Early life

Chong was born in 1961 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the first daughter of Maxine Sneed and comedian/actor Tommy Chong. Chong's father is of Chinese and Scotch-Irish descent, and her mother is of Afro-Canadian and Cherokee descent. Her sister Robbi Chong is a model and actress. They have three younger half-brothers (one adopted) and a half-sister by their father's second wife. In addition to Rae Dawn, two of her sisters and their half-brother Marcus Chong have pursued acting careers.

Chong has said that her paternal grandfather left a poor village in China in the 1930s to live with an aunt in Canada, and although he spoke Cantonese, he refused to teach his children or grandchildren; "I think my grandfather had great racial shame, which was hard on us growing up... We grew up desperate to know anything about our Chinese culture."

Career

After acting in a few television roles, Chong's second feature film was Quest for Fire (1981), for which she won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in 1983. Other notable roles have been in the films Choose Me (1984), Beat Street (1984), The Color Purple (1985), and Commando (1985). She appeared with her father in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984), and Far Out Man (1990).

Her most active period in films was during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. She has continued working in television and film. She was considered for the role of Anne Lindsey in Highlander: The Series.

Chong played the love interest in Mick Jagger's video "Just Another Night".

Marriage and family

Chong married Owen Bayliss, a stockbroker, and they had a son named Morgan. They divorced in 1982.

In 1989, she married again, to actor C. Thomas Howell, her co-star in the feature film Soul Man. They divorced in 1990.

In 2011, Chong married Nathan Ulrich.

Filmography

Films

• 1978: Stony Island
• 1981: Quest for Fire
• 1984: Choose Me
• 1984: Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers
• 1984: Beat Street
• 1984: Fear City
• 1985: City Limits
• 1985: American Flyers
• 1985: Commando
• 1985: The Color Purple
• 1986: Soul Man
• 1987: Running Out of Luck
• 1987: The Squeeze
• 1987: The Principal
• 1988: Walking After Midnight (documentary)
• 1989: Rude Awakening
• 1990: Tales from the Darkside: The Movie
• 1990: Far Out Man
• 1990: Chaindance
• 1990: Denial
• 1991: The Borrower
• 1992: Amazon
• 1993: When the Party's Over
• 1993: Time Runner
• 1994: Boulevard
• 1994: Boca
• 1995: Power of Attorney
• 1995: Crying Freeman
• 1995: The Break
• 1995: Hideaway
• 1996: Starlight
• 1996: Mask of Death
• 1997: Highball
• 1997: Goodbye America
• 1998: Small Time
• 1999: Dangerous Attraction
• 2000: The Visit
• 2005: Constellation
• 2006: Max Havoc: Ring of Fire
• 2006: Deadly Skies
• 2010: Cyrus
• 2011: Jeff, Who Lives at Home
• 2012: Pegasus vs. Chimera
• 2013: Knock 'em Dead

Television

• 1974: Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
• 1980: Top of the Hill (movie)
• 1980: Lou Grant (1 episode)
• 1985: Badge of the Assassin (movie)
• 1990: Curiosity Kills (movie)
• 1991: Prison Stories: Women on the Inside (movie)
• 1992: Nitecap (as host)
• 1992-93: Melrose Place (3 episodes)
• 1993: Father & Son: Dangerous Relations (movie)
• 1995: The Outer Limits (episode: "Second Soul")
• 1996 Highlander: The Series (1 episode)
• 2000-02: Mysterious Ways (17 episodes)
• 2003: Wild Card (43 episodes)
• 2006: Deadly Skies (movie)
• 2007: That's So Raven (1 episode)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]