Tommy Chong

About

Thomas Bing Kin Chong (born May 24, 1938) is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician and activist. He is known for his role/inspiration in the marijuana industry, his marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy albums and movies with Cheech Marin, and playing the character Leo on Fox’s That ’70s Show. He became a naturalized United States citizen in the late 1980s.

Thomas Bing Kin Chong was born on May 24, 1938, in Edmonton, Alberta. His mother was a Canadian of Scottish and Irish ancestry, while his father was a Canadian of Chinese descent and was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1908. Tommy’s father lived at 10846 Jasper Ave. Stanley Chong would go on to marry Lorna Jean Gilchrist, and they had two children: Stanley and Tommy Chong. Chong first lived with an aunt in Vancouver. Tommy had an older brother, Stan (1936–2018).
As a youth, Tommy Chong moved with his family to Calgary, settling in a conservative neighbourhood Chong has referred to as “Dog Patch”. He has said that his father had “been wounded in World War II and there was a veterans’ hospital in Calgary. He bought a $500 house in Dog Patch and raised his family on $50 a week.” In an interview, Chong later described…