Ken Jeong

Ken Jeong
Biographical information
Real name	Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong
Born	July 13, 1969
Age	54
Birth place	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Wife	Tran Ho
Family	2 children
Personal information
First appearance	The Woman Who Never Died
Portrays	Luther Gillis

Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong (born July 13, 1969) is an American comedian, actor and physician. He is best known for playing Ben Chang on the sitcom Community and the gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover film series. He was the lead in the ABC sitcom Dr. Ken, in which he was also the creator, writer, and executive producer. Jeong is a licensed physician, but has stopped practicing in favor of his acting career. He recently played as Luther Gillis in reboot series Magnum P.I.

Career

Jeong won the Big Easy Laff-Off in 1995, of which NBC president Brandon Tartikoff and The Improv founder Budd Friedman were judges, and they both urged Jeong to move to Los Angeles. He began performing regularly at the Improv and Laugh Factory comedy clubs. After moving to Los Angeles, he initially practiced medicine for several years as a physician at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Woodland Hills.

Jeong's background in theater and improve started while he was still a medical student in North Carolina. He was a regular at open mic nights in the Raleigh-Durham circuit, performing at Charlie Goodnights in Raleigh and Tootie's Durham Comedy Club. He also emceed The Comedy Spot programming series on Duke University campus 1992 and 1993 (produced by his friend by coincidentally same-first named Korean-American, Kendrick Jahng) opening for Margaret Cho, Jeff Dunham and others. His stand up work has led to several television appearances, including NBC's The Office, HBO's Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

He made his film debut in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up as Dr. Kuni, which proved to be his breakout performance. From that point forward he was able to transition from medicine into a full-time career in the entertainment industry. Subsequently, he has appeared in Pineapple Express; Role Models as King Argotron; All About Steve; The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard; Couples Retreat; and as Mr. Chow in The Hangover, The Hangover Part II, and The Hangover Part III. He co-starred in Zookeeper and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released in summer 2011.

Jeong played Senior Ben Chang on the NBC sitcom Community and was nominated for the show's "Male Breakout Star" at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards. He was nominated for two 2010 MTV Movie Awards, winning the award for Best WTF Moment and for MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for The Hangover. In fall 2010, Adidas basketball began a wide-ranging marketing campaign in which he starred as "Slim Chin", alongside NBA stars Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose. On May 22, 2011, he hosted the 2011 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on ABC and was featured in a Hands Only CPR PSA campaign from the American Heart Association on June 15, 2011.

Jeong won a Streamy Award for "Best Guest Appearance" for Burning Love.

In 2013, he appeared in Michael Bay's Pain & Gain (2013), as Johnny Wu, a motivational speaker, and returned, in a significantly expanded role, as Mr. Chow in The Hangover Part III.

In an unusual, if informal, partnership, Jamie Foxx and Jeong have each agreed to star in movies written and produced by the other. Foxx has agreed to take a lead role in a new movie Jeong will produce called After Prom. Jeong will star in All-Star Weekend, a comedy Foxx is developing at his production company about two friends who find themselves fans of opposing NBA stars.

In 2015, Jeong starred, wrote, and executive produced the pilot of his new ABC medical comedy, Dr. Ken, as a frustrated HMO doctor juggling his career, marriage and parenting, but succeeding at none of them. On May 7, 2015, the series was ordered by ABC to debut in the 2015–16 TV season starring Jeong, Suzy Nakamura, Dave Foley, Tisha Campbell-Martin and Jonathan Slavin.

Appearances

Magnum P.I., Season 1
"I Saw the Sun Rise":	"From the Head Down":	"The Woman Who Never Died":	"Six Paintings, One Frame":	"Sudden Death":	"Death Is Only Temporary":	"The Cat Who Cried Wolf":
Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
"Die He Said":	"The Ties That Bind":	"Bad Day to Be a Hero":	"Nowhere to Hide":	"Winner Takes All":	"Day of the Viper":	"I, The Deceased":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Appears	Absent	Absent
"Day the Past Came Back":	"Murder Is Never Quiet":	"Black Is the Widow":	"A Kiss Before Dying":	"Blood in the Water":	"The Day It All Came Together":
Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent

External links

• Ken Jeong on Wikipedia