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DEEP, DARK & HANDSOME
PAGE 2 OF 5
ussell Wong was born in March, 1963 in Troy New York. His Chinese
American father is from Shandung and still owns takeout restaurants in upstate New
York called House of Wong and Oriental Express. His mother, a tall, slim
attractive blond of Dutch, French, Canadian and Indian ancestry, lives in
Santa Monica, California. She met Wong's father in New York in 1950 through
her Chinese actress roomate. Yserloo was a part-time student of music and
the elder Wong was studying economics and political science at Columbia
University. There was some outside pressure to end the relationship but
they were, in Yserloo's words, "young and in love".
The union may have been a "tragic mistake", as she now puts it, but the pair
produced a daughter followed by six sons, Russell being the fifth. The
marriage dissolved when Russell was seven. Wong still remembers fondly
the time his father took the entire family of nine to the Orient for a vacation.
Wong's mother keeps a two-bedroom apartment on a pretty, tree-lined street
north of Wilshire Boulevard. Yserloo is very protective and proud of her
children. She described Russell as a "little king" as a child because he had
such regal bearing. She remembers Russell at two, singing commercial jingles
while being potty-trained. This memory still makes her laugh. When he was
four she frequently caught him singing the Star-Spangled Banner while
looking into the mirror.
She insists the good looks come from Wong's father and is equally sure that
the artistic instincts come from her side of the family. She now occupies her
time with singing and painting still life. Post-impressionists Bernard and
Matisse are her favorite artists.
CONTINUED BELOW
Wong considers his values to be, in his words, "very oriental". He joins with
his brothers in providing financial help to their mother, the parent with
whom he is closer. When we visited Russell Wong at his mother's apartment
he proudly showed off his mother's oil paintings which are hung throughout
the apartment. His mother was eager to show off snapshots of her
kids.
His parents' divorce is a subject that keeps coming back. It was
"the most painful experience" of his life, says Wong. He feels that it is
responsible for his moody nature and a tendency to dwell on
the past.
Wong spent his high school years at Yosemite through his mother's second
marriage which lasted three years. He was a football player at Mariposa
High, had a girlfriend, and worked part time for extra income.
He attended Santa Monica City College "without that much interest in
academics". He began taking dancing and acting classes. Wong remembers
how "wierd and tense" he felt to get into his first pair of tights. His
difficulties as a dancer he attributes to "Asian inhibitions". His intertest in
dancing surprised his mother but she was also pleased that he was pursuing a creative career.
It was acting, though, that finally provided the ultimate "therapeutic release".
"Definitely into women", Wong says of himself. He has dated women of
various ethnic backrounds. Normally, each serious relationship "seems to last
about two and a half years". "I'm sure he broke a few hearts," remarked
Julia Nickson who met Wong on the set of Harry's Hong Kong in which
both acted.
PAGE 3
| The marriage dissolved when Russell was seven. |