James Lew Biography

Birthday: 1952-09-06
Place of Birth: Escalon, California USA
Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)
Wiki Biography: 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, have all kicked James Lew's butt in the movies!
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! Part Deux (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) (VG). 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) (V). 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) (V).
James LewPhotos & Pictures






Filmography
TV Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
Traffik | DEA Agent - CalTrans | 1989 | |
Traffic | 2000 | Crime | |
Fight Science | 2006 |
Movies Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
L.A. Streetfighters | Chan | 1986 | Action, Drama |
Savage Beach | 1989 | ||
Best of the Best | Sae Jin Kwon | 1989 | Action, Drama, Sport |
Aftershock | Mr. James | 1990 | Action |
Do or Die | Lew | 1991 | Action, Thriller |
Mission of Justice | Akiro | 1992 | Action |
American Ninja V | 1993 | ||
Red Sun Rising | Jaho | 1994 | Action |
Ballistic | Woo | 1995 | Action |
Excessive Force II: Force on Force | Lee | 1995 | Action, Drama |
Midnight Man | Prince Samarki | 1995 | Action |
Night Hunter | Tom Cutter | 1996 | Action, Drama, Horror |
Robo Warriors | Darius | 1996 | Action, Adventure |
Balance of Power | Shinji Takamura | 1997 | Action |
Traffic | 2000 | Game Show, 0 | |
Deep Core | Lou Chang | 2000 | Action, Thriller |
Outside the Law | Cho Sung | 2002 | 0 |
Sin | Leo Thamaree | 2004 | Crime, Drama, Thriller |
The Perfect Party | Daddy | 2004 | |
The Hitman Chronicles | Draga | 2006 | Action |
Angel of Death | Tommy | 2009 | 0 |
Taken by Force | Choy | 2010 | Action |
The Girl from the Naked Eye | Eddie | 2012 | Action, Romance, Thriller |
Legacy of the Tengu | Asura | 2013 | Action, Family, Fantasy |
Blunt Force | Capt. Rusch | 2013 | Action |
Frankenstein | Hotel Manager | 2015 | Horror, Thriller |