Margaret Cho (born Moran Cho December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and as of 2008, recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sex. In acting terms, she has played more serious parts, such as that of John Travolta’s long-suffering FBI colleague in the action movie Face/Off.
She has also directed and appeared in music videos, and has her own clothing line. She has frequently supported gay rights, and identifies herself as queer. She has won awards for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of women, Asians, and the LGBT community.
Cho was born into a Korean family in San Francisco, California. She grew up in a racially diverse neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s, which she described as a community of, “old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the ’60s, drag queens, Chinese people and Koreans. To say it was a melting pot—that’s the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time.”
Cho’s parents, Young-Hie and Seung-Hoon Cho, ran a bookstore on San Francisco’s Polk Street. Her father writes joke books as well as a newspaper column in Seoul, South Korea. After Cho expressed an interest in performance, she auditioned and was accepted into the San Francisco School of the Arts, a performing arts high school. While at the school, she became involved with the school’s improvisational comedy group with Sam Rockwell.
After doing several shows in a club adjacent to her parents’ bookstore, Cho launched a stand-up career and spent several years developing her material in clubs. Cho’s career began to build after appearances on television and university campuses. She secured a coveted spot as opening act for Jerry Seinfeld, and was featured on a Bob Hope special. She was also a frequent visitor to The Arsenio Hall Show. In 1994, Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian.
That same year, ABC developed and aired a sitcom based on Cho’s stand-up routine. The show, All American Girl, was initially feted as the first show where an East Asian family was prominently featured.
Cho has expressed subsequent regret for much of what transpired during the production of the episodes of the show.