Chan was born in San Francisco, California. His television work has included roles like Judge Lionel Ping on Arrested Development, Detective Ron Lu on Robbery Homicide Division, the voice of Jimmy Ho on The PJ's, Mr. Chong on The Wonder Years, a Japanese investor in the 1990 Northern Exposure episode "Dreams, Schemes and Putting Greens", an agent of the C.I.A. (Chinese Intelligence Agency) on a 2011 episode of The Simpsons, and roles on shows like Bones, Babylon 5, and The Young and the Restless.

One of his more notable film roles was as the convenience store owner in the 1993 film Falling Down, where he refused to give a discount to Michael Douglas' character when he attempted to purchase a can of soda to get change for the pay telephone outside the store. Another was as Data's father in The Goonies. He appeared in both of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, in two different roles: a Wayne Enterprises executive in Batman Forever, and Dr. Lee in Batman & Robin. Other films in his filmography include Americanese, Megiddo: The Omega Code 2, U.S. Marshals, Spy Game, Quicksilver, The Joy Luck Club, The Insider, and Thief.