You’re talking about the man, the myth, the legend — Al Leong. The greatest action movie henchman in the history of cinema.

He’s worked with action stars like Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Willis, Jean Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Brandon Lee, among others. He even worked in non-henchman roles alongside future action stars like Keanu Reeves.

Leong was born in St. Louis, Missouri — the youngest of three children from Chinese-American parents. In 1962, when he was 10 years old, they moved to Los Angeles.

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Al Jeong worked as a grip for Warner Brothers Studios.

On the set of Off the Wall he was approached by the director and asked if he knew martial arts. Al grew up a martial artist, having practiced in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Kali, and Jujutsu through much of his life. The director asked if he could teach four actresses playing cheerleaders a routine. He did and actually ended up in the movie.

A week later he worked on another film (which I believe was The Twilight Zone: The Movie), where he had to run through fake rain within a pool of water. He got his SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card. He had no clue what to do with it, but it led to a lot of stunt work in movies and on shows like Magnum P.I., The A Team, and Knight Rider.

His first substantial film stunt work was on John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. He played the Wing Kong Hatchet Man.

His role as Endo in Lethal Weapon was a short but sweet onscreen appearance that truly launched his stuntman status in action movies.

He was the henchman that administered the electric shock torture onto Mel Gibson’s Riggs. He is later killed onscreen by Riggs via a lethal leg chokehold.
But it was Die Hard that really cemented his iconic status. He played henchman Uli, the terrorist that, amidst getting ready for an impending raid by SWAT team members, decided to take a piece of candy from the kiosk he was hiding behind.

In 1989, he graduated (briefly) from henchman status to portray Ghengis Khan in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

In 1993, his carer was momentarily paused when he discovered that he had brain cancer. He overcame that, only to have a stroke in 2005. He has since lost the use of his right arm.
Check out this awesome 2012 interview.

Al was and is always a humble man. Despite some lines throughout the years, he has always said that he’s not an actor — he’s a stuntman.
I’ll continue to remember him as the coolest and greatest cinematic henchman in action movies.