We’re big fans of director John Carpenter’s 1986 action extravaganza Big Trouble in Little China here on JoBlo. We’ve sung its praises with a Revisited video, named it the greatest cult film of all time, and dug into the film’s three best scenes… so we’re very sad to hear that actor Peter Kwong, who played the super-powered martial artist Rain in the Carpenter film, has passed away at the age of 73. According to Variety‘s report, Kwong died in his sleep Tuesday night.
Kwong is best remembered for playing Rain, but that was just one of almost 90 screen acting credits he racked up over the course of a career that stretched back nearly fifty years. Hailing from Sacramento, California, Kwong got his acting career started with an appearance on a 1976 episode of the TV series Visions. Among his many other credits are roles in the films Straight Time, The Renegades, Never Too Young to Die, The Golden Child, Steele Justice, Skeleton Coast, The Presidio, Angel Town, Gleaming the Cube, Frame-Up II: The Cover-Up, Brain Smasher… A Love Story, Theodore Rex, I’ll Do Anything, and Cooties, among others, as well as appearances on the TV shows Wonder Woman, Operation Petticoat, Bret Maverick, Cagney & Lacey, Bring ‘Em Back Alive, The Greatest American Hero, Little House on the Prairie, Manimal, The A-Team, Dynasty, Miami Vice, St. Elsewhere, 227, Amazing Stories, MacGyver, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Beauty and the Beast, Full House, Renegade, The Wayans Bros., Sisters, Homeboys in Outer Space, Malcolm & Eddie, King of the Hill, General Hospital, My Wife and Kids, JAG, Drake & Josh, Pepito’s Mamadas, Lethal Weapon, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He didn’t always get the sizeable roles (for example, he was DEA Agent #1 on Lethal Weapon and Chinese Restaurant Patron 2 on Curb Your Enthusiasm), but at least he was always able to keep working.
Variety notes that he was also very active behind the scenes, as he was “on the SAG National Board of Directors for more than 10 years and was also a member of the AFTRA National Board of Directors. He also served on the Television Academy Board of Governors as well as the Actors Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”
Kwong was also an accomplished martial artist and dancer.
Our sincere condolences go out to Peter Kwong’s family, friends, and fans.
