James Lew

Known for ActingBorn 1952-09-06 (age 73)Escalon, California, USA

James Jene Fae Lew (born September 6, 1952) is an American actor and martial artist. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, James Lew's destiny was to answer a cattle call in Hollywood for the hugely popular Kung Fu (1972) television series. He went on to star in the now collectible Hong Kong film, Young Dragon (1976). He made the move to big budget studio films in 1984. John Carpenter handpicked him as the Martial Arts Choreographer for 20th Century Fox's now cult film, Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson, David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Madonna, Charlie Sheen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathleen Turner, Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Lee, Snoop Dogg and the list goes on and on. James was voted "Favorite Action Star" by fans of Inside Martial Arts magazine. Internet fans voted him into the Hall of Fame in the Martial Arts History Museum. Inside Kung Fu Magazine inducted him as one of the "Martial Arts Greats" alongside legends as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and his longtime friend Jackie Chan. Hit Parader Magazine dubbed him "the king of big-screen martial arts villains." From the deadly killer in Red Sun Rising (1994) to the deadly fighter in the comedy spoof Hot Shots 2 (1993), Lew has proven his chops in both drama and comedy. As a stunt/fight coordinator his creative talents shone in the television series The Crow to recent work on the hit video game, The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005). He handpicked elite members for his company, "Hong Kong Wire Action Team," to bring state of the art action to movies. His formula for longevity in the film industry is diversity, hard work and having a whole lot of fun. Most recently, James Lew wrote, directed and starred in a movie inspired by his personal experiences in the business titled 18 Fingers of Death! (2006). The story follows Buford Lee (James Lew), the most famous unknown "B"-minus, low-budget, martial-arts movie star and Ronald Mack (Maurice Patton), a young black kid from the hood. Together they laugh and bond together on their quest to finally make Buford's break out movie, 18 Fingers of Death! (2006).Read more

Movies & web series

The Circuit III: Street Monk

Henchman: The Al Leong Story

Young Dragon

Eve

Inception

Avengers: Endgame

Westworld

Babylon 5

Raven: Return of the Black Dragons

Nowhere Man

Chuck

Star Trek: Voyager

CSI: Miami

The Last Samurai

Frasier

MacGyver

Star Trek

Strong Medicine

Entourage

Murder, She Wrote

LArceny

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Collateral

Black Dynamite

They Live

Death Valley

Traffic

Childrens Hospital

Big Trouble in Little China

Rush Hour

Power Rangers

Mulan

Walker, Texas Ranger

Dominique

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Alias

Tropic Thunder

Cucuy: The Boogeyman

Rush Hour 2

Big Time

Private Wars

Mission of Justice

Family Matters

The Martial Arts Kid

Weird Science

Roseanne

Safe

Mr. Right