Michael Paul Chan

Michael Paul Chan
Chan in 2016
Born	(1950-06-26) June 26, 1950 (age 75) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma mater	San Francisco State University American Conservatory Theater
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Christina Ann ​ (m. 1975)​
Children	1

Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor. ^[1] He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the TNT series The Closer and Major Crimes . Chan also acted in U.S. Marshals , playing an assassin. ^[2]

Early life and education

A third-generation Chinese American, Chan was born in San Francisco, California. His brother was the late Jeffery Paul Chan, an author and academic.

Chan is a graduate of San Francisco State University ^[3] and the American Conservatory Theater. ^{[4] [5]} He is a founding member of the Asian American Theater Company. ^[4]

Career

Chan's television work has included roles such as Judge Lionel Ping on Arrested Development , Detective Ron Lu on Robbery Homicide Division , the voice of Jimmy Ho on The PJ's , Mr. Chong on The Wonder Years , a Japanese investor in the 1990 Northern Exposure episode "Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens", an agent of the Chinese Intelligence Agency on a 2011 episode of The Simpsons , and roles on Bones , Babylon 5 , Nash Bridges , and The Young and the Restless .

One of Chan's more notable film roles was as the Korean convenience-store owner in the 1993 film Falling Down , where he refused to give a discount to Michael Douglas' character when he attempted to purchase a can of soda to get change for the pay telephone outside the store. Another was as Data's father in The Goonies . Chan appeared in both of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, in two different roles - a Wayne Enterprises executive in Batman Forever , and Dr. Lee in Batman & Robin . Other films in his filmography include Americanese , Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 , U.S. Marshals , Spy Game , The Protector , Quicksilver , The Joy Luck Club , The Insider , and Thief .

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Thief	Chinese Waiter
1984	Runaway	Security chief
1985	The Goonies	Data's Father
1986	Quicksilver	Asian Gangster
1991	Thousand Pieces of Gold	Hong King
1992	Rapid Fire	Carl Chang
1993	The Joy Luck Club	Harold
	Falling Down	Mr. Lee
	Joshua Tree	Jimmy Shoeshine
1994	Maverick	Riverboat Poker Player
1995	Batman Forever	Wayne Enterprises Executive
	Galaxis	Manny Hopkins
1997	Batman & Robin	Observatory Scientist
	The Protector	Anthony Mane
1998	U.S. Marshals	Xiang Chen
1999	The Insider	Norman
2001	Megiddo: The Omega Code 2	Chinese Premier
	Spy Game	Vincent Ngo
2006	Americanese	Jimmy Chan
2019	Boy Genius	Sam
2024	Ba	Sonny	[6]
	Between Borders	The Judge

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Hill Street Blues	Smith	Episode: "What Are Friends For"
1990	Northern Exposure	Masuto	Episode: "Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens"
1992	The Wonder Years	Mr. Chong, Chinese Chef	3 episodes
1994	Babylon 5	Roberts	Episode: "The War Prayer"
1995	JAG	Ambassador Sonsiri	Episode: "Deja Vu"
1996	Nash Bridges	Tommy Luck	Episode: "Promised Land"
1999–2001	The PJs	Jimmy Ho (voice)	Main cast
2001	Static Shock	Mr. Kim (voice)	Episode: "Tantrum" [7]
2002–03	Robbery Homicide Division	Ron Lu	Main cast
2004–05	Arrested Development	Lionel Ping	6 episodes
2005–12	The Closer	Mike Tao	Main cast
2007	Bones	Shi Jon Chen	Episode: "The Boneless Bride in the River"
2011	The Simpsons	Chinese Agent	Episode: "Homer the Father" [8]
2012–18	Major Crimes	Mike Tao	Main cast
2019–21	The Resident	Yee Austin	Recurring role [9]
2021	MacGyver	Dahn Nguyen	Episode: "Banh Bao + Sterno + Drill + Burner + Mason"
2023	Hello Tomorrow!	Walt	Recurring role
2024	Gremlins: The Wild Batch	The Lion (voice)	Episode: "Always Bring a Toothpick" [10]

References

1. "Michael Paul Chan". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2015. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015.
2. Hale, Mike (August 12, 2012). "The New Boss, Not the Same as the Old Boss 'Major Crimes' Replaces 'The Closer' on TNT". The New York Times .
3. "Alum Michael Paul Chan, 'Major Crimes' Actor, Finds Reason to Celebrate | College of Liberal & Creative Arts". lca.sfsu.edu. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
4. "Cinequest 2024: Michael Paul Chan reflects on the evolution of AAPI representation onscreen". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
5. "Asian Connections - The Closer's Michael Paul Chan". asianconnections.com. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
6. "BA – FilmQuest" . Retrieved May 14, 2025.
7. "Michael Paul Chan (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved July 6, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
8. "Listings | TheFutonCritic.com - The Web's Best Television Resource". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
9. Petski, Denise (September 4, 2019). "'The Resident': Kearran Giovanni, Geoffrey Cantor, Michael Paul Chan & Erinn Westbrook To Recur In Season 3". Deadline. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
10. Taylor, Drew (July 26, 2024). "'Gremlins: The Wild Batch' Adds Simu Liu as Series Regular, Sets Season 2 Premiere Date". TheWrap . Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2024.

External links

• Michael Paul Chan at IMDb