Martin Fong

Born in Hong Kong, Martin Fong began his film career at the age of 8, acting in several Chinese feature films. His parents, who worked in the film industry, believed he would benefit from a classical education in drama, and they sent him to study at Hong Kong's prestigious Chin Chiu Academy. Fong developed an interest in American cinema, and as a teenager he moved to the United States to pursue an acting career. Fong's professional career was greatly supported by his godfather and lifelong mentor, renowned cinematographer James "Jimmie" Wong Howe, ASC (1899-1976). Howe shot more than 100 movies and earned 10 Academy Award nominations; he won Oscars for The Rose Tattoo (1955) and Hud (1963). Through Howe, Fong landed his first acting job in the feature Never So Few (1959), starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford and Steve McQueen. It was an exciting beginning to a career that included many roles on television series such as "Hawaiian Eye" (1959-63), "The Islander" (1960-61), "Run for Your Life" (1965-68) and the popular "I Spy" (1965-68). Thanks to his relationship with Howe, Fong also spent some time behind the camera, learning from his mentor on the sets of The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), directed by Alexander Mackendrick, and Seconds (1966), directed by John Frankenheimer. Through these experiences, Fong began studying the technical details of film production. Fong has directed feature films in Hong Kong, and he has also directed commercials in Japan and the United States for Hideki Tanaka. Based in Los Angeles, he is working on a feature-length documentary about James Wong Howe and developing several screenplays. He is also producing a CD recording of a seminar Howe gave at the American Film Institute in the early 1970s.