Lisa Lu Yan (; born January 19, 1927) is a Chinese actress. She won the

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...

three times in the 1970s. She is the only person who is a member of both the

Hollywood Foreign Press Association The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, magazine and book publication ...

and the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

Life

Lu was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in 1927. Her husband was Shelling Hwong (1922-1996). They had three children, including composer Lucia Hwong.(incorrect birth date of December 5, 1931)

Career

During Lu's teen years, she was active in Chinese opera, or

Kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

, before emigrating to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where, beginning in the 1950s, she enjoyed a long career in television. During the 1958–59 television season, she had a recurring role as Miss Mandarin on the cult western show ''

Yancy Derringer ''Yancy Derringer'' is an American action/ adventure series that was broadcast on CBS from 1958 to 1959, with Jock Mahoney (1919–1989) in the title role. The show was produced by Derringer Productions and filmed in Hollywood by Desilu Produ ...

'', set in New Orleans in 1868. In 1961 she had a recurring role as "Hey Girl" on the television series ''

Have Gun – Will Travel ''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Western series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Richard Boone was rated number t ...

''. She made numerous other appearances on television, with guest starring roles on '' Bonanza'', '' The Big Valley'', ''

The Richard Boone Show ''The Richard Boone Show'' is an anthology television series. It aired on NBC during the 1963-64 season. Synopsis Richard Boone hosted the series and starred in about half of the episodes, garnering an Emmy nomination for himself and a Golden G ...

'', '' The Virginian'', '' Hawaiian Eye'', ''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who work for a secret ...

'', '' The Rebel'', ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

'', ''

Bat Masterson Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was born to ...

'', ''

Kentucky Jones ''Kentucky Jones'' is an American comedy-drama television series starring Dennis Weaver which centers around a widowed Southern California veterinarian and rancher raising an adopted Chinese boy. Original episodes aired from September 19, 1964, un ...

'', and other shows. In 1960, she was the female lead in the antiwar film ''

The Mountain Road ''The Mountain Road'' is a 1960 war film starring James Stewart and directed by Daniel Mann. Set in China and based on the 1958 novel of the same name by journalist-historian Theodore H. White, the film follows the attempts of a U.S. Army major ...

'', which starred James Stewart and which was based on the novel of the same name by the China war correspondent Theodore H. White. Her film career took off in the 1970s with supporting roles in films like ''

Demon Seed ''Demon Seed'' is a 1977 American science fiction–horror film directed by Donald Cammell. It stars Julie Christie and Fritz Weaver. The film was based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Dean Koontz, and concerns the imprisonment and forc ...

'' and

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

's ''

Saint Jack ''Saint Jack'' is a 1973 novel by Paul Theroux that was adapted into a 1979 film of the same name. It tells the life of Jack Flowers, a pimp in Singapore. Feeling hopeless and undervalued, Jack tries to make money by setting up his own bordello ...

''. During this time, she received three Best Actress

for her

Chinese-language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

films ''The Arch'', ''The Empress Dowager'', and ''The Fourteen Amazons''. For the remainder of her career, Lu alternated between theatre and film. She may be best known by

English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the '' Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest langua ...

audiences for her roles in the 1988 TV miniseries '' Noble House'', and the films ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' ( it, L'ultimo imperatore) is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the final Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted ...

'' (1987), '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993), and '' Crazy Rich Asians'' (2018).

Filmography

Film

Television

Chinese opera

Lu attempted to popularise Chinese opera in the United States, touring universities and performing in English.Lisa Odham Stokes, ''Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema'' (2007), pg. 295.

Recordings

*The Reunion, a Peking Opera. with Lisa Lu and K.S. Chen, Lyrichord, 1972

Awards

References

External links

* * * *
her biography in Chinese

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Lisa 1927 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses American actresses of Chinese descent American film actresses American television actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses Chinese emigrants to the United States Chinese film actresses Living people Singers from Beijing Actresses from Beijing Chinese Civil War refugees Kunqu actresses 20th-century Chinese women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Chinese–English translators