Philip Ahn

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Ahn, the son of a Korean independence activist, was a long-serving campaigner for his father's legacy and the Korean-American community, helping to establish memorials for his father in Seoul and later arranging for his remains to be buried there.

Early life and education

Ahn was born in Los Angeles, California, on March 29, 1905, in the Highland Park neighborhood. Philip was an Anglicized spelling of the Korean word Pil Lip (). Ahn Changho () and Yi Hyeryon () were two Korean emigrants who had immigrated to the United States in 1902, making him the first American citizen born in the United States to two Korean parents. Though Korea was under Japanese rule, his father, Dosan, was a well-known educator and campaigner for Korean independence; he migrated to the United States in order to seek improved educational opportunities. He served as an informal ambassador to the Korean-American immigrant community in California, becoming one of the first Korean political group to be founded (Kongrip Hyophoe/), the first Korean political group in America.

Ahn was on the set of the film The Thief of Bagdad, where he first encountered Douglas Fairbanks when he was in high school. Fairbanks gave him a screen test and then a part of the film. "No son of mine is going to be mixed up with those horrible people," his mother warned him.

Ahn graduated from high school in 1923 and went to work in the rice fields around Colusa, California. The property was owned by the Hung Sa Dan, or Young Korean Academy, a Korean independence movement that taught Koreans to become leaders of their country once it was free from Japanese rule. Since Koreans could not own property in California, the Academy acquired the property in Ahn's name. Unfortunately, the rice crops were unaffected by heavy rain, and Ahn discovered himself deeply in debt. He went to work as an elevator operator in Los Angeles to pay back the debt and help his families.

He did not get to attend the University of Southern California until 1934, but not until 1934. If he really wanted to be an actor, his father told him that he needed to be the best actor he could and convince him to take acting and cinematography courses. He appeared in Merrily We Roll Along, a student-led revival that toured the western United States.

Ahn, the president of the United States Cosmopolitan Club, was chairman of the All University Committee on International Relations and as advisor to the dean of male students as advisor for international student affairs. He arranged visits for foreign dignitaries, including Princess Der Ling of China, Indian journalist Chaman Lal, and archeologist-explorer Robert B. Stacey-Judd. Ahn came back to perform full time after his second year.

Personal life

Ahn was extremely involved in the Korean community of Los Angeles. He made Los Angeles a sister city of Busan, Korea. He also helped bring the Korean Bell of Friendship to San Pedro, California. In several subsequent films, the Bell of Friendship has appeared. He served as the honorary mayor of Panorama City, California, for twenty years.

In Seoul, he attempted to have his father and mother buried together. Since the Japanese attempted to downplay his nationalism, his father was buried far from the city. His mother died in California. They hadn't seen each other since 1926, before Dosan's birth of his youngest son. Ahn was able to have his parents buried there because he was working with the Korean government.

Philson, Ahn's younger brother, had a brief career in acting. In the twelve-episode serial Buck Rogers, which also featured Buster Crabbe, he was best known as "Prince Tallen."

Susan Ahn's sister was the first female gunnery officer in the United States Navy, eventually rising to the rank of Lieutenant and serving for both Naval Intelligence and the fledgling National Security Agency.

Ahn and his sister Soorah opened a Chinese restaurant in 1954. Moongate Restaurant by Phil Ahn was one of the first Chinese restaurants in Panorama City, San Fernando Valley, and it lasted for more than thirty years before closing in 1990.

Ahn spent a USO tour of Vietnam in 1968, visiting both American and Korean troops in South Vietnam.

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Career

In 1935, Ahn's first film, A Scream in the Night, was released. He appeared in Anything Goes, the Bing Crosby film, but Lewis Milestone had initially turned down the role because his English was too good for the part. In 1936, The General Died and Stowaway, opposite Shirley Temple, were his first recognized roles. He starred in Daughter of Shanghai (1937) and King of Chinatown (1939), becoming the first self-represented Asian American romantic couple of sound-era Hollywood cinema.

Ahn appeared in war films as a Japanese villain often during World War II. He was mistakenly assumed to be Japanese and suffered multiple death threats. He was often cast in these roles opposite Chinese-American actor Richard Loo. He was enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Special Services as an entertainer. He was forced to leave early due to an injured leg and returned to filmmaking.

Ahn's role as a conflicted Ilbongye Hangugin (Korean of Japanese descent) doctor in the 1945 Pearl Buck film China Sky is one of the first depictions of a Korean character in a major Hollywood film.

With Elvis Presley, Ahn appeared in Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, Around the World in Eighty Days. In Korean War films such as Battle Circus (1953) and Battle Hymn (1956), he portrayed Korean characters.

Ahn considered emigration and appearing in Korean films in the 1950s, but decided against it due to his unusual idiolect. Ahn and his siblings spoke with a distinct North Korean accent and antiquated diction and grammar having learned Korean mostly from his mother, who was from the Northern part of the peninsula and had left Korea in the early 1900s.

Ahn made his television debut on the Schlitz Playhouse in 1952, a show on which he would appear three more times. In four episodes of ABC's Adventures in Paradise, four episodes of ABC's Adventures in Paradise, and the CBS crime drama Hawaii Five-O, Ahn will also be cast in ABC's Adventures in Paradise. He made three appearances on Crossroads, Bonanza, and M*A*S*H. He would also appear in two television films.

Ahn's most well-known television appearance on the television show "Kung Fu" was as "Master Kan." Ahn, a Presbyterian, felt that his Taoist homilies did not contradict his own religious faith.

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