Martin Fong

Martin Fong is a film producer, director, cinematographer, stylist, actor, celebrity photographer, and is notable as one of the first major Asian American tap dancers to dance on the Las Vegas strip.

James Wong Howe

Fong was raised by the son of cinematographer James Wong Howe, who was also Fong’s godfather. Fong displays Howe’s original camera equipment from the film Gone With the Wind in the foyer of his Hollywood, California mansion, along with photographs of the sets and Howe working on Gone With the Wind, and Chinese language newspaper stories and photographs of himself with Howe.

Martial Arts

Fong studied martial arts under Bruce Li early in the career of both men.

Acting career: Spy television and films

Fong began his acting career at the age of 8 in Hong Kong, appearing in several films. Fong moved to America to be raised by Howe. His first American acting job was in Never So Few, starring Frank Sinatra, who introduced him to the Las Vegas strip and tap dancing there. Fong appeared in Hawaiian Eye, The Islander, Run for Your Life, then more extensively on the television series I Spy. Fong can be seen in photographs consulting on espionage on the set of the James Bond film Octopussy.

Tap Dance

Early in his career, Fong was a Las Vegas tap dancer who danced with the Rat Pack - Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Junior, and Dean Martin. Fong’s photograph is the entrance photograph at the MGM Grand Hotel. A controversy arose in the 1960s when Fong, a Chinese American, was on stage dancing with line of Caucasian women, mixing races in a city that catered to tourists from the segregated south. The women were then dressed in Asian costumes and had their faces and eyes painted to appear Oriental, so as to avoid controversy. He later dated the blonde co-star of the film Octopussy, this time without controversy, due to the rapid pace of improving race relations in the 1960s.

Photography, film production, film direction, and cinematography,

Fong has done celebrity photographs from his photography studio in his Hollywood mansion from the 1960’ to present. Fong studied Fong studied production, direction, and cinematography, casting, and photography on the sets of films being shot by Howe, and at the University of Southern California. He currently produces and directs feature films in Hong Kong, and commercials in Hollywood and Japan, with Hideki Tanaka.

Personal life

Fong was born into a family of film industry professionals in Hong Kong. He then moved to San Francisco, to be raised by his godfather James Wong Howe. Fong is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and Hollywood Hill, an association of entertainment industry executives dedicated to using the industry to promote positive social change. As of 2010, Fong lives in his Hollywood mansion at the foot of Griffith Park on Franklin Street, where he collects clothing and Hollywood memorabilia, consults on fashion.

External links

• Martin Fong at the Internet Movie Database
• Hollywood Hill website

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Name	Fong, Martin
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