“The Golden Child” actor was also known for his union activism.

Peter Kwong, a martial artist and actor who was known for movies such as

Big Trouble in Little China

, and
The Golden Child
died in his sleep overnight Tuesday. He was 73.

His agent, Theo Caesar, confirmed the death to
Entertainment Weekly
and noted his client was “a great guy.”

In
Big Trouble in Little China
, the 1986 action comedy costarring

Kurt Russell

and

Kim Cattrall

, Kwong portrayed Rain, one of the Three Storms (the others are Carter Wong’s Thunder and James Pax’s Lightning) that Russell faces in his mission in what has become a cult classic.

Also in 1986, Kwong appeared in
The Golden Child
, which costarred

Eddie Murphy

as a private detective looking for a special missing child.

The actor’s professional acting career began in the mid-ʼ70s, with appearances on popular TV series such as

Wonder Woman

,

Little House on the Prairie

,

Dynasty

,
227
, and

Miami Vice

.

In his big year for film roles, Kwong was also cast in 1986’s
Never Too Young to Die
, which starred a pre-

Full House


John Stamos

as an action hero and costarred

Gene Simmons

and Vanity. (Kwong himself appeared on
Full House
in 1988.) He costarred alongside

Christian Slater

in the 1989 action drama
Gleaming the Cube.

Kwong’s work in the late ʼ80s and beyond was often on TV. He appeared on series such as
The Wayans Brothers
,
Malcolm & Eddie
,

General Hospital

,

My Wife and Kids

,

JAG

, and

Drake & Josh

. One of his final appearances was a 2020 episode of

Curb Your Enthusiasm

.

In addition to acting, Kwong was “a true champion of union rights,” his agent noted. The actor served on various boards, including the SAG National Board of Directors for more than 10 years and for four years on the Television Academy Board of Governors, according to

Deadline

.

In 2016, Kwong was one of the dozens of people who

signed a letter

protesting jokes made about Asians during the Oscars broadcast.

“I was there at the Academy Awards, and I was shocked because [Academy President] Cheryl Boone-Isaacs went up and talked about diversity and then right after that comes the jokes from

Chris Rock

and

Sacha Baron Cohen

,” Kwong told Deadline of the offending incidents. “Some people have the attitude, ‘Why can’t you have a sense of humor?’ and ‘in humor there are no boundaries.’ It’s because it gives people permission to not only continue it but to escalate it as well.”

The Academy of Motion Pictures, the organization behind the annual awards show,

later apologized

for the “tone-deaf approach to its portrayal of Asians.”

In 2023, Kwong was

given the Snow Leopard Award

for Outstanding Cinematic Achievement at the Asian World Film Festival.

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Entertainment Weekly