Michael Paul Chan

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Michael Paul Chan
Chan in 2016
Born (1950-06-26) June 26, 1950 (age 74)
OccupationActor
Years active1975–present
Spouse
Christina Ann
(m. 1975)
Children1

Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor.[1] He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the TNT series The Closer and Major Crimes. Chan also acted in U.S. Marshals, playing an assassin.[2]

Early life

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Chan was born in San Francisco, California. A third-generation Chinese American, he is a founding member of the Asian American Theater Company. His brother was the late Jeffery Paul Chan, an author and academic.

Career

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Chan's television work has included roles such as Judge Lionel Ping on Arrested Development, Detective Ron Lu on Robbery Homicide Division, the voice of Jimmy Ho on The PJ's, Mr. Chong on The Wonder Years, a Japanese investor in the 1990 Northern Exposure episode "Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens", an agent of the Chinese Intelligence Agency on a 2011 episode of The Simpsons, and roles on Bones, Babylon 5, Nash Bridges, and The Young and the Restless.

One of Chan's more notable film roles was as the Korean convenience-store owner in the 1993 film Falling Down, where he refused to give a discount to Michael Douglas' character when he attempted to purchase a can of soda to get change for the pay telephone outside the store. Another was as Data's father in The Goonies. Chan appeared in both of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, in two different roles - a Wayne Enterprises executive in Batman Forever, and Dr. Lee in Batman & Robin. Other films in his filmography include Americanese, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, U.S. Marshals, Spy Game, The Protector, Quicksilver, The Joy Luck Club, The Insider, and Thief.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1981 Thief Chinese Waiter
1984 Runaway Security chief
1985 The Goonies Data's Father
1986 Quicksilver Asian Gangster
1991 Thousand Pieces of Gold Hong King
1993 The Joy Luck Club Harold
1993 Falling Down Mr. Lee
1993 Joshua Tree Jimmy Shoeshine
1994 Maverick Riverboat Poker Player
1995 Batman Forever Wayne Enterprises Executive
1997 Batman & Robin Observatory Scientist
1997 The Protector Anthony Mane
1998 U.S. Marshals Chen
1999 The Insider Norman
2001 Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 Chinese Premier
2001 Spy Game Vincent Ngo
2006 Americanese Jimmy Chan

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Hill Street Blues Smith Episode: "What Are Friends For"
1992 The Wonder Years Mr. Chong, Chinese Chef 3 episodes
1994 Babylon 5 Roberts Episode: "The War Prayer"
1995 JAG Ambassador Sonsiri Episode: "Deja Vu"
1996 Nash Bridges Tommy Luck Episode: "Promised Land"
1999–2001 The PJs Jimmy Ho (voice) 41 episodes
2001 Static Shock Mr. Kim (voice) Episode: "Tantrum"[3]
2002–2003 Robbery Homicide Division Ron Lu Main cast
2004–2005 Arrested Development Lionel Ping 6 episodes
2005–2012 The Closer Mike Tao Main cast
2007 Bones Shi Jon Chen Episode: "The Boneless Bride in the River"
2011 The Simpsons Chinese Agent Episode: "Homer the Father"[4]
2012–2018 Major Crimes Mike Tao Main cast
2019–2021 The Resident Yee Austin Recurring role[5]
2021 MacGyver Dahn Nguyen Episode: "Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason"
2023 Hello Tomorrow! Walt Recurring role
2024 Gremlins: The Wild Batch TBA Voice[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Michael Paul Chan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Hale, Mike (August 12, 2012). "The New Boss, Not the Same as the Old Boss 'Major Crimes' Replaces 'The Closer' on TNT". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "Michael Paul Chan (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 6, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  4. ^ "Listings | TheFutonCritic.com - The Web's Best Television Resource". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Petski, Denise (September 4, 2019). "'The Resident': Kearran Giovanni, Geoffrey Cantor, Michael Paul Chan & Erinn Westbrook To Recur In Season 3". Deadline. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  6. ^ Taylor, Drew (July 26, 2024). "'Gremlins: The Wild Batch' Adds Simu Liu as Series Regular, Sets Season 2 Premiere Date". TheWrap. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
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