Jodi Long

Jodi Long
Long in a 1988 production of 1000 Airplanes on the Roof
Born	(1954-01-07) January 7, 1954 New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	State University of New York at Purchase (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1962–present

Jodi Long¹ (born January 7, 1954)²³⁴ is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Madame Ybarra on Café Americain (1993–1994), Mrs. Kim on the Margaret Cho sitcom All-American Girl (1994-1995), Ok Cha on Sullivan & Son (2012–2014), as well as her portrayal of Wendy Yoshimura in Paul Schrader's biographical thriller film Patty Hearst (1988). She won Best Supporting Actress at the Daytime Emmy Awards for her role in the Netflix series Dash & Lily (2020).

Long was born in 1954⁴ in Manhattan and raised in Queens, New York,⁵⁶ the daughter of Kimiye "Trudie" Long (née Tsunemitsu; died 2014) and Australian former vaudevillian Lawrence K. Long (stage name Larry Leung).⁷ Her mother was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, the daughter of Japanese immigrant parents; despite her brother's service in the U.S. Military during World War II, the Tsunemitsu family was relocated to the Minidoka Internment Camp in Idaho, where Trudie resided for one year before moving to New York City.⁷ In New York, Trudie found employment at the American Bible Society and as a dancer at The China Doll night club.⁷ Long's father was of mixed Cantonese and Scottish descent, and began his career performing in Australia's vaudeville circuit.⁷ After immigrating to the United States, he performed as half of an act called the Wing Brothers in San Francisco.⁷ He also had a career as a tap-dancer and later as a PGA golf professional.⁸

Her parents appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on May 7, 1950 as the singing, dancing, comedy act, Larry and Trudie Leung.⁷ They later reunited for a documentary film, Long Story Short, which was written by their daughter and directed by Christine Choy, an Academy Award-nominated director.⁷ The documentary won the 2008 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival's Grand Jury's Honorable Mention for a Documentary Award as well as the Audience Award.⁷

Long's parents divorced during her childhood.⁷ She graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and earned a BFA in drama from the State University of New York at Purchase, graduating in 1976.⁷⁹

Long began acting as a child, appearing in a Sidney Lumet-directed Broadway production of Nowhere to Go but Up in 1962.¹⁰

In 1979, she appeared again on Broadway as Selina in Loose Ends, followed by The Bacchae (1980), both staged at the Circle in the Square Theatre.²

She made her feature film debut in Alan J. Pakula's thriller film Rollover (1981).¹¹ Towards the end of the music video for the 1986 song "Bizarre Love Triangle" by the English rock band New Order, Long makes a cameo appearance arguing with E. Max Frye about reincarnation.

After minor appearances in Splash (1984) and The Bedroom Window (1987), Long was cast as Wendy Yoshimura, a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, in Paul Schrader's thriller Patty Hearst (1988), about the abduction of Patricia Hearst.¹¹ The same year, she starred in Mike Newell's Soursweet.¹² On stage, she toured internationally in 1988 performing the role of M in the drama 1000 Airplanes on the Roof.¹³

Long had subsequent roles in The Exorcist III (1990), RoboCop 3 (1993), and Striking Distance (also 1993).¹¹ On television, she appeared as a regular on such series as Café Americain (1993–1994)¹⁴ and All-American Girl (1994).⁷ In 1996, Long returned to Broadway, appearing as Nam-Jun Vuong in Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's comedy thriller play Getting Away with Murder.²

On television, played a therapist in Desperate Housewives, a "power lesbian" Patty in Sex and the City and a bar owner, Ok Cha, on the TBS series Sullivan & Son, which was cancelled after three seasons on November 20, 2014.⁷¹⁵

She appeared in the 2002 Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, winning an Ovation Award for her performance during the Los Angeles tryout.⁹ Long also had a supporting role in the comedy film The Hot Chick (2003). In 2010, Long appeared in Mike Mills' comedy film Beginners.

In 2018, she had a supporting role in HBO Films' drama The Tale, starring Laura Dern, Ellen Burstyn, and Jason Ritter. In 2021, Long had a role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and subsequently played the role of Madame Armfeldt in the 2023 revival of A Little Night Music at the Pasadena Playhouse.¹ In early 2026, Long starred in the play Chinese Republicans for the Roundabout Theatre Company.¹⁶