dragon Shao Lung
1977 Big Time Karate Instructor
1976 Enforcer from Death Row Karate Fighter
1976 The Killing of a Chinese Bookie Guard (uncredited)
Year TV Show Role
2017 I'm Dying Up Here Sensei Phil
2011 Death Valley Man on street (uncredited)
2008 Childrens Hospital Mosura
2007 Chuck Anad Chenerad
2004 Entourage
2003 Eve
2002 CSI: Miami ND Man #1
2001 Alias Quan Li
2000 Strong Medicine Cop
1995 Nowhere Man Thug with knife
1995 Marker
1994 Weird Science
1994 Babylon 5 Bloodhound Teep
1993 Walker, Texas Ranger Tiger
1993 Frasier Security Guard
1993 Power Rangers Warrior
1989 Family Matters Man in Bar
1989 Nasty Boys Fighter / Karate class fighter (uncredited)
1988 Roseanne
1987 Beauty and the Beast
1985 Growing Pains Movie Villain #2
1985 MacGyver Asian Thug
1984 Murder, She Wrote Cambodian
1982 T. J. Hooker Asian Thug
1982 T. J. Hooker Ton Li
View this project on GitHub: https://github.com/Manasess896/TMDB-Explorer