Al Leong, the actor and martial artist best known for playing the terrorist henchman Uli in the 1988 film Die Hard, has been rushed to hospital after suffering a stroke. The 74-year-old was taken to a hospital in California last week following the medical emergency.
Sources close to Leong's family told TMZ that he had been rushed to hospital, but declined to reveal his current condition. The sources also did not confirm whether he is still in hospital. His family are requesting privacy at this time.
Career spanning four decades
While rarely given a speaking role, Leong remains one of Hollywood's most iconic henchmen. His career began in 1981 when he played a circus performer in Going Ape. In 1986, he portrayed Wing Kong Hatchet Man in Big Trouble in Little China, the year before landing his first major role in Lethal Weapon opposite Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.
He went on to star in numerous films, including Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), and The Scorpion King (2002). The retired martial artist also appeared in several TV shows throughout his career, including roles in The Fall Guy (1981), T.J. Hooker (1982), and Knight Rider (1982).
Recognition and legacy
His martial arts skills made him one of Hollywood's most recognisable action-film henchmen, and he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2018, a feature-length documentary titled Henchman: The Al Leong Story explored his life and career.
Although his TV and film roles often saw him get killed off, Leong once joked that it was this that kept him in a job. “I think I am hired to die because they’ve seen me on another show and said, ‘We want to bring this guy in / I like the way this guy dies,'” he told Dazed.
According to TV Overmind, Leong suffered from brain cancer back in the 1990s and had a stroke in 2005.
