Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Short Round?
With Shia LaBeouf about to play a new sidekick to Indiana Jones in the upcoming “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” I’ve had Short Round on the brain. You know, Short Round, the “helpful” little boy in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” who said “Okey-dokey” so many times you kinda wanted to throttle him even though he wasn’t responsible for the script. You know, this kid:
His name is Jonathan Ke Quan and right about now some of you are yelling, “Hold up, you forgot the most important thing he ever did: Starring as Data in The Goonies.” Easy there, Chunk-lover. Girlfriend didn’t forget:
So whatever happened to Jonathan Ke Quan? He got some other acting gigs here and there, then eventually grew up and attended USC Film School. More recent additions to his resume include jobs working on the stunts for “X-Men” (rumor has it our Data is now a martial artist) and, more recently, a gig as an editor and foley artist on a film called “The Other Side.”
Quan could resurface in a more high-profile way if a “Goonies” musical adaptation or sequel ever comes to pass (neither has been confirmed). The odds of his character Short Round ever seeing the light of day again are much, much lower. All that said, here is what Quan looks like these days as he gets ready to turn 37 this summer.
And as a final parting gift, here is one more semi-amateurish YouTube video, which gives us a glimpse of several “Goonies,” then and now. (Stating the obvious: Josh Brolin was cute then, still pretty cute now.)
Photo: The Daily Astorian
Rich or Rehab? appears every Tuesday morning (more or less) on Strollerderby.


Finally! I feel old, but less old than him. I’m always older than the “where are they now” people.
Wow! I had the same reaction as above…
He’s 37!!
Data is 37? Oy, I’m old.