James Lew

James Jene Fae Lew was born on 6 September 1952 in Escalon, California, and grew up in South Los Angeles. Of Chinese American background, he later described martial arts as a natural curiosity that began at fourteen when he and a friend tried a class combining taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. High school training under a Green Beret instructor who mixed combat methods with Choy Lay Fut deepened the obsession. He added Bak Mei Pai and Five Animals kung fu, competed in forms, and helped run a Sil Lum Kung Fu school with close friends while building athletic cross-training in track, gymnastics, and ballet.

Lew did not frame his path as a single dojo diploma. He studied multiple Chinese and Korean systems, plus escrima, wushu, Thai kickboxing, and Chen tai chi, and argued that cross-training was essential. Tournament forms wins advertised the school. He also absorbed lessons from magazine photo shoots with masters after a friend helped launch Inside Kung Fu, treating those sessions as unpaid graduate school. Formal Hollywood craft learning came on sets: falling, fire, car work, and how to make a hero look strong without stealing the frame.

An early professional credit came on ABC's Kung Fu (1974). Cassavetes's The Killing of a Chinese Bookie followed, then work in Taiwan on Young Dragon. Showing that footage to John Carpenter helped open Big Trouble in Little China (1986), where Lew fought as a Chang Sing and coordinated martial arts. He became a fixture of American action cinema and television across four decades, from Hot Shots! Part Deux and the Rush Hour films to coordinating Marvel's Luke Cage, winning a 2017 Emmy, directing parody features, and entering the Black Belt Hall of Fame in 2024.

Lew called Los Angeles home even after working in cities from Hong Kong and Taipei to Cape Town and Honolulu. He married Pamela Gidley in 2005; the marriage ended in 2008. In 2014 he married Jordanna Alex Potter. He was stepfather to actor Ryan Potter. In interviews after his Emmy he thanked Jordanna as his support system. Family tributes after his death imagined him walking a beach with beloved dogs Dudley and Floyd. He died in Los Angeles on 23 August 2026.

Lew said martial arts taught humility: the more you know, the more you realize you do not know. On set he stressed safety, character-consistent fights, and making actors comfortable. After winning the Emmy he linked recognition to authority: stunt teams needed power to say no when rushed days got dangerous, a point sharpened by the death of friend and fellow stunt performer John Bernecker. He valued being the first Chinese American stunt coordinator to win that Emmy and wanted the craft treated as seriously as other production departments.

Lew's face and timing taught a generation of viewers how American kung fu cinema looked, even when credits buried him as "martial arts instructor" or an unnamed fighter. Coordinating Luke Cage and winning an Emmy pushed stunt leadership into awards conversation. Peers remembered a performer who took hits cleanly, coordinated with control-freak care, and stayed working into the 2020s. His Black Belt Hall of Fame induction in 2024 marked martial-arts recognition beyond Hollywood call sheets.

Primetime Emmy Award, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series, or Movie (2017), for Marvel's Luke Cage (Netflix). Black Belt Hall of Fame induction (2024), reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Multiple martial arts forms championships in his demo-team years (self-reported in interviews; specific meet lists vary by source).

Best known onscreen for the Hot Shots! Part Deux kickboxing duel with Charlie Sheen and for Big Trouble in Little China. Frequent presence across Rush Hour films, Lethal Weapon 4, Timecop, Star Trek (2009), Inception, Avengers: Endgame, and decades of television from The A-Team to Buffy and Westworld. Directed 18 Fingers of Death! and co-directed Made in Chinatown. Author of The Art of Stretching and Kicking (2018). Subject of long interviews at Wing Kong Exchange, The Action Elite, and The Film Files.

No major public controversies are documented in major obituaries. Industry anecdotes (full-contact work with Jet Li on Lethal Weapon 4; rushed production days) appear as craft war stories rather than scandals. Cause of death was not disclosed; avoid speculation.

James Lew died on 23 August 2026 in Los Angeles at age 73. His wife, Jordanna Potter, announced the death on social media. TMZ and subsequent outlets reported he had been battling unspecified health issues; no official cause of death was made public. Tributes highlighted his Emmy, his Carpenter collaborations, and the Hot Shots fight that casual fans knew by heart.