Ken Jeong was born on July 13, 1969. Known as a Korean-American artist, Jeong has established himself in the fields of acting and comedy, as well as in the world of producing, writing and television. In fact, he is a licensed medical doctor. In his career, he took part in many successful productions such as 'Knocked Up', 'Role Models', 'Community' series, 'The Hangover' series, 'Furry Vengeance', 'Ride Along 2' and 'Crazy Rich Asians'. He also wrote and directed 'Dr. He took the lead role in the sitcom called 'Ken'.
Although Jeong practices as a doctor, he took a break from this career to prioritize his passion for acting. Today, he continues to meet the audience as a jury member in both the American and British versions of the popular singing competition 'The Masked Singer'.
The artist, whose real name is Kendrick Kang-Joh Jeong, was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969, as the child of a South Korean immigrant family. He spent his childhood and youth in Greensboro, North Carolina. While attending Walter Hines Page High School, he was on the school's Quiz Bowl team, took an active role in the student council, and played violin in the school orchestra.
Jeong, who graduated in 1986 at the age of 16, was awarded Greensboro's "Youth of the Year" award for his achievements.
While continuing his education at Duke University, he became interested in acting when he was only a sophomore. While continuing his medical education, he also studied theater and seriously considered advancing in this field. After graduating from Duke University in 1990, he earned his doctorate of medicine from UNC School of Medicine in 1995.
The summer before medical school, he honed his talent by attending theater classes at UCLA in Los Angeles.
Jeong's interest in theater and improv comedy blossomed while he was a medical student in North Carolina. He frequently performed at open mic nights in the Raleigh-Durham area and performed at local comedy clubs. He even opened for the likes of Margaret Cho and Jeff Dunham at a comedy event held on the Duke University campus.
Following his medical education, he completed his residency in internal medicine at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. During this period, winning the "Big Easy Laff-Off" competition in 1995 was an important turning point in his career. NBC executive Brandon Tartikoff and comedy club founder Budd Friedman, who were among the judges, encouraged Jeong to come to Los Angeles.
Jeong moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and worked as an internal medicine specialist at Kaiser Permanente Hospital for several years. During this period, he continued to perform stand-up shows in well-known comedy clubs such as The Improv and Laugh Factory. His stand-up performances gave him the opportunity to guest star on popular series such as 'The Office', 'Entourage' and 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'.
He also appeared in the program 'Comic Groove', which was broadcast on Comedy Central in 2002. The artist's first big break in the cinema world was as Dr. in the movie 'Knocked Up' directed by Judd Apatow. It happened with the character Kuni.
Productions in which he took part
He took part in a total of 174 productions; 12 of the most well-known are listed.
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015) โ Self - Guest
- Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (2009) โ Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014) โ Self - Guest
- The Late Late Show with James Corden (2015) โ Self - Guest
- The Simpsons (1989) โ Korean Monks (voice)
- American Dad! (2005) โ Dr. Perlmutter (voice)
- Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014) โ Self - Guest
- The Kelly Clarkson Show (2019)
- โThe Officeโ (2005) โ Bill
- The View (1997)
- The Jennifer Hudson Show (2022) โ Self - Guest
- Conan (2010)
Production and imprint information was taken from TMDB.
