Sze Irene Ng (born July 28, 1974) is an American actress, teacher, banker, and founder and director of Mencius Mandarin Preschool in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

. She is best known for her role as Shelby Woo in ''

The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo ''The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo'' is a children's mystery television series that ran on Nickelodeon between 1996 and 1999. A total of 41 episodes of 30 minutes each were produced. Episodes from the first three seasons were taped at Nickelode ...

''.

Early life

Ng was born July 28, 1974, in

Penang, Malaysia Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. These ...

. For the first five years of her life, she was raised by her maternal grandparents as her parents were at the United States for their higher studies. She immigrated from Malaysia to

Allentown Allentown may refer to: Places * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a city in four counties in Georgia * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Tazewell County * Allentown, New Jersey, a boroug ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in 1989, at age 15, with her parents and her sister and brother. Following immigration to the United States, her father worked as a general manager for a Chinese fire-resistant

filing cabinet A filing cabinet (or sometimes file cabinet in American English) is a piece of office furniture for storing paper documents in file folders. In the most simple context, it is an enclosure for drawer (furniture), drawers in which articles are sto ...

s manufacturing factory while her mother worked as a nurse at a hospital in Allentown. She attended Allentown's

William Allen High School William Allen High School, often referred to as Allen High School or simply Allen, is one of two large, urban state school, public secondary education in the United States, high schools of the Allentown School District in Allentown, Pennsylvania. ...

and in 1993, she and her sister graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

s from high school. At age 16, she was discovered by television agents when she won a Pennsylvania beauty contest.

Acting career

Ng's first acting role was in

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

soap opera ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

'' in 1991, where she starred in 18 episodes. In 1993, she starred in films '' The Joy Luck Club'' and '' Heaven & Earth''. Ng has guest starred on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'' and '' Teen Angel''. In 1996, she was cast as the main protagonist in the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

TV series '' Mystery Files of Shelby Woo'', reportedly making her at that time the second

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

to star as title character in a TV series after

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

in the '' All-American Girl''. The show ran for three seasons till 1998. In 1997, she took part in Nickelodeon game show ''

Figure It Out ''Figure It Out'' is an American children's panel game show that aired on Nickelodeon. The original series, hosted by Summer Sanders, ran for four seasons from July 7, 1997, to December 12, 1999. The show was revived in 2012, with Jeff Sutph ...

''. Her last film role was in the 1999 film '' The Sterling Chase''. Following the start of the 21st century, Ng ended her entertainment career, and only had a minor role in an episode of season 19 of ''Law & Order'' in 2008 and episode of the fourth season of

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

series '' The Affair'' in 2018.

Later and personal life

During her entertainment career in the 1990s, she began her studies at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and graduated with BA in economics in 1997, and was elected member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

and was finalist for

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

. She later received certification in childcare management at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and also Child Development Associate credential. Following her studies, she worked as a banker at

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

for seven years and travelled frequently to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for business. In 2009, she founded the Mencius Mandarin Preschool in

and currently serves as the director of the school. In 2008, Ng married David Rosa and had two children, a son and daughter. The family currently resides in Greenwich.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Irene 1974 births 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Allentown, Pennsylvania American child actresses American film actresses American investment bankers American women bankers American actors of Chinese descent American television actresses Harvard University alumni Living people Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian emigrants to the United States Merrill (company) people People from Greenwich, Connecticut Educators from Allentown, Pennsylvania Actresses from Penang William Allen High School alumni People who lost Malaysian citizenship 21st-century American women