Table of Biography
Tommy Chong is an actor, musician, comedian, and activist from Edmonton, Canada. Moreover, Tommy Chong’s marijuana-themed Cheech & Chong comedy CDs and films with Cheech Marin have made him famous.
Early Life
Tommy Chong was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on May 24, 1938. He was born under the zodiac sign Gemini and he is currently 85 years old as of 2022. His real birth name is Thomas B Kin Chong. Moreover, he holds Canadian nationality and belongs to the mixed ethnicity of Chinese Canadian and Scottish-Irish French Canadian ancestry.
His father was a Chinese Canadian who immigrated in the 1930s and worked as a Chinese truck motorist. Additionally, his mother Lorna Jean worked as a waitress and belonged to Scottish-Irish and French ancestry. Furthermore, his family moved to Calgary, Alberta when he was still young and lived in a conservative neighborhood.
Tommy Chong studied at Crescent Heights High School but dropped out of school later at the age of 16. During his school days, he used to play the guitar to earn a few dollars a week due to financial problems. After dropping out, he was never interested in pursuing academics and followed his musical career.
Professional life
Tommy Chong started playing guitar in his school days and was the guitarist for a group called “The Shades” in the early 1960s. After that, the group moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, and changed its name to “Little Daddy & the Bachelors”. “Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers” was the group’s new name later on. After that, the group signed a record deal with “Gordy Records” in 1965 and recorded their first album.
Moreover, the group’s debut single titled “Does Your Mama Know About M” peaked at 29th position on the Billboard Hot 100. However, the group disbanded and he was fired by Motown producer Johnny Bristol. Moreover, he decided to form his improv, stand-up troupe after being fired from the band. After that, he and Richard ‘Cheech’ Marin formed the famous comedy duo called “Cheech & Chong” which debuted in 1971.
Caption: Tommy with Cheech Marin during their comedy duo career (Source: Instagram)
Moreover, the comedy duo entertained audiences with their indomitable stage presence and superb comic timing. Additionally, the duo also released their first self-titled comedy album “Cheech & Chong”. Due to the success of the album, the duo released their second album titled “Big Bambu” the next year. Moreover, the duo went on to release more comedy albums like “Cheech & Chong’s Wedding Album”, “Sleeping Beauty”, and “Los Cochinos” from 1973 to 1976.
After that, he appeared in the comedy film titled “Up in Smoke” with Cheech in 1978. In the following year, he released an album with a soundtrack titled “Up in Smoke” with Cheech. He released the album “Let’s Make a New Dope Deal” and appeared in the film “Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie” in 1980. He does not do any endorsements as of now.
More Professional Works
Moreover, he appeared in films like “Things Are Tough All Over”, “Nice Dreams”, “Still Smokin”, “It Came from Hollywood”, and many more from 1981 to 1985. However, Cheech decided to pursue a solo career after the release of the album “Get Out of My Room” in 1985. After that, Chong appeared in the television series “Miami Vice” as TR “Jumbo” Collins after the split in 1986.
Moreover, he then appeared in the film titled “Far Out Man” four years later. After that, he appeared in films like “The Spirit of ’76”, “National Lampoon’s Senior Trip”, “Tripwire”, and “Life After Sex” from 1989 to 1995. He then appeared as Van Elsinger in the television series titled “Sliders” in 1997. After that, he appeared as Leo Chingkwake in the American series “That ‘70s Show” for several seasons.
He then voiced Chief Running Pinto in the American series “South Park” in 2000 and appeared in the film “The Wash” in 2001. Later, he appeared in several films like “Evil Bong”, “American Drug War The Last White Hope”, and “Best Buds” from 2003 to 2007. He also appeared in several television shows like “MADtv”, “WWE Raw”, “Franklin and Bash”, “The Simpsons”, and “Code Monkeys” from 2008 to 2011. In 2013, he appeared in an animated comedy film “Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie” with Cheech. Besides that, he voiced Yax in an animated film titled “Zootopia”. Moreover, he appeared as a guest in various comedy shows from 2013 to 2019.
Achievements
Tommy Chong has won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording for his album titled “Los Cochinos”. Moreover, he also received nominations for three other Grammy Awards for his albums “Big Bambu”, “Cheech and Chong’s Wedding Album”, and “Cheech and Chong”. Besides that, he was honored with the “High Times Lifetime Achievement Award” in 2013 for his contributions.
Tommy Chong – Net Worth 2024
Tommy Chong has garnered a huge amount of money as an actor, musician, and comedian. According to online sources, he has an estimated net worth of $20 million US dollars from his career as an actor, musician, and comedian.
Relationship Status
Caption: Tommy Chong with his wife Shelby Chong (Source: Instagram)
Tommy Chong married Maxine Sneed in 1960 but the couple split in 1970 ten years later. Moreover, the couple had two daughters named Robbi Chong and Rae Dawn from their marriage. After that, he married Shelby Fiddis in the year 1975 in Los Angeles, United States. Furthermore, the couple has two sons named Paris and Gilbran and a daughter named Precious Chong. Additionally, the couple adopted Marcus Chong who became a prominent actor.
Tommy Chong has dealt with substance issues during his whole life. Moreover, he was found guilty of selling drug kits, mostly bongs, through the promotion of “Nice Dreams Enterprises” run by his son Paris. He agreed to plead guilty if the court lets go of his wife and son after his wife and son were also indicted.
Additionally, he paid a $120 thousand fine and served a one-year sentence at “Taft Correctional Institution” from 2003 to 2004. In 2012, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment, and later announced that he was “99% cancer-free” on social media.
Tommy Chong – Body Measurements
Caption: Tommy body measurement (Source: Instagram)
Tommy Chong has black eyes and dark brown hair. Moreover, Chong’s height is 5 feet 9 inches, his weight is 81 Kg, and his body measurements are 34-30-34.
Tommy Chong – Social Media
Tommy Chong is pretty active on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. His official Instagram account @heytommychong has over 2.6 million followers. On Twitter, he has over 506 thousand followers on his official account @tommychong.