Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress and TV personality. She rose to fame for her numerous TV and movie roles including Commando, Time Runner, Quest for Fire, Mysterious Ways, Badge of the Assassin, Wild Card, and Charity Jam. The actress comes from a family of actors and actresses with her father leading the path. Here are more interesting things to learn about Rae Dawn Chong.
What Is Her Age?
Rae Dawn Chong was born on February 28, 1961, to Tommy Chong and Maxine Sneed in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
What To Know About Her Mother & Family
The actress is multi-racial with her father being of Chinese and Scotch-Irish descent, while her mother is of Black Canadian and Cherokee descent. Rae’s maternal grandparents; Willa Carothers and Napoleon Sneed were born to African-American immigrants to Canada.
Her siblings include Robbi Chong, Marcus Chong, Paris Chong, Gilbran Chong and Precious Chong. One of her brothers was adopted while the other four were born by her father’s second wife, Shelby Fiddis. Her sister Robbi Chong is a model and is also into acting while her half-brother Marcus Chong also followed the same road as his dad and siblings by pursuing a career in acting. Rae’s journey in the acting scene started since 1974 when she appeared in Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. But her busiest period in films was during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s.
This was when she began appearing in various TV shows. However, her career breakthrough came when she featured in Quest for Fire (1981) for which she bagged Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Rae’s other movie credit include Choose Me(1984) Beat Street(1984), The Colour Purple (1985) and Commando (1985). She acted alongside her dad in Cheech & Chong’s The Corsican Brothers (1984) and also in the highly successful Far out Man (1990). Chong played the love interest in Mick Jagger’s video “Just Another Night”. She was also chosen for the role of Anne Lindsey in Highlander: The Series. Apart from acting in movies, she was featured in the music video for Mick Jagger’s 1985 song titled Just Another Night. She also appeared in a production of Oh, Kay! at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City.
Who Is Her Husband?
Chong has been married thrice. First was to Owen Bayliss, a stockbroker and they had a son named Morgan. But their love turned sour, leading to the annulment of their marriage in 1982. Chong stayed single for some time and later found love again in the arms of Thomas Howell, an actor and her co-star in the film Soul Man. However, they separated a year later after their marriage in 1990. She married again in 2011 to Nathan Ulrich. But just the rest of her affairs, it ended in 2014. In 2017, a plane which Nathan Ulrich, his brother, and others were flying went missing in the Bermuda Triangle. Later searchers found debris that matched the lost plane which brought closure to the search.
What Is Her Net Worth?
Rae Dawn Chong has been around for many years and over the years, the actress has amassed some heavy fortune from playing different roles in movies. Currently, her net worth is estimated at $4million. This amount is expected to grow over the years because the star is determined to win.
Quick Facts About Rae Dawn Chong
Chong loves to give talented people platforms to grow. She exhibited this attribute when she scouted for Chris Pratt. Then the young man who was only 19 was serving at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Maui. Having seen his capability, Chong cast him in her directorial debut, the short horror film Cursed part 3. The movie filmed in Los Angeles.
Chong grew up feeling desperate to learn things about her Chinese culture. This was inspired by her grandfather who refused to teach his children Cantonese, a variety of Chinese mostly spoken within Guangzhou and its regions in southeastern China, despite the fact that he spoke it fluently. the reason being that her grandfather had left a poor village in China in the 1930s. There he had great racial shame.
Rae has a good heart. She is involved in different kinds of humanity programs and supports charity.
Rae’s good influence on the life of many is admirable. No wonder she was portrayed in the 1987 book Starring Mothers
Rae Chong has an athletic body. She stands at a height of 175cm (5ft 8). She smiles charmingly and has dark-brown eye and hair.
The color purple and commandos actress provided sounds for her father’s comedy records as a child. She was discovered during her sixth-grade graduation by Disney talent scout.
Rae was once criticized for being a racist due to her comment about Oprah Winfrey which described the media mogul as “great brown-noser” and “field nigger”. The actress who starred alongside Winfrey in The Color Purple later took to her Youtube channel to explain what she meant and why she described her as such.