Me Me Lai (born 3 November 1951), sometimes billed as Me Me Lay or Meme Lay, is a Burmese-British actress and television host who worked mainly in British and Italian films, most notably in the horror genre.

Life

She was born on the night of 3 November 1951 in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like ''

Paul Temple Paul Temple is a fictional character created by English writer Francis Durbridge. Temple is a professional author of crime fiction and an amateur private detective. With his wife Louise, affectionately known as 'Steve' in reference to her jo ...

'' and '' Jason King''. Soon, she made the transition to acting in movies, starting with the 1971 Mike Raven horror movie '' Crucible of Terror'', soon followed by the 1972 sex comedy ''

Au Pair Girls ''Au Pair Girls'' is a 1972 British sex comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring Gabrielle Drake, Astrid Frank, Me Me Lai and Nancie Wait. Part of the British 1970s softcore sex comedy genre, the film also includes appearances by mains ...

'' directed by

Val Guest Val Guest (born Valmond Maurice Grossman; 11 December 1911 – 10 May 2006) was an English film director and screenwriter. Beginning as a writer (and later director) of comedy films, he is best known for his work for Hammer Film Productions, ...

. Lai came into her own during the era of Italian cannibal films, playing lead roles in two genre-defining movies: '' Man from Deep River'' (1972) by

Umberto Lenzi Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist. A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unre ...

, and '' Last Cannibal World'' (1977) by

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (; 7 May 1939 – 29 December 2022) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His career spanned a wide-range of genres including Sword-and-sandal, peplum, Comedy film, comedy, Drama (film and television), drama, P ...

. Additionally, she also had a part in ''

Eaten Alive! ''Eaten Alive!'' ( — same meaning but with plural expressed) is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film is about a young woman (Janet Agren) who is searching for her sister after her abduction by a cult in the jungles of ...

'' (1980), again by Lenzi, in which one of her scenes from ''Last Cannibal World'' was re-used. Outside the cannibal genre, she had a brief role as a Chinese brothel girl in

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio scripts ...

's 1978 comedy ''

Revenge of the Pink Panther ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' is a 1978 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards. It is the sixth film in ''The Pink Panther'' comedy film series. Released in July 1978, it is the final on-set performance of Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector ...

''. Me Me Lai also was co-hostess of British game shows ''

The Golden Shot ''The Golden Shot'' is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show '' Der goldene Schuß''. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, but three other ...

'' and ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being t ...

'', and appeared on the 1970s

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

programme ''Origami'', with

Robert Harbin Robert Harbin (born Edward Richard Charles Williams; 12 February 1908 – 12 January 1978) was a South African-born magician and author. He is noted as the inventor of a number of classic illusions, including the '' Zig Zag Girl''. He also becam ...

. Her last movie was

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

's ''

The Element of Crime ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' in 1984. She later joined the Essex police force.

Filmography

* '' She'll Follow You Anywhere'' (1971) as bride * '' Crucible of Terror'' (1971) as Chi-San * ''

'' (1972) as Nan Lee * '' The Man from Deep River'' (1972) as Marayå * '' Last Cannibal World'' (1977) as Pulan * ''

'' (1978) as Chinese lady of easy virtue * ''

Licensed to Love and Kill ''Licensed to Love and Kill'' (VHS release titles ''The Man from S.E.X.'' and ''Undercover Lover'') is a 1979 imitation James Bond film directed by Lindsay Shontef and starring Gareth Hunt. It was written by Shonteff (as Jeremy Lee Francis) and ...

'' (1979) as female Madam Wang * ''

'' (1980) as Mowara * ''

'' (1984) as Kim

Television appearances

* ''

'' (1970) as masseuse * ''

Hine ''Hine'' is a surname deriving from Middle English. Etymology According to the '' Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'', the modern name ''Hine'' and its variants derive from the Middle English word ''hine'' (with the addit ...

'' (1971) as Miss Mini * '' Spearhead'' (1981) as Mimi * '' The Optimist'' (1983) as karate girl

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lai, Me Me 1951 births Living people Anglo-Burmese people 20th-century British actresses Burmese people of English descent English television actresses English film actresses English people of Burmese descent British women police officers

Life

Filmography

Television appearances

References

Further reading

External links