Rae Dawn Chong

Rae Dawn Chong (born February 28, 1961) is a Canadian actress. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film Stony Island, and in 1981 starred in the science fantasy film Quest for Fire, for which she received the Genie Award for Best Actress.

Chong later starred in films Beat Street (1984), Choose Me (1984), American Flyers (1985), The Color Purple (1985), Commando (1985), Soul Man (1986), The Principal (1987), Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990), The Borrower (1991), Time Runner (1993), and Boulevard (1994). She is the daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong.

Early life Rae Dawn Chong was born on February 28, 1961, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the first daughter of actor/comedian Tommy Chong. Her maternal uncle was drummer Floyd Sneed. Her younger sister Robbi Chong is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers (one adopted) and a half-sister by their father's second wife. In addition to Rae Dawn, two of her sisters and her adopted brother Marcus Chong have also pursued acting careers.

Chong has said that her paternal grandfather left a poor village in China in the 1930s to live with an aunt in Vancouver, where Chinese immigrants were mostly sequestered in a small area due to racial discrimination, and that although he spoke Cantonese, he refused to teach it to his children or grandchildren. She said, "I think my grandfather had great racial shame, which was hard on us growing up. ... We grew up desperate to know anything about our Chinese culture." Later in life, though, her grandfather "saw the error of his ways and embraced his heritage."

Career After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was Quest for Fire (1981), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Other notable roles have been in the films Choose Me (1984), Beat Street (1984), The Color Purple alongside Oprah Winfrey and Commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger (both in 1985), and Soul Man (1986). She also appeared with her father in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984) and Far Out Man (1990). In 1985, Chong played the love interest in Mick Jagger's video "Just Another Night".

At 19 years old, Chris Pratt was waiting tables at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Maui when he was scouted by Chong; she cast him in her directorial debut, the short horror film Cursed Part 3, which was filmed in Los Angeles in 2000.

On television, Chong starred opposite Adrian Pasdar in the science fiction drama series Mysterious Ways from 2000 to 2002. Later on, she starred in the first season of Lifetime comedy-drama series Wild Card opposite Joely Fisher. The following years, she appeared in a number of independent movies. She returned to television appearing in two episodes of Better Things in 2016 and two episodes of 9-1-1 (2018-19). In 2021, Chong played Betty Currie in the FX series Impeachment: American Crime Story. Also in the same year, she was honored with the "Invisible Woman Award" from the Women Film Critics Circle for "Supporting performance by a woman whose exceptional impact on the film dramatically, socially or historically, has been ignored" for her performance in the drama film The Sleeping Negro.

In 2022, Chong portrayed Florence de Pointe du Lac in the AMC series Interview with the Vampire.

Personal life Chong married Owen Baylis, a stockbroker, and they had a son named Morgan. They divorced in 1982. In 1989, she married actor C. Thomas Howell, her co-star in the feature film Soul Man. They divorced in 1990. In 2011, Chong married Nathan Ulrich (one of the founders of Xootr). They divorced in 2014.

Pop culture references British-American rapper-producer MF Doom recorded a song titled "Rae Dawn". It was released under the alias Viktor Vaughn, as a single from his third studio album Vaudeville Villain (some releases list the title as "Raedawn"). The reference to Chong appears in the lyrics: "New drink, named it after Chong daughter".

Rapper Redman mentions Chong in his 1994 song "Winicumuhround".

Comedian Stephen Lynch also has a song about Chong—"R.D.C. (Opie's Lament)"—as the 12th track on his 2000 debut album A Little Bit Special.

Chong's name is repeated several times on the hidden track "Love Song" from Alice in Chains' 1992 EP Sap.

Filmography

Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1974 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Greta Episode: "The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton: Part 1 & 2" 1980 Top of the Hill Rita Television film Lou Grant Adrienne Episode: "Lou" 1983–1985 St. Elsewhere Billie Vaughn Guest role (seasons 1 & 3); recurring role (season 2) 1985 Badge of the Assassin Christine Horn Television film 1986 Tall Tales & Legends Circe Lafemme Episode: "Casey at the Bat" 1990 Curiosity Kills JaneTelevision film1991 Prison Stories: Women on the Inside Rhonda The Hitchhiker Leesa White Episode: "New Blood" 1992 Nitecap Herself Host 1992–1993 Melrose Place Carrie Fellows Recurring role (season 1) 1993 Father & Son: Dangerous Relations Yvonne Television film 1994 Lonesome Dove: The Series May Lawson Episode: "Firebrand" 1995 The Outer Limits Karen Heatherton Episode: "Second Soul"1996 Highlander: The Series Claudia Jardine Episode: "Timeless" For Hope Woman at BarTelevision film1997 Alibi D.A. Linda Garcia Poltergeist: The Legacy Tanya Moreau Episodes: "Lights Out!" and "Spirit Thief" 2000–2002 Mysterious Ways Dr. Peggy Fowler Main cast 2002 Judging Amy Atty. Westland Episode: "A Pretty Good Day" 2003–2004 Wild Card Sophie Mason Main cast (season 1) 2006 Deadly Skies Madison Taylor Television film 2007 That's So Raven Lynn Thomas Episode: "The Way They Were" 2012 Pegasus vs. Chimera Mayda Television film 2016 Better Things Patty Donner Episode: "Period" and "Only Women Bleed" 2018–2019 9-1-1 Stacey Mullins Episode: "Hen Begins" and "Fallout" 2019 My Sister Is So Gay Parker Episode: "X Boyfriends" and "I Love You Nut-Nut"2021 Impeachment: American Crime Story Betty Currie Recurring role Saturday Morning All Star Hits! Sheena Murphy Voice; recurring role 2022 Interview with the Vampire Florence de Pointe du Lac 4 episodes