Tommy Chong

Canadian born Tommy Chong could boast a curious mixed lineage: Chinese, French, Scotch and Irish. A musician by inclination, Chong dropped out of high school as a sophomore, frequently working as a band member to support himself. At one point, Chong was playing with The Vancouvers, for whom he helped write a hit song, "Does Your Mama Know About Me?" Chong was exposed to quite a few improvisational comedy groups during his musical career; he developed a knack for getting laughs on his own, forming an improv group called City Works, which performed at a Vancouver nitery run by Tommy's brother. It is here that Chong met erstwhile humorist Richard "Cheech" Marin, who'd left his native Los Angeles for Canada in order to avoid the draft. Breaking away from City Works two years later, Cheech and Chong (as the act was now known) developed several routines built around the characters of two dim-witted dopers who aspired to nothing more than "good grass." By 1972, the team had won a Grammy award for their scatologically hilarious comedy albums. Cheech and Chong's record producer Lou Adler decided that the boys were movie material. The team's first film Up in Smoke (1978) turned out to be one of Warner Bros.' highest grossing films (in every sense of the word). Subsequent Cheech and Chong films didn't do quite so well; perhaps their time had passed, or perhaps their material was just too thin for a stream of comedy hits. In recent years, Cheech and Chong have worked separately and together with variable success, and both have contributed their vocal talents to Disney cartoon features. Chong is the father of actress Rae Dawn Chong. -- Hal Erickson, AllMovie.com