It was 1984, the dawn of such exciting, adventurous movie classics as “Romancing the Stone”, and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”. Having already experienced the allure of “Romancing the Stone” together, the man I was dating at the time agreed to share yet another thrilling adventure with me as promised in the ads for “The Temple of Doom”, as well.
“The Temple of Doom” captured my attention from the beginning scene all the way to the end. Complete with non-stop action involving such as underground train rides on narrow tracks through scary subways, obnoxious thugs, such gross fare as ‘eye-ball’ soup, enslaved and tormented children, voodoo dolls, and other supernatural twists and turns, the plot was storytelling at its best. What I did not know back then was that the plot was actually based on a true story.
I loved the fedora adorned, explorer-loving, bull-whip cracking “Indy” and his traveling companion, and eventual love interest, Willie Scott (expertly portrayed by Harrison Ford and Kate Capshaw, respectively), who were thrown together by circumstances beyond their control. But, when the movie introduced us to Short Round, Indy’s ever so smart, clever 12-year-old sidekick, I was truly won over.
Short Round was such a cute, adorable, charming child, he made you want to hug him and never let him go. Although mischievous and devious at times, “Shorty”, as Indy affectionately called him, was his most loyal friend. Shorty looked up to the man he respectfully referred to as “Dr. Jones”, and faithfully rescued him and Willie from many dangers including, threatening thugs, voodoo traps, and ultimately utter destruction.
Child actor Jonathan aka Ke Huy Quan, beat out an estimated 6000 other actors to win the part of Short Round, hands down. After the fall of Saigon, Jonathan, a South Vietnamese child was forced to immigrate to the US with his family. Ke Huy made his film debut in “The Temple of Doom”, following his selection by director Steven Spielberg, who admired his personality. It should be noted that Ke Huys’ brother was one of the thousands of actors who had initially tried out for the part.
After the “Temple of Doom”, Quan went on to enjoy success in a string of other movie starring roles including: ‘Data’ in “The Goonies” (1985); ‘Sam’ in “Together We Stand” (1986) ; ‘Norimono’ in “Passengers” (a Japanese movie, also 1986); ‘Charlie Moore’ in “Breathing Fire” (1991); ‘Kim’ in “Encino Man” (1992); and ‘Sing Wong’ in “Second Time Around” (2002). Additionally, Quan had a recurring role as ‘Jasper Kwong’ in the hit sitcom, “Head of the Class” (1989 to 1991).
Quan graduated from the Alhambra High School in California, then went on to receive a cinematic arts degree from the University of Southern California. In addition to English, Quan is also fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. In “The Temple of Doom”, he alternately spoke Cantonese and English. Currently, Ke Huy is an excellent martial artsman, having trained under Philip Tan on “The Temple of Doom” set, and later under Tao-liang Tan. Quan was responsible for choreographing the stunts in the movies, “The X Men” and “The One”.
Jonathan, who was born in 1971, will turn 40 on August 20, of this year. So, Happy Birthday, Short Round. I wish him much continued success with his career, and perhaps we will see him again onscreen one day. But whatever he decides to do in the future, I will never forget the cute, little adorable 12 year old sidekick who melted my heart in 1984.
