Jonathan Ke Quan

Quan was born in Saigon, South Vietnam (present-day Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam). He was forced to leave his country when the Army of the Republic of Vietnam was defeated during the Fall of Saigon. His family was selected for political asylum and emigrated to the United States. He became a child actor at age 12, starring as Harrison Ford's sidekick Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. After being cast, his family changed his name to Ke Huy, the name by which he is credited in the film.

In 1985, he co-starred in The Goonies as a member of the eponymous group of children, the inventor Richard "Data" Wang. He played a pickpocket orphan in the 1986 Taiwanese movie It Takes a Thief. In 1987, he appeared in the Japanese movie "Passengers" (Passenjā Sugisarishi Hibi) with the Japanese idol singer Honda Minako. He played Sam on the short-lived TV series Together We Stand (1986–1987) and played Jasper Kwong in the sitcom Head of the Class from 1989 to 1991. He also starred in the movie Breathing Fire (1991) and had a small role in Encino Man (1992). He played the starring role in the 1993 Mandarin language TV show The Big Eunuch and the Little Carpenter which ran for forty episodes. He also starred in the 1996 Hong Kong/Vietnam collaboration movie Red Pirate. He last appeared onscreen in the 2002 Hong Kong movie Second Time Around alongside Ekin Cheng and Cecilia Cheung.

He attended Mount Gleason Jr. High in Tujunga, California, and Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California.After high school, he graduated from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He later attended the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom. He is fluent in Vietnamese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.

Having studied Taekwondo under Philip Tan on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, he later trained under Tao-liang Tan. He worked as a stunt choreographer for X-Men and The One as the assistant of renowned Hong Kong fight choreographer Corey Yuen.