[1] His association with Mark Rothko, whom he met during his studies at the San Francisco Art Institute, saw him interact with several luminaries of the Beat Generation, including Jack Kerouac, who fictionalized him as "Arthur Ma" in his novel Big Sur.

[2] Wong was born in San Francisco and lived in Chinatown near the Stockton Street Tunnel to Chinese parents.

His father, Sare King Wong, was born and raised in Guangdong province, and later moved to Shanghai as a news journalist.

[2] Wong and his family moved to Courtland, California when he was two years old after his father took a job as teacher and principal at a school for the children of local Chinese laborers.

[1] Although he had acted in and staged productions with his first wife, Olive, who he had met after his return from Chicago, Wong was inspired by the assassination of John F. Kennedy to pursue a career in journalism, landing an on-air role for KQED's Newsroom, where he won a Regional Emmy, from 1968 until 1974, when he was stricken with Bell's palsy.

[2] During his tenure on Newsroom, Wong is credited with inventing the photojournalistic essay, covering stories with his still camera and returning to narrate them in the studio.

[2] After his news career ended, Wong turned to acting, starting in the local Asian American theatre and later landing larger roles on the stages of New York City.

In October 1980, Wong made his Asian American Theater Company (AATC) debut in San Francisco by appearing in their production of Paper Angels by Genny Lim.

The independent filmmaker and fellow San Franciscan first cast him in the lead role of his 1985 film Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, and went on to include him in Eat a Bowl of Tea and Life Is Cheap...

[2] At approximately the same time, Wong met and befriended Dawn Rose, who was an artist in Locke; they married in 1998 and together they purchased a former restaurant and store completed in 1913 in Walnut Grove, planning to open an art gallery and teahouse there in 2001.