B. D. Wong

Bradley Darryl Wong (born October 24, 1960) is an American actor. Wong won a Tony Award for his performance as Song Liling in '' M. Butterfly'', becoming the only actor in Broadway history to receive the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role. For his role as Whiterose in the television series ''Mr. Robot'', he was nominated for both a Critic's Choice Television Award and an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Wong is known for such roles as Howard Weinstein in the film '' Father of the Bride'', Dr. George Huang on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', Father Ray Mukada on '' Oz'', Dr. John Lee on '' Awake'', Dr. Henry Wu in the ''Jurassic Park'' franchise, Hugo Strange in '' Gotham'', and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme in the film '' Seven Years in Tibet''. Wong is the host of the HLN medical documentary series ''Something's Killing Me with BD Wong''. He has also done extensive voiceover work and stage acting. Wong voiced Captain Li Shang in the Disney animated film ''Mulan'' as well as its 2004 direct-to-video sequel, ''Mulan II'', and the 2005 video game ''Kingdom Hearts II''.

Early life and education

Bradley Darryl Wong was born on October 24, 1960, and raised in San Francisco, California, to Roberta Christine Wong (''née'' Leong), a telephone-company supervisor, and William D. Wong, a postal worker. He has one older brother and one younger brother. He is of Chinese descent, with family from Hong Kong.

Wong attended Lincoln High School, where he discovered his love of acting and starred as the lead in numerous school plays. He went on to attend San Francisco State University in the 1970s, where he was the only Asian American in the theater department, and there were no roles for him.

Career

Wong gained wide attention as a result of his Broadway debut in '' M. Butterfly'' opposite John Lithgow. The play won multiple awards, including several for Wong, who at that time ceased using his full name in favor of his initials. He has since ceased the use of punctuation in his initials. He is notable as the only actor to be honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and Theatre World Award for the same role. In addition to his stint on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' as FBI psychiatrist Dr. George Huang, he has had recurring roles in '' All-American Girl'' and played Father Ray Mukada on all six seasons of '' Oz'', with guest appearances on ''The X-Files'' and ''Sesame Street''.

On the big screen, he has appeared in '' The Freshman'' (1990), the 1991 remake of '' Father of the Bride'' and its 1995 sequel, '' Father of the Bride Part II'', ''Jurassic Park'' (1993), ''Executive Decision'' (1996), and '' Slappy and the Stinkers'' (1997). He also provided the voice of Captain Li Shang in Disney's ''Mulan'' (1998), its direct-to-video sequel, and the video game ''Kingdom Hearts II''. He returned to Broadway as Linus in a revival of ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'', alongside Anthony Rapp, Roger Bart, and Kristin Chenoweth, and the 2004 revival of Stephen Sondheim's '' Pacific Overtures''.

Wong narrated a public television documentary, "Maxine Hong Kingston: Talking Story" (1990) about the life and work of the ground-breaking Chinese American novelist. In 1990, Wong objected to Actor's Equity that the plan to use Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce in the role of The Engineer in the Broadway run of ''Miss Saigon'', which Pryce had played since the beginning of the show's 10-year extended run in London, would take jobs away from actors of Asian descent. Although the union barred Pryce from acting the role in response to Wong's complaint, vociferous opposition from Charlton Heston and a threat by the musical's creator and producer, Cameron Mackintosh, to cancel the American production entirely, induced the union to reverse course. Pryce went on to win a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the role.

In 2008, Wong starred in the one-man show ''Herringbone'', in which he portrayed 12 roles, at McCarter Theatre at Princeton University. He brought the show to the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego the following year. In 2012, Wong starred in ''Herringbone'' to benefit Dixon Place in New York for two performances. The production, recorded live for a 2014 CD release, was his first appearance in New York of the material, timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original New York production. In 2014, Wong starred in the U.S. premiere of James Fenton's acclaimed adaptation of '' The Orphan of Zhao'', a classic Chinese legend that has its roots in the fourth century BC, directed by Carey Perloff at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). ''The Orphan of Zhao'' is an epic story of self-sacrifice and revenge. In the aftermath of a political coup, a country doctor is forced to sacrifice his son to save the last heir of a noble and massacred clan. ''The Orphan of Zhao'' was a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse.

Wong announced his departure from the cast of ''Law & Order: SVU'' in July 2011, to join another NBC police drama, '' Awake'', in which he portrayed Dr. Johnathan Lee, a confrontational therapist of an LAPD detective (portrayed by Jason Isaacs) who lived in two realities. Wong guest-starred in a thirteenth season episode of ''Law & Order: SVU'' titled "Father Dearest" (which aired May 2, 2012). In 2015, he was named Artist-in-Residence at La Jolla Playhouse. Wong guest-starred on '' NCIS: New Orleans'' Episode 1.13 titled "The Walking Dead" (which aired February 3, 2015), where he portrayed Navy Lieutenant Commander Dr. Gabriel Lin.

Wong also played the enigmatic Whiterose, head of the hacker collective Dark Army, who lives a double life as Zhang, the Chinese Minister of State Security, on USA Network's ''Mr. Robot''. He was credited as a recurring role for the show's second season and promoted to main cast for the third season, which debuted October 11, 2017. On August 13, 2017, Wong began hosting the new HLN series ''Something's Killing Me with BD Wong''. The documentary explores strange and unexplainable, real medical ailments and attacks that may be gradual or descend rapidly. But in either case, if a cause and cure are not found immediately, these real-life patients will die. In 2022, Wong was featured in the book ''50 Key Figures in Queer US Theatre'', with a profile written by theatre scholar Esther Kim Lee.

Charity work

Wong donates his time and resources to a number of LGBT and arts-related charities, such as the Ali Forney Center, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Materials for the Arts, and Rosie's Theater Kids, of which he is also a board member.

Personal life

Wong was in a long-term relationship with talent agent Richie Jackson from 1988 to 2004. In 2000, the couple had twin sons, Boaz Dov and Jackson Foo Wong through a surrogate mother using Wong's sperm and an egg donated by Jackson's sister. Boaz Dov died 90 minutes after birth. In 2003, Wong wrote a memoir about his experiences with surrogacy titled ''Following Foo: The Electronic Adventures of the Chestnut Man'' (). In 2004, Wong and Jackson ended their relationship. Wong co-parents his son with his ex-partner Jackson and Jackson's husband, Jordan Roth. His son Jackson Foo is also gay, having come out at age 15. On October 7, 2018, Wong married Richert John Frederickson Schnorr, his partner of 8 years, in Brooklyn, New York.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Audio dramas

Theater

Theme parks

Audiobooks

Awards and nominations

See also

* Chinese people in the New York City metropolitan area
* LGBT culture in New York City
* List of LGBT people from New York City

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, BD
1960 births
20th-century American LGBTQ people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American LGBTQ people
21st-century American male actors
21st-century American memoirists
American gay actors
American LGBTQ people of Asian descent
American male actors of Chinese descent
American male actors of Hong Kong descent
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
American writers of Chinese descent
Clarence Derwent Award winners
Drama Desk Award winners
GLAAD Media Awards winners
LGBTQ people from California
Living people
Male actors from San Francisco
San Francisco State University alumni
Tony Award winners