Philip Ahn
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 (160 Appearances)
Kung Fu: The Movie
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
Wonder Woman
Switch
Police Woman
Judgment: The Court Martial of the Tiger of Malaya — General Yamashita
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The Magician
The World's Greatest Athlete
Kung Fu
The Streets of San Francisco
M*A*S*H
Anna and the King
Kung Fu: The Way of the Tiger, the Sign of the Dragon
Sanford and Son
The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake
Love, American Style
Hawaii Five-O
Cocoon
It Takes a Thief
Mannix
The Karate Killers
Ironside
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Mission: Impossible
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
The Time Tunnel
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
The F.B.I.
The Wild Wild West
Laredo
The Big Valley
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Shock Corridor
A Girl Named Tamiko
Diamond Head
Stoney Burke
Ensign O'Toole
Confessions of an Opium Eater
Kraft Mystery Theatre
One-Eyed Jacks
Dragon by the Tail
The Great Impostor
The Islanders
My Three Sons
Pete and Gladys
The Barbara Stanwyck Show
Checkmate
Johnny Midnight
Never So Few
Hawaiian Eye
Adventures in Paradise
The Rebel
The Third Man
Bonanza
Yesterday's Enemy
Tightrope
One Step Beyond
Lawman
Hong Kong Confidential
Wanted: Dead or Alive
Jefferson Drum
Perry Mason
Have Gun, Will Travel
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
The Way to the Gold
Battle Hymn
Around the World in 80 Days
Hey, Jeannie!
Telephone Time
Jungle Jim
Navy Log
The Left Hand of God
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Jump Into Hell
The Shanghai Story
Hell's Half Acre
His Majesty O'Keefe
China Venture
Target Hong Kong
General Electric Theater
Fair Wind to Java
Battle Zone
Four Star Playhouse
Red Snow
Macao
Japanese War Bride
Dragnet
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Secrets of Monte Carlo
China Corsair
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
I Was an American Spy
Halls of Montezuma
The Big Hangover
The Sickle or the Cross
Impact
Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture
State Department: File 649
Rogues' Regiment
The Creeper
The Cobra Strikes
The Miracle of the Bells
Women in the Night
Intrigue
The Chinese Ring
Saigon
Singapore
They Were Expendable
Back to Bataan
China's Little Devils
China Sky
Blood on the Sun
Betrayal from the East
God Is My Co-Pilot
Forever Yours
The Keys of the Kingdom
Dragon Seed
The Story of Dr. Wassell
The Purple Heart
Around the World
The Man from Down Under
Behind the Rising Sun
China
Don Winslow of the Coast Guard
December 7th
The Amazing Mrs. Holliday
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack
China Girl
Across the Pacific
Submarine Raider
Let's Get Tough
The Tuttles of Tahiti
Ship Ahoy
A Yank on the Burma Road
They Met in Bombay
Drums of Fu Manchu
The Shadow
Barricade
Disputed Passage
Island of Lost Men
Panama Patrol
King of Chinatown
North of Shanghai
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
Red Barry
Hawaii Calls
Thank You, Mr. Moto
Daughter of Shanghai
Tex Rides with the Boy Scouts
Something to Sing About
Roaring Timber
The Good Earth
China Passage
Stowaway
The General Died at Dawn
Klondike Annie
A Scream in the Night
Shanghai
Desirable