Kendrick Kang-Joh "Ken" Jeong is an American actor, comedian and physician. He is best
known for his roles as Ben Chang on the critically acclaimed NBC comedy series Community and
Asian gangster Leslie Chow in The Hangover trilogy.
Early life and education Jeong was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son
of South Korean immigrants Young and Dong-Kuen Jeong, who was a professor at North Carolina
A&T State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. Jeong was raised in Greensboro and
attended Walter Hines Page High School, where he took part in the High IQ team, played violin
in the orchestra, and was elected to student council. He graduated at 16 and his achievements
earned him Greensboro's Youth of the Year award. Jeong completed his undergraduate studies
at Duke University in 1990 and obtained his M.D. degree at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill in 1995. Career
Medical career Jeong completed his internal medicine residency
at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans while developing his stand-up comedy. Jeong is licensed
as a physician in the state of California. Show business
Jeong won the Big Easy Laff-Off, of which NBC president Brandon Tartikoff and The Improv
founder Budd Friedman were judges, and they both urged Jeong to move to Los Angeles. Jeong
began performing regularly at the Improv and Laugh Factory comedy clubs. After moving to
Los Angeles, he initially practiced medicine for several years as a general practitioner
at a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Woodland Hills.
Jeong's background in theater and improv has led to several television appearances, including
NBC's The Office, HBO's Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm. He made his film debut in
Judd Apatow's Knocked Up as Dr. Kuni, which proved to be his breakout performance. From
that point forward he was able to transition from medicine into a full-time career in the
entertainment industry. Subsequently, he has appeared in Pineapple Express; Role Models
as King Argotron, All About Steve; The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard; Couples Retreat; and
as Mr. Chow in The Hangover, The Hangover Part II, and The Hangover Part III. He co-starred
in Zookeeper and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, released in summer 2011.
In 2007, he co-starred as Dr. Ken in Mike O'Connell's video "What's it gonna be" for
the popular website, Funny or Die.com. He attacked pro wrestler John Cena with a
cane in the WWE Raw episode, on August 3, 2009.
Jeong played Señor Ben Chang on NBC's sitcom, Community and was nominated for the show's
"Male Breakout Star" at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards.
He was nominated for two 2010 MTV Movie Awards, winning the award for Best WTF Moment and
for MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for The Hangover.
In fall 2010, Adidas basketball began a wide-ranging marketing campaign in which Jeong stars as
the character "Slim Chin" alongside NBA stars Dwight Howard and Derrick Rose.
On May 22, 2011, Jeong hosted the 2011 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on ABC.
On June 15, 2011, he was featured in a Hands Only CPR PSA campaign from the American Heart
Association. He won a Streamy Award for "Best Guest Appearance"
for Burning Love. In 2013, he appeared in Michael Bay's Pain
& Gain, as Johnny Wu, a motivational speaker, and returned, in a significantly expanded
role, as Mr. Chow in The Hangover Part III. Jeong will star in and produce the film The
Chung Factor, which was purchased by Lionsgate on October 25, 2011.
In an unusual, if informal, partnership, Jamie Foxx and Jeong have each agreed to star in
movies written and produced by the other. Foxx has agreed to take a lead role in a new
movie Jeong will produce called After Prom. Jeong will star in All-Star Weekend, a comedy
Foxx is developing at his production company about two friends who find themselves fans
of opposing NBA stars. Personal life
Jeong's wife, Tran Ho, is Vietnamese American, a family physician and a breast cancer survivor.
They have twin daughters, Alexa and Zooey, and live in Southern California. Jeong became
engaged to Ho around 2003 or 2004. Jeong was encouraged to quit his job as an
internist and pursue acting full-time; Jeong states that "I had just finished filming Knocked
Up, and it was life-changing. But I didn't have the courage to go for it until she persuaded
me. Medicine is a hard-won skill, and acting can be a fickle profession, so I tried to
be realistic. Now, I'm a spoiled actor. I get weekends off and hiatus weeks — time
I never got as a doctor". He is 5' 5½".
Filmography
References
External links Official website
Ken Jeong at the Internet Movie Database Ken Jeong at AllMovie