Lee Tung Foo

Lee Tung Foo (also known as Frank Lee) was a Chinese American Vaudeville performer born in California who performed in English, German, and Latin. He became a film actor later in his life.

At the age of 45, he ran a Chinese restaurant he bought in New York City called Jung Sy Mandarin Restaurant. He opened a second restaurant, Imig Sy, and both were strategically placed near Broadway. By the 1930s he returned to theater work, playing some minor roles until 1932, when he was cast as Wang Yun in the film, The Skull Murder Mystery.

He continued with minor roles, being cast as the servant of the detective, Mr. Wong, in the 1939 film The Mystery of Mr. Wong. His last work was in The Manchurian Candidate, an uncredited role at the age of 87.

Early life

Born in 1875 in Watsonville, California, Lee was a son of Chinese immigrants. Lee's parents had started a laundry and grocery business in Watsonville, but they moved many times before finally settling in Ripon, California. In his youth, Lee had run away from home after growing pressure from his father to leave school and work full-time. - Mr. Chen Stowaway (1936) - Bartender (uncredited) Waikiki Wedding (1937) - Man Questioned by Authorities (uncredited) Change of Heart (1938) Phantom Raiders (1940) - Sam Wing On Mission to Moscow (1943) - Tsiang Ting Fu - Chinese Ambassador (uncredited) Night Plane from Chungking (1943) - Bus Driver (uncredited) Behind the Rising Sun (1943) - Dinner Guest (uncredited) The Purple Heart (1944) - Judge (uncredited) Dragon Seed (1944) - Innkeeper (uncredited) Barbary Coast Gent (1944) - Wong Gee (uncredited) Laura (1944) - Waldo's Servant (uncredited) Mrs. Parkington (1944) - Sam (uncredited) They Were Expendable (1945) - Asian Bartender (uncredited) It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946) - Laundryman (uncredited) The Show-Off (1946) - Chinese Waiter (uncredited) Calcutta (1947) - Kim (uncredited) Heaven Only Knows (1947) - Thank You (uncredited) The Chinese Ring (1947) - Armstrong's Butler (uncredited) Sleep, My Love (1948) - Wedding Official (uncredited) Saigon (1948) - Chinese Farmer (uncredited) The Checkered Coat (1948) - Kim The Golden Eye (1948) - Wong Fai (uncredited) Luxury Liner (1948) - Fu Dong, Chinese Chef (uncredited) Strange Gamble (1948) - Wong Criss Cross (1949) - Chinese Cook (uncredited) The Stratton Story (1949) - Waiter (uncredited) The Gay Amigo (1949) - Lee - Cantina Cook (uncredited) Mighty Joe Young (1949) - Chinese Waiter (uncredited) There's a Girl in My Heart (1949) - Charlie Li Annie Get Your Gun (1950) - Chinese Cook on Train (uncredited) The Cariboo Trail (1950) - Ling California Passage (1950) - Cook (uncredited) Short Grass (1950) - Lin The Thing from Another World (1951) - Lee - a Cook (uncredited) Smuggler's Island (1951) - Vito (uncredited) China Corsair (1951) - Police Captain Lee (uncredited) Hong Kong (1952) - Chinese Waiter (uncredited) Macao (1952) - Merchant (uncredited) The World in His Arms (1952) - Chinese Proprietor (uncredited) Soldier of Fortune (1955) - Chinese Cook (uncredited) Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955) - Old Loo (uncredited) Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) - Lee (uncredited) Badlands of Montana (1957) - Ling The Sheepman (1958) - Willie, Proprietor of Restaurant (uncredited) The Manchurian Candidate (1962) - Man in Lobby (uncredited) (final film role)