Lauren Tom Biography

American actress (born 1961)

Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. She began her career on stage, winning an Obie Award. Her films include The Joy Luck Club (1993). On television, she is known for her roles in the NBC sitcom Friends (1995–1996), the ABC series Men in Trees (2006–2008) and Grace Under Fire (1997–1998), the CW series Supernatural (2012–2014), and the Disney Channel series Andi Mack (2017–2019).

In animation, Tom has voiced Amy Wong in Futurama, Dana Tan in Batman Beyond, Jinx and Gizmo in Teen *ans and Teen *ans Go!, Minh and Connie Souphanousinphone in King of the Hill, Trish and Sherry in Rocket Power, Yan Lin in W.I.T.C.H. and Numbuh 3 in Codename: Kids Next Door.

Early life

Tom was born in the Chicago suburb Highland Park, Illinois, the daughter of Nancy (née Dare) and Chan Tom, Jr. She has a brother, Chip. Their parents were born in Chicago, and their grandparents came from Kaiping, Guangdong, China. She was raised in a largely Jewish neighborhood.

Career

Theatre

At age 17, Tom landed a spot with a touring company of A Chorus Line and was cast in the Broadway production of the show less than a year later in the role of Connie. She won an Obie Award for her Off-Broadway acting and was cast in the Broadway shows Hurlyburly and Doonesbury. In Chicago, she starred in the Goodman Theater's production of 'Tis Pity She's a *.

Film

Tom has played several small roles in films including Nothing Lasts Forever, Wall Street, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Blue Steel. Her biggest role up until that point was as a waitress in the Robin Williams/Tim Robbins film Cadillac Man. This role led to being a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Tom's lead role in the film The Joy Luck Club in 1993 led to roles in other films such as When a Man Loves a Woman and North.

Since the mid-1990s, Tom has focused primarily on voiceover roles. She has appeared in a few live-action films, including the 2003 comedy Bad Santa and the 2004 film In Good Company.

Television

Lauren Tom's first role in television was that of Miko Wakamatsu on The Facts of Life. She subsequently appeared on The Equalizer, Vengeance Unlimited, Catfish With Black Bean Sauce, thirtysomething, Quantum Leap, Chicago Hope, Homicide: Life on the Street, Grace Under Fire, Friends, The Nanny, The Middle, DAG, The Division, Monk, My Wife and Kids, Barbershop: The Series, Grey's Anatomy, The Closer, and Men in Trees. She also had a supporting role on the 8th and 9th season of the drama series Supernatural as prophet Kevin Tran's mother, Linda Tran. In 2018, she appeared in the second season of the Amazon Prime drama series Goliath.

Voice acting

Tom in 2010 at San Diego Comic-Con

Tom began vocal work in the animated series Superman: The Animated Series playing Angela Chen. From there on, she voiced Dana Tan in Batman Beyond and had minor roles on Pinky and the Brain, Extreme Ghostbusters, and The Zeta Project before landing her regular roles on King of the Hill, where she voiced Minh and Connie Souphanousinphone and later Futurama, where she voices Amy and Inez Wong.

Since first playing the character on stage in the 1983 Doonesbury musical, Tom has periodically voiced the character Honey Huan in media related to Doonesbury, most notably in a series of animated shorts satirizing the 2000 U.S. presidential election.

She has also lent her voice to All Grown Up!, Rocket Power, Max Steel, Handy Manny as Mrs. Lee and Nelson, Samurai Jack, Johnny Bravo, Justice League Unlimited, Kim Possible, and Legion of Super Heroes.

She has also voiced the villains Gizmo and Jinx on Teen *ans, Yan Lin, Susan, Alchemy on W.I.T.C.H., Tasumi on The Replacements, Jake's mom, Counselor Chang on American Dragon: Jake Long, and as Joo Dee on Avatar: The Last Airbender. She also guest-starred in The Penguins of Madagascar as Chuck Charles's co-anchor, Bonnie Chang, in "Gator Watch" and "All Tied Up With a Boa".

In 2010, she provided the voice of Song, Bai Li, and Ming on the animated series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness and played the role of Jessica in the animated film Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare.

Other animated films Tom has voiced in include Mulan II, Kim Possible: The Secret Files, Kim Possible Movie: So The Drama, Kung Fu Panda 2, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and the four Futurama television films: Bender's Big Score, The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.

She voiced Li Li Stormstout in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and played Hayaku on an episode of Turbo FAST.

Personal life

Tom was previously married to Glenn Lau-Kee. She has since married actor Curt Kaplan in October 1999, with whom she has two sons.

Filmography

Tom in 2009

Film

Television

Video games

Stage

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lauren Tom.

• Official website
• Lauren Tom at IMDb:
• Lauren Tom at AllMovie
• Lauren Tom at the Internet Broadway Database