<P> Gedde Watanabe (born Gary Watanabe; June 26, 1955) is a Japanese American actor and comedian . </P> <P> In 1976, Watanabe's first role was as a member of the original Broadway cast of Pacific Overtures, originating the roles of Priest, Girl, and The Boy . He has since appeared in a number of films and television series, the first of which was The Long Island Four in 1980 . </P> <P> Many of his roles are caricatured East Asians with heavy accents, though he does not speak Japanese . Jason Buchanan wrote for Allmovie, "The character that Gedde Watanabe is most remembered for is Long Duk Dong, the clumsy foreign exchange student in (the 1984 film) Sixteen Candles," a role decried by some Asian - American groups as "stereotypical, racist and part of a long history of Hollywood's offensive depictions of Asian men ." "I was making people laugh . I didn't realize how it was going to affect people," Watanabe said in 2008 . "It took me a while to understand that . In fact, I was working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and I was accosted a couple of times by a couple of women who were just really irate and angry . They asked,' How could you do a role like that?' But it's funny, too, because at the same time I laugh at the character . It's an odd animal ." </P> <P> He had a starring role in both the film Gung Ho and its television spinoff . In the 1989 movie UHF starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, Watanabe co-starred as Kuni, a karate instructor and abusive host of a TV game show called Wheel of Fish . He later reprised this role on the Weird Al Show . Watanabe appeared on Sesame Street from 1988 to 1991 as Hiroshi and had a recurring role as gay nurse Yoshi Takata on the television drama ER from 1998 to 2002 . During the nineties, Watanabe studied acting at Theater Theater in Hollywood, California, with Chris Aable who introduced him to fellow actors Jon Cedar and Steve Burton . He voiced various Japanese characters on the animated television comedy The Simpsons . In 1998, he voiced Ling in the Disney animated film Mulan and reprised this role for the 2004 direct - to - video sequel, Mulan II and the 2005 video game Kingdom Hearts II . </P>

Who played long duck dong in 16 candles