James Lew

Acting · 0.9 popularity

Age

Movies

Born: September 6, 1952
From: Escalon, California, USA

Biography

James Jene Fae Lew (born September 6, 1952) is an American actor and martial artist. Raised in South Central Los Angeles, James Lew's destiny was to answer a cattle call in Hollywood for the hugely popular Kung Fu (1972) television series. He went on to star in the now collectible Hong Kong film, Young Dragon (1976). He made the move to big budget studio films in 1984. John Carpenter handpicked him as the Martial Arts Choreographer for 20th Century Fox's now cult film, Big Trouble in Little China (1986). Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson, David Carradine, Chuck Norris, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Madonna, Charlie Sheen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Kathleen Turner, Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Lee, Snoop Dogg and the list goes on and on. James was voted "Favorite Action Star" by fans of Inside Martial Arts magazine. Internet fans voted him into the Hall of Fame in the Martial Arts History Museum. Inside Kung Fu Magazine inducted him as one of the "Martial Arts Greats" alongside legends as Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and his longtime friend Jackie Chan. Hit Parader Magazine dubbed him "the king of big-screen martial arts villains." From the deadly killer in Red Sun Rising (1994) to the deadly fighter in the comedy spoof Hot Shots 2 (1993), Lew has proven his chops in both drama and comedy. As a stunt/fight coordinator his creative talents shone in the television series The Crow to recent work on the hit video game, The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005). He handpicked elite members for his company, "Hong Kong Wire Action Team," to bring state of the art action to movies. His formula for longevity in the film industry is diversity, hard work and having a whole lot of fun. Most recently, James Lew wrote, directed and starred in a movie inspired by his personal experiences in the business titled 18 Fingers of Death! (2006). The story follows Buford Lee (James Lew), the most famous unknown "B"-minus, low-budget, martial-arts movie star and Ronald Mack (Maurice Patton), a young black kid from the hood. Together they laugh and bond together on their quest to finally make Buford's break out movie, 18 Fingers of Death! (2006).

Works

86 films

Star Trek

20097.4

Rush Hour

19987.1

Rush Hour 2

20016.8

Rush Hour 3

20076.5

Tropic Thunder

20086.7

Lethal Weapon 4

19986.6

Big Trouble in Little China

19867.2

Traffic

20007.1

Superhero Movie

20085.3

Hot Shots! Part Deux

19936.5

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

20135.7

Safe

20126.5

Escape from L.A.

19965.9

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

19955.9

The Shadow

19946.1

The Replacement Killers

19986.3

Timecop

19946.0

Best of the Best

19896.5

Rapid Fire

19926.4

Savage Beach

19894.5

Do or Die

19914.3

Showdown in Little Tokyo

19916.4

On Deadly Ground

19945.2

Deep Core

20004.0

Action Jackson

19885.5

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

19767.0

Cage II: The Arena of Death

19943.3

Martial Law II: Undercover

19916.1

The Perfect Weapon

19916.4

Frankenstein

20155.4

Ultimate Fights from the Movies

20025.0

Undercover Blues

19936.0

Fatal Blade

20005.3

Guns

19904.6

Mission of Justice

19926.7

High Voltage

19975.0

Martial Law

19906.2

Sin

20034.8

Robo Warriors

19965.4

The Girl from the Naked Eye

20124.4

Boogie Boy

19984.4

Going Berserk

19835.1

Night of the Warrior

19914.8

American Ninja 5

19934.8

Tough and Deadly

19955.5

Angel of Death

20094.7

Showdown

19935.8

Night Hunter

19964.6

Excessive Force II: Force on Force

19953.7

Cucuy: The Boogeyman

20186.5

Red Sun Rising

19944.9

Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

20105.9

Raven: Return of the Black Dragons

19925.0

Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine

20173.8

Sting of the Black Scorpion

20025.3

Deadly Target

19946.0

For Life or Death

19965.6

Safe House

19986.1

The Circuit III: Street Monk

20067.3

Ninja Academy

19894.2

Aftershock

19904.4

Outside the Law

20024.3

18 Fingers of Death!

20063.5

Ballistic

19953.5

Made in Chinatown

20215.5

Midnight Man

19955.2

Let Lorenzo

20112.0

The Real Deal

20023.9

Zodiac Power 2: Evil Destroyer

19882.0

Ring of Steel

19944.9

Ballistica

20093.2

Shira: The Vampire Samurai

20053.9

Assault on Dome 4

19963.7

Breakout

20162.0

Big Time

19775.3

Henchman: The Al Leong Story

20187.0

Ulterior Motives

19934.2

Balance of Power

19965.9

Killpoint

19845.2

Young Dragon

19795.5

Los Angeles Streetfighter

19855.0

Elwood

20142.3

Evil Destroyer

19882.0

Private Wars

19936.2

Black Salt

20152.0

Enforcer from Death Row

19764.8