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Marcus Scott Chong (né Wyatt; born July 8, 1967)[1] is an American actor. He played Miguel Mendez in the crime drama, Street Justice (1991–1993), real-life activist Huey P. Newton in Panther (1995), directed by Mario Van Peebles, and Tank in The Matrix (1999), directed by The Wachowskis.
Marcus Chong | |
|---|---|
| Born | Marcus Scott Wyatt July 8, 1967 |
| Years active | 1977–2013 |
| Notable work | |
Early life
editChong was born in Seattle on July 8, 1967, to an African-American father and a Chinese mother. His biological father, Martin Wyatt, was a sports reporter in San Francisco for KGO-TV.[2] He was adopted by Tommy and Shelby Chong in 1978.[3]
Career
editChong began acting at age nine. His first role was portraying the young Frankie Warner in the 1979 miniseries Roots: The Next Generations (1979). He was a guest star in Little House on the Prairie, in "Blind Journey: Part 2".[4]
Chong originated the role of student Lee Cortez in the Broadway production of Stand-Up Tragedy,[1] written by Bill Cain, which opened at the Criterion Center Stage Right and closed in October 1990 after 13 performances.[5] The short-lived role nevertheless earned him a 1991 Theatre World Award; he was also nominated Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play.
In the early 1990s, Chong played the recurring character Miguel Mendez on the TV show Street Justice from 1991 to 1993. By 1994, he later appeared in the action series Vanishing Son as Fu Qua Johnson alongside many actors of Asian descent. In 1995, he appeared in the music video for "Temptations" with Coolio, Ice-T, and Jada Pinkett Smith.
In 1999, Chong appeared as Tank in The Matrix. Throughout the 2000s decade and briefly the 2010s, Chong has appeared in popular TV shows in supporting guest roles. In 2001, he appeared in the third season of the TV series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and in 2002, appeared in the first season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2009, he appeared in the sixth season of Numb3rs and in 2010, he had a role in the fourth season of Burn Notice.
Chong's last feature film role was in the 2005 movie The Crow: Wicked Prayer as a character named War. The film was released briefly in theaters in Chong's hometown of Seattle, Washington. Following this, he's appeared in multiple short films: "Concrete River" (2009), "Son Shine" (2013), and "Not 4 Sale" (2013); the latter in which he plays legendary actor Harry Belafonte.[6] Following the last short film Not 4 Sale, Chong has had no acting roles since.
The Matrix controversy
editIn May 2003, Chong filed a lawsuit at Los Angeles County Superior Court against Warner Bros and AOL Time Warner, saying Warner was in breach of a 1998 verbal agreement, and a 2000 contract to continue the character of Tank in the film's two sequels.[7] Chong was offered a total of $250,000 to appear in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. Chong claimed he was owed twice that amount, in addition to bonuses and guarantees he would be invited to press junkets and premieres. When the Wachowskis rejected his demands, Chong was arrested in October 2000 for allegedly making threatening phone calls to the filmmakers. In his suit, Chong claimed he had since been blackballed from Hollywood and blamed The Matrix creators and Warner Bros. for branding him a "terrorist".[8]
In 2016, Chong did a radio interview with BlogTalkRadio going into detail regarding behind-the-scenes issues during production of The Matrix and instances that occurred afterwards where he felt he was treated unfairly.[9]
In 2018, he released a documentary, "The Marcus Chong Story", on his YouTube channels (under the names "Marcus Wyatt" and "Marcus Chong"), detailing his life and the issues he's faced working with actor C. Thomas Howell on the direct-to-video movie Pure Danger (1996) and during production of The Matrix in 1998.[10][11]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Lady and the Tramp: A Lesson in Sharing Attention[12][13] | Richard | Educational short film from the Disney's Animated Classics: Lessons in Living series |
| 1980 | The Reference Section | Lead | Short film |
| 1980 | Cheech & Chong's Next Movie | Johnny | |
| 1980 | Blood Beach | 2nd kid | |
| 1988 | Evil Altar | Troy Long | |
| 1990 | The Knife and Gun Club | George | Television film |
| 1991 | Flight of Black Angel | 'Dragonfly' | |
| 1992 | Venice/Venice | Guest at party | |
| 1992 | American Heart | Terry Cosmos | |
| 1994 | Vanishing Son | Fu Qua Johnson | Television film |
| 1994 | Vanishing Son II | ||
| 1994 | Vanishing Son IV | ||
| 1995 | Panther | Huey Newton | |
| 1996 | Pure Danger | 'Freethrow' | Direct-to-video |
| 1997 | The Uncontrollable Professor | Chucky | |
| 1997 | Fatal Fight | Kevin | |
| 1998 | High Freakquency | Jordan Barnes | |
| 1999 | The Matrix | Tank | |
| 2005 | The Crow: Wicked Prayer | 'War' | |
| 2009 | Concrete River | Base | Short film |
| 2013 | Son Shine | Darrell Brown | Short film |
| 2013 | Not 4 Sale | Harry Belafonte | Short film; also associate producer |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Little House on the Prairie | Samson | Episode: "Blind Journey: Part 2" |
| 1979 | Roots: The Next Generations | Frankie Warner | 2 episodes |
| 1979 | The Lazarus Syndrome | Jerry | Episode: "Peace and Love, Willie Jackson" |
| 1979 | Dallas | Jimmy Monroe | Episode: "The Heiress" |
| 1982 | Diff'rent Strokes | Kid at the arcade | Episode: "Shoot-Out at the O.K. Arcade" |
| 1982 | The Facts of Life | Young Boy | Episode: "Starstruck" |
| 1989 | Hard Time on Planet Earth | Tim | Episode: "The Way Home" |
| 1989 | Dragnet | Billy Roberts | Episode: "The Connection" |
| 1991–1993 | Street Justice | Miguel Mendez | 24 episodes |
| 1995 | Chicago Hope | Ramsey Coleman | Episode: "A Coupla Stiffs" |
| 2000 | Linc's | Ken | Episode: "People Like Us" |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Darrell Guan | Episode: "Inheritance" |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Johnny West | Episode: "Seizure" |
| 2009 | Numb3rs | Jones | Episode: "Ultimatum" |
| 2010 | Burn Notice | Caleb | Episode: "Brotherly Love" |
References
edit- ^ a b "Marcus Chong - Performer". The Broadway League.
- ^ DAN RALEY, "Where Are They Now? Martin Wyatt, former Huskies running back", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 30 January 2007, accessed 8 December 2013
- ^ "This Actor's Dad Is a Famous Actor Too & He Reveals Why Warner Bros. Producers Had Him Arrested". I Love Old School Music. 2018-04-26. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
- ^ "Little House on the Prairie Season 5 Episode 13". TV.com.
- ^ "Stand-Up Tragedy". The Broadway League.
- ^ Not 4 Sale (Official Film). Roger Melvin. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Matrix's 'Tank' sues makers over replacement". The Guardian. 20 May 2003.
- ^ Michileen, Martin. "The Matrix Star was Fired from the Sequels Because of a Bizarre Request". Giant Freakin Robot. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
- ^ "The Matrix Actor Marcus Chong Finally Breaks His Silence".
- ^ The Marcus Chong Story#MatrixGate what really happened to Tank the Operator in the original Matrix. Marcus Wyatt. 19 February 2018. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ Must See The Marcus Chong Story. Marcus Chong. 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022 – via YouTube.
- ^ "- Disney Shorts: 1970ies".
- ^ "D23: Disney A to Z – Lady and the Tramp: A Lesson in Sharing Attention".
External links
edit- Marcus Chong at IMDb