Cheng Pei-pei (born 6 January 1946) is a Chinese actress, who is considered cinema's first female action hero. She is known for her performance in the 1966 King Hu ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

'' film ''

Come Drink with Me ''Come Drink with Me'' ( zh, t=大醉俠, l=Great Drunken Hero, p=Dà Zuì Xiá) is a 1966 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film produced by Shaw Brothers Studio and directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng Pei-pei, Yueh Hua and Cha ...

'', as well as her portrayal of Jade Fox in the award-winning 2000 ''wuxia'' film ''

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese ethnicity, including Chow Yun-fat, ...

''.

Career

Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962. In 1963, she began training at

Shaw Brothers Studio Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

through a recommendation by a family friend. Due to her Mandarin and dance background, she quickly worked her way up. And in 1964, she made her feature film debut as Liu Qiuzi in the 1964 Taiwanese drama film ''

Lovers' Rock Lovers' rock is a style of reggae music noted for its romantic sound and content. While love songs had been an important part of reggae since the late 1960s, the style was given a greater focus and a name in London in the mid-1970s.Larkin, Col ...

''. Cheng is perhaps best known for starring in the 1966 Hong Kong wuxia film ''

'', directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng as Golden Swallow, a skilled swordswoman on a mission to rescue her brother. Cheng continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s. Cheng moved to

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

in the 1970s to raise her children. She attended business school at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. During this period, she also taught Chinese dance. In 2000, she returned to international attention with her role as Jade Fox in

Ang Lee Ang Lee (; born October 23, 1954) is a Taiwanese filmmaker. Born in Pingtung County of southern Taiwan, Lee was educated in Taiwan and later in the United States. During his filmmaking career, he has received international critical and popula ...

's ''

''. Cheng had befriended the film's director

when she was host of the Mandarin talk show, ''Pei-Pei's Time'', on the Los Angeles–based TV station

KSCI KSCI (channel 18) is a television station licensed to Long Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. Owned by WRNN-TV Associates, the station airs programming from ShopHQ. KSCI's studios are located on South Bundy Drive ...

. She followed this up with her portrayal of Long Po in the 2004 television miniseries ''Watery Moon, Hollow Sky'', which was shown on Asian-American television as ''Paradise''. She continues to work for Zhouyi Media in mainland China. Cheng is the president of the King Hu Foundation.

Personal life

Cheng has four children. Son Harry Yuan is a host on

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

. Daughters Jennifer, Marsha and

Eugenia Yuan Eugenia Yuan is an American actress and former rhythmic gymnast who has won a Hong Kong Film Award. Early life On January 22, 1976, Yuan was born in Inglewood, Los Angeles county, California. Yuan's mother is Cheng Pei-pei, an actress who i ...

are all actresses. Cheng is

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

. She is able to speak Shanghainese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* * * *
Cheng Pei-pei entry at Lovehkfilm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Peipei 1946 births Hong Kong Buddhists Chinese film actresses Living people Chinese television actresses Actresses from Shanghai Participants in Chinese reality television series