All About Ali Wong's Parents, Adolphus and Tam Wong

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty

Get to know the people who raisedAli Wong.

ThecomedianandBeefactress was born in April 1982 to parents Adolphus and Tam Wong. The youngest of four, Wong grew up in San Francisco, California with her family, before studying at UCLA and eventually moving to New York City to pursue a career in stand-up comedy.

Over the years, Wong has opened up about her parents and how they supported her in her early career, including how her late father, who died in 2011, would proudly cheer her on at her shows.

Most recently, Wong has paid tribute to her parents asshe’s taken home big awardsfor her role in Netflix’sBeef. During the 75th Emmy Awards,she called out her late fatheras she accepted outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie.

“I wouldn’t be standing here without my parents, my amazing parents, my mother and my father, who I so wish was alive to share this moment with me,” the actress said.

Here’s everything Wong has shared about her parents.

Her mom came to the United States when she was 20

Her parents have three other children

Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty

In her feature withThe Hollywood Reporter, the publication noted that she credited her parents for “immersing her and her three older siblings in the Asian American community as well as for nurturing their creative expression from a young age,” eventually leading to her majoring in Asian American Studies at UCLA.

Her father was an anesthesiologist

During an appearance onJimmy Kimmel Livein 2019, Wong opened up about her late father and his commitment to making sacrifices to provide for his family: “He grew up in this one-bedroom apartment in Chinatown with no running water and he worked his ass off to study and become this anesthesiologist to provide the best life possible for me and my siblings.”

Her dad was super supportive of her career

John Salangsang/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty

While speaking with Jimmy Kimmel about her late father, Wong noted how he was always supportive of her career even “​​when I was struggling.” She recalled how he would come to her “not-so-well-attended shows” and after she’d make a “really filthy joke,” she’d announce to the audience that her dad was present.

She said he would then stand up and proudly wave to the crowd as if he’d “just won the Indy 500 or conquered Mount Everest.”

Her father inspired her to write her bookDear Girls

Before her father died from cancer in 2011, he left Wong a letter that eventually inspired her bookDear Girls. “[It] began with ‘Dear Alexandra,'“Wong Parade.comabout the letter from her father. “I love that letter but I wish he had written more to me about the person he was before I was born, and I wish he addressed all these lingering questions I still have for him.”

Through her debut book, which is made up of a collection of essays, she told the publication that she hopes to answer any lingering questions her own daughters might have for her, including details about her early life and career.

Ali Wong says the hardest part of her divorce was telling her mother

In April 2022, Wong and herthen-husband Justin Hakuta, with whomshe shares two children, announcedthey were separating after eight years of marriage. “It’s amicable and they will continue to co-parent lovingly,” a source told PEOPLE at the time. (Wongfiled for divorcein December 2023.)I

Inan interview withThe Hollywood Reporter,Wong said “the hardest part about getting divorced” was her mother’s reaction. “I had told her before that I thought we might get divorced, and she was really upset,” she told the publication.

“She looked me in the eye and asked, ‘Can you just wait until I die?’ She was literally asking me to not live a life for myself,” she said. “But she’s 82, what do I expect? … It was still really f—— hard dealing with all her fear of the shame it would bring her.”

She continued: “What was kind of cool about the announcement was that she didn’t have to tell any of her friends. All of them found out because it made it to a bunch of the Chinese and Vietnamese newspapers — I still can’t believe why on earth they would be interested in me — and they all called her. She died a million deaths in one day and then woke up the next day and was like, ‘I survived,’” adding, “She still sees Justin a ton.”

Ali Wong dedicated her Emmy win to her dad

Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty

While accepting an Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie for her role in Beef, Wong gave a special shoutout to her parents, noting how he she wishes her dad could have been there to see her win the honor.

“I wouldn’t be standing here without my parents, my amazing parents, my mother and my father, who I so wish was alive to share this moment with me,” the actress said on stage. “My hilarious father, who loved me unconditionally and taught me the value of failure.”

source: people.com