Lisa Lu Yan (born Lu Pingxiang; January 19, 1927) is a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

actress. She has worked extensively in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, American, and

mainland Chinese Mainland Chinese or mainlanders are Chinese people who live in or have recently emigrated from mainland China, defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) except for Hong Kong ( SAR of the PRC), Macau (SAR of the PRC) ...

film and television since her debut in 1958. She won the Golden Horse Awards three times, twice for Best Leading Actress and once for Best Supporting Actress, 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) was a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who reported on the American entertainment industry for predominantly foreign media markets. It is best known for founding and conduc ...

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 in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

. On May 5, 2025, Lu became the oldest person to be honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

Early life and education

Lu was born in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

in 1927, and was the adopted daughter of noted Chinese opera (

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. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu (region), Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate ...

) performer

Mei Lanfang Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Chinese Peking opera artist in Chinese theater, modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as the "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively know ...

. Her mother, Li Guifen, was also a Kunqu singer. Lu followed in her parents footsteps and began performing in Kunqu as a teenager. She attended a primary school run by English missionaries, and became adept in the English language from an early age. In 1945 attended St. John's University, Shanghai and

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

. However, her studies were interrupted by the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

and in 1947 she and her family immigrated to the United States. She studied financial management at the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

, as well as drama and speech. During her studies, she worked as an accountant, laboratory technician, radio announcer, and translator in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. In 1956, Lu and her family moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and she joined the

Pasadena Playhouse Pasadena Playhouse is a Tony Award-winning historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engag ...

. She made her professional stage debut in 1958, in a production of ''The Teahouse of the August Moon''.

Career

During the 1958–59 television season, she had a recurring role as Miss Mandarin on the cult western show '' Yancy Derringer'', 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 Westerns on television, Western television 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 Ri ...

''. She made numerous other appearances on television, with guest starring roles on ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'', ''

The Big Valley ''The Big Valley'' is an American Western television series that originally aired from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969 on ABC. The series is set on the fictional Barkley Ranch in Stockton, California, from 1884 to 1888. The one-hour epis ...

'', '' The Richard Boone Show'', '' The Virginian'', ''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian ...

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

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'', ''

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 late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...

'', ''

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, u ...

'', and other shows. In 1960, she was the female lead in the antiwar film '' The Mountain Road'', which starred

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military aviator. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morali ...

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'' and

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...

's '' Saint Jack''. During this time she achieved prominence in the Mandarin-language

Hong Kong film industry The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese-language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former Crown colony, British Hong Kong, Hong Kong had a g ...

, winning two Best Actress Golden Horse Awards for the films ''

The 14 Amazons ''The 14 Amazons'' is a 1972 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film directed by Cheng Kang and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. The award-winning film featured a predominantly female cast. The story is about the female generals of the Yang Family. Ove ...

'' and '' The Last Tempest.'' She became known during this time for playing the Qing

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...

, in '' The Empress Dowager'' and ''The Last Tempest'', which would become her signature role. Years later, she would play the same character in the Best Picture Oscar-winning film ''

The Last Emperor ''The Last Emperor'' () is a 1987 epic biographical drama film about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. It is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Peploe, which was adapted from Puyi's 1964 auto ...

'' (1987) and the Chinese television series '' Qianlong Dynasty.'' For the remainder of her career, Lu alternated between theatre and film. She may be best known by English-speaking audiences for her roles in the 1988 TV miniseries '' Noble House'', and the films ''

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

Personal life

Lu was married to Shelling Hwong until his death in 1996. They had three children, including composer Lucia Hwong.(incorrect birth date of December 5, 1931)

Filmography

Film

Television

Recordings

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

Awards

References

Notes

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

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Film

Television

Recordings

Awards

See also

References

Notes

External links