[3] After moving to Los Angeles after his uncle's peanut[4] business collapsed during the Depression of 1920-1921, Fung made his film debut in 1922 in Hurricane's Gal.

Behind the scenes, he was an advocate for fair treatment of studio actors,[4] and was reportedly an acquaintance of Jean Harlow.

[5] While maintaining his acting career, he ran his own Chinese restaurant: New Moon Café in East Hollywood.

scaldingly said: "Chinese character actor Willie Fung spent his entire Hollywood career imprisoned by the Hollywood Stereotype Syndrome...Fung was the personification of the 'Yellow Peril'...buck-toothed, pigtailed, pidgin-English-spouting comedy relief.

"[11] Despite being in 125 films over the course of 22 years of acting, his efforts were unappreciated during his time due to racism, and afterwards by critics and historians for having played racially stereotyped roles.