Tommy Chong Biography

Fast Facts

• In 2012, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New Hampshire Film Festival
• Accepted the 2013 Los Angeles High Times Medical Cannabis Cup Lifetime Award
• Before entering comedy, he opened a nightclub which brought the Ike & Tina Turner Revue to Vancouver for the first time
• Started playing guitar in order to make money when he dropped out of high school at the age of 16
• Quote: "(On comparing jazz to comedy) "Comedy is the ultimate truth․ Jazz is hitting the notes that that no one else would hit, and comedy is saying words that no one else would say․""
• In 2003, he plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia, for which he was sentenced to nine months in federal prison
• Of the 55 people involved with "Operation Pipe Dreams," he was the only one to be given jail time
• Was in contention for the role of Sheriff Leigh Brackett in "Halloween․"
• Was the original choice to portray Shenzi in "The Lion King," but the producers of the film could not get ahold of him at the time
• Is a survivor of prostate cancer after being diagnosed with the disease in 2012