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Marcus Chong

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Marcus Chong
Born
Marcus Scott Wyatt

(1967-07-08) July 8, 1967 (age 57)
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Years active1977–2013
Notable workPanther, The Matrix

Marcus Scott Chong (né Wyatt; born July 8, 1967)[1] is an American actor. He is known for playing Miguel Mendez in the short-lived crime drama, Street Justice (1991–1993), real-life activist Huey P. Newton in Panther (1995), directed by Mario Van Peebles, and most notably, Tank in The Matrix (1999), directed by The Wachowskis.

Early life

Chong 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

Chong 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 Vanishing Son action series as Fu Qua Johnson alongside many actors of Asian descent. In 1995 appeared in Temptations music video, 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

In 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 Blog Talk Radio 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

Film

Year Title Role Notes
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

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

  1. ^ a b "Marcus Chong - Performer". The Broadway League.
  2. ^ DAN RALEY, "Where Are They Now? Martin Wyatt, former Huskies running back", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 30 January 2007, accessed 8 December 2013
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "Little House on the Prairie Season 5 Episode 13". TV.com.
  5. ^ "Stand-Up Tragedy". The Broadway League.
  6. ^ Not 4 Sale (Official Film). Roger Melvin. 3 December 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2022 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ "Matrix's 'Tank' sues makers over replacement". The Guardian. 20 May 2003.
  8. ^ Michileen, Martin. "The Matrix Star Was Fired From The Sequels Because Of A Bizarre Request". Giant Freakin Robot. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  9. ^ "The Matrix Actor Marcus Chong Finally Breaks His Silence".
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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.
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