Ken Jeong Age | Bio, Birthday, Family, Net Worth , Career

Ken Jeong is a Korean-American Actor, Comedian and physician, best known for his role as the comedic gangster Leslie Chow in ‘The Hangover’ film franchise. He has become one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood by combining his comedic timing with his unique style of physical comedy. In this article you will know about Ken Jeong Age, Biography, Birthday, Family, Net Worth and much more. 

Who Is Ken Jeong?

Ken Jeong was born in Detroit, Michigan, on July 13, 1969, to South Korean immigrants. After completing undergraduate work at Duke and getting a medical degree at the University of North Carolina, he pursued his interest in comedy while completing his residency in internal medicine in New Orleans. He scored his breakout film role in the 2009 smash The Hangover, and became a regular on the NBC hit Community before landing his own show, Dr. Ken.

Ken Jeong Bio

Ken Jeong Early Life and Education

Ken Jeong was born Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong in Detroit, Michigan, on July 13, 1969. Jeong grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his father, D.K. Jeong, was a professor at North Carolina A&T State University. Jeong later told USA Today that he inherited his sense of humor from his father.

During his time at Walter Hines Page High School, Ken was actively involved in student council and played in the school orchestra. Remarkably, he graduated at the age of 16. Despite his passion for comedy, influenced by comedians such as Bill Cosby and Jim Carrey, Ken’s parents encouraged him to pursue a more stable career in medicine. Following their advice, he completed his pre-med studies at Duke University in 1990 and earned his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.

Ken Jeong Medicine to Comedy

While training for his residency in internal medicine at Oshsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Jeong moonlighted, pursuing his love of theater and comedy. In New Orleans, he won the “Big Easy Laff-Off,” judged by late NBC president Brandon Tartikoff and Improv comedy club founder Budd Friedman, both of whom encouraged Jeong to move to Los Angeles to pursue his entertainment dreams.

While working as a practicing physician, seeing patients for seven years at Kaiser Permanente, Jeong performed at Los Angeles’ famed Improv and Laugh Factory comedy clubs. His side gigs gave him the experience he needed to secure higher-profile entertainment jobs, and he soon appeared on ABC’s The View and earned the title “The Funniest Doctor in America.” Jeong shared with LA Weekly what his medical school counselor told him prior to moving to L.A.: “You will be a great doctor because you are a great comedian, and you will be a great comedian because you are a great doctor.”

Ken Jeong Early TV and Film Roles

Several television appearances followed, including on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000), HBO’s Entourage (2004), NBC’s The Office (2005) and ABC’s Boston Legal. Jeong’s feature film debut, as a wisecracking doctor in Judd Apatow’s 2007 hit Knocked Up, opened more doors for the rising star.

He went on to land roles in films like Role Models, Step Brothers and Pineapple Express—all released in 2008—and 2009’s All About Steve.

‘The Hangover,’ ‘Community’ and ‘Dr. Ken’

Also in 2009, the actor-comedian was cast in his breakthrough role, as Asian mobster Mr. Chow in the sleeper-hit comedy film The Hangover, starring opposite Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. The film became one of the highest-grossing R-rated comedies of all time and lifted the Chow character into the comic canon. He returned for the sequels, The Hangover Part II (2011) and The Hangover Part III (2013).

After The Hangover‘s release, Jeong became a regular on the hit NBC show Community, which aired from 2009 to 2015. He then created, wrote and co-executive produced the sitcom Dr. Ken, which ran on ABC from 2015 to 2017. The show was based on Jeong’s life as a doctor prior to becoming an actor.

‘Crazy Rich Asians,’ ‘The Masked Singer’ and Other Projects

Along with his featured roles on television, Jeong made appearances on shows like Hot in Cleveland and Fresh Off the Boat and contributed his voice to animated fare like BoJack Horseman. On the big screen, he landed roles in Ride Along 2 (2016) and the hit rom-com Crazy Rich Asians (2018).

Jeong also hosted the 2011 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas and appeared in television specials like 2017’s A Christmas Story Live! He opened 2019 with a judging gig on The Masked Singer, an adaptation of a popular Korean singing competition series, and returned to stand-up that year with the release of a Netflix special.

Jeong has also served as a widely recognized face of advertising campaigns, including for Pepto-Bismol, Coke Zero and the American Heart Association.

Ken Jeong Career

In 1995, Ken participated in the ‘Big Easy Laff-off’ and the judges urged him to move to Los Angeles after they found his talents to be solid. Confident after this win, Ken became a regular at the Improv and the Laugh Factory comedy clubs. After he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a serious career in comedy, he started working at the Kaiser Permanente hospital.

He made his acting debut with a guest role in the crime drama series ‘The Big Easy’ in 1997. It was followed by many other roles in the series’ such as ‘The Downer Channel’, ‘Girls Behaving Badly’, ‘Significant Others’ and ‘Crossing Jordan’. His appearance in the hit sitcom ‘Two and a Half Men’ and the series ‘Entourage’ brought him some additional fame.

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In 2007, he made his film debut with the film ‘Knocked Up’, directed by Jude Apatow. In the film, he played the role of Dr. Kuni and it went on to become his breakthrough role in Hollywood. Even with a small role, Ken managed to leave a long lasting impact via his impeccable comic timing and quirks.

This was the performance that compelled him to finally leave his profession as a doctor and become a full time actor. The commercial and critical success of ‘Knocked Up’ earned him further roles in films such as ‘Step Brothers’, ‘Pineapple Express’ and ‘Role Models’.

In 2009 came the role that changed his life and career forever. He was casted to play a humorous bad guy in the film ‘The Hangover’, starring Bradley Cooper in the leading role. As his character of a gay Chinese gangster Leslie Chow became iconic, Ken became a household name. He further went on reprising his part in the next two ‘The Hangover’ films. Although both the later films could not meet the success of the first one, Ken had already become a big celebrity.

In the same year, he got another breakthrough role of his career, this time in television. He started appearing as Ben Chang in the popular comedy series ‘Community’. He reprised his role for 92 episodes and earned honors and several nominations for his role.

In 2011, he played supporting roles in two major films ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’ and ‘Zookeeper’. In the same year, he was chosen to host the Billboard Music Awards owing to his comic timings.

In 2015, Ken was seen playing the leading role in the sitcom titled ‘Dr. Ken’. The series was written, co-produced and created by Ken himself. Ken somehow plays a fictionalized version of himself in the series, which was negatively received by the critics and the audience alike. The series was cancelled after two seasons.

Ken and actor Jamie Foxx has developed certain affection towards each other. There is a pact between the two, which says that they both will star in the films written or produced by each other. Foxx kept his promise when he agreed to star as the leading man in Ken directed film ‘After Prom’. Ken will be playing a starring role in a comedy series ‘All-Star Weekend’, produced by Jamie.

Personal Life

Jeong’s Vietnamese-American wife, Tran Ho, also a doctor, practices family medicine. The couple has twin daughters, Alexa and Zooey. Because Tran Ho was struggling with a rare form of breast cancer when her husband was offered his role in The Hangover, Jeong almost turned down the part.

QUICK FACTS

• Started as a Stand Up Comedian: Before his acting career, Ken Jeong was a stand up comedian performing regularly at the Improv and Laugh Factory comedy clubs.

• Made a Cameo on Community: Ken Jeong appeared in a cameo role as the Spanish teacher Senor Chang on the sitcom Community.

• Former Physician : Ken Jeong was a practicing physician before becoming an actor. He completed his residency at Ochsner Medical Center in Louisiana and is board certified in internal medicine

• Appeared in Hangover Franchise: Ken Jeong is most well known for his roles in the Hangover franchise, playing the character Leslie Chow