I was born in the hour of the dragon, between 6-8 a.m., in the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac calendar, November 27, 1940 at the Chinese Hospital in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the United States. My father, Lee Hoi-Chuen, was Chinese, and his Catholic mother, Grace, was of Chinese and German ancestry.
At age 12, I entered La Salle College and later he attended St. Francis Xavier's College. In 1959, at the age of 18, I got into a fight and badly beat my opponent, getting into trouble with the police. My father became concerned about my safety, and as a result, he and his wife decided to send me to the United States to live with an old friend of his father's. I left with $100 in my pocket and the titles of 1958 Boxing Champion and the Crown Colony Cha Cha Champion of Hong Kong. After living in San Francisco, I moved to Seattle to work for Ruby Chow, another friend of my father's. In 1959, I completed my high school education in Seattle and received my diploma from Edison Technical School. I enrolled at the University of Washington as a drama major and took some philosophy classes. It was at the University of Washington that I met my future wife Linda Emery, whom I would marry in 1964.
I had two children with Linda, Brandon and Shannon. Brandon, who also became an actor like his father, died in an accident during the filming of Dumb and Dumber in 1993. Shannon also became an actress and appeared in some low-budget films starting in the mid 1990s, but has since quit acting.
As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.
