Chao-Li Chi

Chao-Li Chi (Chinese: 冀朝理; pinyin: Jì Cháolǐ; April 5, 1927 – October 16, 2010) was a Chinese-American actor and dancer who worked extensively in American television, including his best known role as Chao-Li, the faithful majordomo and chauffeur of Jane Wyman's character in Falcon Crest. His film credits include Big Trouble in Little China, The Joy Luck Club, The Nutty Professor, Wedding Crashers and The Prestige. He was featured in the short film by Maya Deren Meditation on Violence, in 1948.

Chi was a member of a prominent and influential Shanxi political dynasty. His brothers included the economist Ji Chaoding, and diplomat and UN Under-Secretary General Ji Chaozhu.

Chi was born in Shanxi, China, on April 5, 1927. Both his father and grandfather were prominent in local politics. His older brother, Ji Chaoding, was an economist and left-wing political activist. His younger brother Ji Chaozhu was a translator, diplomat, and later Under-Secretary General of the United Nations.

In 1939, when Chi was 11-years old, he and his elder brother Chaoding left China as refugees from the Japanese invasion of China. They settled in New York City, where Chaoding was attending Columbia University and would later work as a trade representative for the Nationalist government. Chi obtained a bachelor's degree from St. John's College, in Annapolis, Maryland. Chi also earned a master's degree from New York University and a second master's degree from The New School, which was known as the New School for Social Research at the time.

Chi began studying acting, dance, and performance art at Pearl S. Buck’s East and West Association. He appeared as the lead performer in Maya Deren's 1948 film, Meditation on Violence, in which he performs a Wudangquan routine. He continued to perform with Deren dance companies into the 1960s. In 1967, Chi became the Dance Director of the Living Arts Program in Dayton, Ohio, while touring with Deren.

Chi appeared in approximately fifty-one film and television roles during the course of his career. On television, Chi was perhaps best known for his role as Chao-Li in the 1980s soap opera Falcon Crest which aired for nine years on CBS. His other television credits included parts on M*A*S*H and Pushing Daisies. Chi's film credits included The Joy Luck Club, Big Trouble in Little China, The Prestige and Wedding Crashers. His theater credits included the travelling production of Flower Drum Song and the short lived musical Barbary Coast.

Chi moved to Los Angeles in 1975. A practicing Taoist, Chi co-founded the Taoist Sanctuary, later renamed the Taoist Institute, in Hollywood. He taught courses in the Tao Te Ching, I Ching, philosophy and tai chi at California State University, Los Angeles and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. He also taught tai chi at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California, on Saturdays for more than thirty years.

Chi died in his home in Granada Hills, California, on October 16, 2010, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife, daughter and stepson.