Tamlyn Tomita

Tamlyn Naomi Tomita was born January 27, 1966 on the island of Okinawa (Okinawa Prefecture). She is the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. From Japanese ancestry, Tamlyn is one of the rare Asian-American actresses to date that has been actively in the business for almost two decades. Tamlyn made her big screen debut playing Kumiko in The Karate Kid II (1986), and has appeared in over a dozen movies since then. She also has a long list of television credits in starring roles, guest starring roles, recurring characters, and TV movies. Her best known big screen roles include Waverly Jong in The Joy Luck Club (1993) and the wife to the man played by actor Antonio Banderas in Quentin Tarantino's Four Rooms (1995) which also starred big Hollywood names such as Tim Roth and Madonna. She may also be well remembered for playing both Lily Murakami and Ming Li in the daytime soap Santa Barbara, Jenny Dodge in 24 and Traci Menitti in JAG. In 1991, People Magazine chose her as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. As of 2006, Tamlyn resides in Northridge, Los Angeles, California and is dating actor Stan Egi. She claims that one of her bad habits is smoking. When Tamlyn is not acting, she is an advocate for social causes, charities, and organizations in the Asian-American community. Tamlyn also has a passion for history. It was her major when she attended UCLA; however, she gave up her studies to pursue acting.