Chao Li Chi

Chao Li Chi was born on Apr 05, 1927 in China. Chao Li Chi's big-screen debut came with The Dream Merchants - Season 1 directed by Vincent Sherman in 1980, strarring Chinese Man. Chao Li Chi is known for The Prestige directed by Christopher Nolan, Hugh Jackman stars as Robert Angier and Christian Bale as Alfred Borden. The upcoming new movie Chao Li Chi plays is The Prestige which will be released on Oct 20, 2006.

Capable Chinese-American actor Chao Li Chi was born in Shanxi Province, China to a prominent local family. When he was 12 years old, he and his family fled China and emigrated to New York City as refugees from the Second Sino-Japanese War. Academically-gifted and well-versed in the ancient arts of Taoism and Wutang martial arts, Chi became an accomplished dancer who incorporated his physical disciplines into modern dance techniques, touring with avant-garde filmmaker and choreographer Maya Deren. He studied acting through Pearl S. Buck's 'East-and-West Association', and made his debut in Deren's short film Meditation on Violence (1949). Settling in Los Angeles, Chi found regular work as a character actor in film and television. He played the loyal majordomo Chao-Li in all 9 seasons of the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest (1981), and appeared in such movies as Big Trouble in Little China (1986), The Joy Luck Club (1993), The Nutty Professor (1996), Blood Work (2002), and The Prestige (2006). All the while, he continued to practice and teach philosophy and martial arts, co-founding the Taoist Institute in North Hollywood and lead a Saturday morning t'ai chi class every week, for 30 years straight. He died on October 16, 2010 in Granada Hills, California, USA.