Big Trouble In Little China star and martial arts expert dead age 73

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A Hollywood movie star and martial arts expert has died, his representatives have announced.

Peter Kwong died in his sleep on Tuesday night. The cause of death has not been confirmed, but tributes for the star have been flooding in. Kwong played Rain in John Carpenter's 1986 action

classic Big Trouble in little China. His career first started in the late 1970s and 1980s after he achieved his first TV role.

Perhaps most notably, the star played Rain in John Carpenter's 1986 action classic Big Trouble in little China. Adding to this, he starred in popular television shows The A-Team, Wonder

Woman, Little House on the Prairie and Miami Vice.

Kwong's biggest role was for Big Trouble in Little China in which he played Rain, one of the three super-powered martial artists.

While the movie was a box office flop at the time, it has since carved a place for itself in the cult classic sphere.

Then, it only managed to scrape together around $11 million (£8.1million) against a budget of roughly $20 million (£14.9million).

Outside of his acting career, Kwong was further involved in Hollywood behind-the-scenes. He was on various industry boards, including the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) National Board of

Directors and the Actors Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which organises the Oscars.

"He had a wonderful life and career," Kwong's longtime friend, actor and producer Peter R.J. Deyell, told Deadline. "I watched him fight for the things he believed in, and I championed him

for that... He was always a gentleman and willing to help."

Also in 1986, Kwong starred in “Never Too Young to Die” with John Stamos and Vanity, as well as “The Golden Child” with Eddie Murphy and Charles Dance.

Taking to social media, fans shared their devastation at the news. One wrote: "This is shocking and I'm saddened that Peter Kwong, the actor who played Rain has passed away in his sleep

overnight at the age of 73. Peter, will forever be to me, RAIN, the coolest cat, ever with long locks to wear a two piece suit!"

Another added: "Another small piece of our childhood gone. RIP." A third said: "As a massive fan of Big Trouble in Little China, this is a meaningful loss."