Tommy Chong
Chong in 2014, photo by kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Thomas B. Kin Chong
Place of Birth: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Date of Birth: May 24, 1938
Ethnicity:
*father – Chinese
*mother – Scottish, English
Tommy Chong is Canadian and American comedian, actor, musician, writer, activist, and director. Known together as Cheech & Chong, he is known for starring with Cheech Marin in a series of comedies, including Up In Smoke (1978).
Tommy is the son of Lorna Jean (Gilchrist) and Stanley Chong. His father was Chinese, and spoke Cantonese. His mother was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and was white. Tommy is married to comedian, producer, and actress Shelby Chong. He has six children: two, actress Rae Dawn Chong and actress and model Robbi Chong, with his former wife Maxine Sneed; and four, including actress Precious Chong, with Shelby.
Tommy’s maternal grandfather was named Samuel Gilchrist (who likely was the son of William Gilchrist and Mary Graham). William was Scottish.
Tommy’s maternal grandmother was named Emma Woodcock.
Sources: Interview with Tommy’s daughter Rae Dawn Chong about the family’s heritage – https://web.archive.org/web/20100609190311/http://www.asianweek.com
Genealogy of Tommy Chong – https://www.geni.com
Death record of Tommy’s mother – https://www.familysearch.org
07/25/2002 – Tommy Chong with daughter Precious Chong, Photo Credit: Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos
His father was Canadian, from Vancouver. Geni has his grandparents as Kin Chong and Yanmin Mao, both from Guangzhou. I can’t see who added them so I don’t know if it’s that Boyce asshole or not.
It is Boyce, for both his father’s page and his grandparents’.
To be clear, his maternal grandfather is confirmed as the man I linked, thus his own parents can be added.
Tommy’s maternal grandfather was Samuel Duncan Gilchrist (the son of William Gilchrist and Mary Graham). William was Scottish.
It’s confirmed? I don’t know. Something weird is going on here. And I don’t think Emma Woodcock and Whatever Dillon sound like similar names. Maybe if it was “Whatemma Dillon.”
He’s probably the grandfather. But I don’t know.
We still don’t know about what’s going on with his grandmother. But unless you think that death record is wrong, then yes, the Samuel I listed is his grandfather (assuming you don’t think his mother is adopted).
Again, his mother is listed on a census as the daughter of the Samuel in that death record. What I wrote about his grandmother was a separate point, and not related to the question about his grandfather. I have no idea why her death record lists another mother than her siblings’. But Samuel is without a doubt Tommy’s grandfather.
Replace “Scots-Irish” with “Scottish, possibly other”
Tommy’s maternal grandfather was named Samuel Gilchrist.
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Tommy’s maternal grandfather was Samuel Duncan Gilchrist (the son of William Gilchrist and Mary Graham). William was Scottish.
Here he is on censuses (with his first wife, Jamima Dillon):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMP9-484
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPRZ-G1TM
Their marriage record:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZB7-FR3
On a sidenote, it’s likely with Jamima Dillon that the statements about Tommy’s mother’s French ancestry originates, as her ethnicity is listed as French on censuses. But she’s evidently not Tommy’s grandmother.
Samuel on a census (don’t know if his father’s wife, Nancy, is the same woman as Mary Graham, or a stepmother):
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MVFL-HL2
Is that his grandfather? He was married to Jemima Dillon from 1899 well past Chong’s mother’s birth on December 18, 1916.
I did have Chong’s grandfather’s name listed as Samuel Duncan Gilchrist, but I don’t have any proof now that it was anything other than Samuel Gilchrist.
I just found Tommy’s mother on a census. She lived with the family I already linked in 1926, it’s just that the page was changed and they ended up on a separate record on the website (you can look at the original document and go back one page to find the parents).
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPRB-F9FH
So yes, now I’m completely sure that’s his grandfather. I’m also starting to suspect that Emma Woodcock and Jamima/Jamina/Whatever Dillon is the same person. Their first names are quite similar, don’t you think? Plus that Jamima was evidently of French descent (though her parents names aren’t very French?), and Tommy’s mother has always been said to have Scots-Irish and French ancestry.
Either that or Samuel impregnated the maid or something. Lorna Jean’s one year younger brother had the same mother as the rest of the siblings.
Strong tan
he does not look half-Chinese at all.
chong looks a little chinese. precious doesnt look chinese
According to this https://web.archive.org/web/20100609190311/http://www.asianweek.com/2005/11/18/growing-up-a-chong/ his dad spoke Cantonese which probably meant he was from either Hong Kong or Macau. If Chong’s dad was from Macau he could be partially Portuguese as Macau was Portuguese territory.
On Ancestry Stanley Chong was born in 1914 in Vancouver and died in 1985 in Qualicum Beach.
https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/stanley-chong-24-5x93nz
I don’t think this is the same Stanley but it might(?) be. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:27XY-43F
Here’s a Stanley Chung born in 1907 in Vancouver.