Former “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” actor Daniel Dae Kim launched a GoFundMe page on Wednesday to campaign for a nomination on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for veteran actor James Hong and his efforts are picking up serious steam.
89-year-old Hong is one of the most prolific actors ever in showbusiness, having played almost 700 television and film roles since the 1950s including 469 TV shows, 149 feature films, 32 short films and 22 video games.
The actor has delivered countless memorable roles including the villain David Lo Pan in “Big Trouble in Little China,” Hannibal Chew in “Blade Runner,” Po’s father Mr. Ping in “Kung Fu Panda,” Chi-Fu in “Mulan,” Doctor Hong in “The Golden Child,” Jeff Wong in “Wayne’s World 2,” Wei Chin in “Killing of a Chinese Bookie,” and roles in everything from “Tango & Cash” and “Tank Girl” to “The Sand Pebbles” and “Missing In Action”.
That’s not even starting with his TV work which seems to include a large swath of all prime time shows to have aired in the past few decades, to game work which ranges from “Sleeping Dogs” to “Diablo III” to “Call of Duty: Black Ops”. As Kim puts it, he not only epitomizes the term ‘working actor’ but has done a ton to help further representation for actors of color in the industry and co-created the legendary East West Players theater company.
Kim’s GoFundMe page aims to raise $55,000 to pay for the “creation and installation of the star” and in just two days is over halfway towards meeting that goal. Once reached, organizers will submit Hong’s application in 2021 and the Walk of Fame selection committee will meet in June to select an average of 30 stars, from 200 submissions, to be cemented the following year. If Hong’s nomination is rejected, his name can be resubmitted the following year.
Ana Martinez, a producer for the Hollywood Walk of Fame, says they don’t accept petitions or endorse GoFundMe campaigns. She tells Variety:
“We are happy to consider Mr. Hong if he agrees on the nomination in writing. We don’t endorse GoFundMe petitions because what happens with the funds if the person is not selected? They should have a back-up plan in case that happens. Otherwise, there will be many angry donors wondering where the money they sent will go to. The Walk of Fame stars are sponsored by the nominators and the stars cannot be purchased, which is what the group may be thinking by setting up this petition.”
Hong himself meanwhile shows no signs of slowing down. The actor most recently appeared in two episodes of Netflix’s “Space Force” series and has two more films currently in post-production.
