Studied at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Chicago, planning to follow his father's lead and enter politics, possibly in his parents' native China, but gave up idea when the country became Communist

Moved back to San Francisco and became involved with the "Beat Generation" scene of the early 1960s; performed for a time with Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters

Became involved in San Francisco's little theater and Asian-American theater scenes

Worked as a TV news reporter for the Public Broadcasting System; suffering from Bell's Palsy made him leave reporting; later took up acting

Acted for a time on the daytime drama series, "Search for Tomorrow"

Served as an understudy for the Off-Broadway production of David Hare's play, "Plenty"

Feature film debut, "Nightsongs"

First film for director Wayne Wang, "Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart"

Earliest TV appearances included a major role in "Paper Angels", presented on PBS as a one-hour installment of "American Playhouse"

First non-US feature credit, "The Last Emperor", an Italian-Chinese co-production

TV-movie debut, "Forbidden Nights"; received second billing to Melissa Gilbert

Received top billing in the US-South Korean co-produced martial arts comedy, "3 Ninjas"; also first played the role of "Grandpa", which he would recreate for several sequels

Suffered two strokes and retired from acting