Lisa Lu
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Lisa Lu YanTemplate:Efn (born Lu PingxiangTemplate:Efn; January 19, 1927) is a Chinese-American actress. She has worked extensively in Hong Kong, American, and mainland Chinese film and television since her debut in 1958.[1] 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 and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[2]
On May 5, 2025, Lu became the oldest person to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[3]
Early life and education
Lu was born in Beijing in 1927,[4] and was the adopted daughter of noted Chinese opera (Kunqu) performer Mei Lanfang. 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.[5]
In 1945 attended St. John's University, Shanghai and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. However, her studies were interrupted by the Chinese Civil War and in 1947 she and her family immigrated to the United States. She studied financial management at the University of Hawaiʻi, as well as drama and speech. During her studies, she worked as an accountant, laboratory technician, radio announcer, and translator in Honolulu.[6]
In 1956, Lu and her family moved to Los Angeles, and she joined the Pasadena Playhouse. 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. She made numerous other appearances on television, with guest starring roles on Bonanza, The Big Valley, The Richard Boone Show, The Virginian, Hawaiian Eye, The Rebel, Cheyenne, Bat Masterson, Kentucky Jones, and other shows.
In 1960, she was the female lead in the antiwar film The Mountain Road, 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 and Peter Bogdanovich's Saint Jack. During this time she achieved prominence in the Mandarin-language Hong Kong film industry, winning two Best Actress Golden Horse Awards for the films The 14 Amazons and The Last Tempest.
She became known during this time for playing the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi, 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 (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 The Last Emperor (1987), The Joy Luck Club (1993), and Crazy Rich Asians (2018).[7]
Lu also attempted to popularise Chinese opera in the United States, touring universities and performing in English.[8]
Personal life
Lu was married to Shelling Hwong until his death in 1996. They had three children, including composer Lucia Hwong.[9]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Panda and the Magic Serpent | Bai-Niang | |
| 1960 | The Mountain Road | Madame Sue-mei Hung | [10] |
| 1962 | Rider on a Dead Horse | Ming Kwai | |
| Womanhunt | Li Sheng | [11] | |
| 1970 | The Arch (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Madame Tung or Madam Dong | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Actress.[12][13] |
| 1972 | The 14 Amazons (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | She Saihua | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1973 | Terror in the Wax Museum | Madame Yang | |
| 1975 | The Empress Dowager (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Empress Dowager Cixi | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Actress |
| 1976 | The Last Tempest (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Empress Dowager Cixi | |
| The Star (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Chen Lianyu | ||
| 1977 | The Eternal Love (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | ||
| Demon Seed | Soon Yen | ||
| 1979 | Saint Jack | Mrs. Yates | |
| 1982 | Hammett | Miss Cameron's Assistant | |
| Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder | Sister Marie | ||
| 1983 | Sewing Woman | Narrator | Short.[14] |
| 1986 | Tai-Pan | Ah Gip | |
| 1987 | The Last Emperor (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Empress Dowager Cixi | |
| 1989 | The Last Aristocrats (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Li' mother | [15] |
| The Heroine in Northeast (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Yi Pinhong | ||
| 1990 | Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes | Mrs. Sato | |
| 1993 | The Joy Luck Club | An-mei Hsu | [7] |
| Temptation of a Monk (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Shi's Mother | ||
| 1994 | I Love Trouble | Mrs. Virginia Hervey | [16] |
| 1998 | Blindness | Mrs. Hong | |
| 2000 | Sworn Revenge (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Ling | |
| 2002 | Tomato and Eggs | Mrs. Wang | |
| 2005 | Beauty Remains (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Woman gambler | |
| 2006 | The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Mrs. Shui | Nominated—Chinese Film Media Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2007 | Invisible Target (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Wai King-ho's grandmother | Cameo |
| Lust, Caution (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Mahjong partner of Aunt | ||
| 2009 | Dim Sum Funeral | Mrs. Xiao | |
| 2012 | Grandmother Sonam | ||
| 2010 | Somewhere | Chinese journalist | [17] |
| Apart Together (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Qiao Yu'e | ||
| 2012 | Dangerous Liaisons (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Madam Du Ruixue | |
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Shang Su Yi | |
| 2023 | Rally Road Racers | Granny Bai | Voice role[18] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Have Gun - Will Travel - "Hey Boy's Revenge" | Kim Li | |
| 1958-59 | Yancy Derringer | Miss Mandarin | Recurring role |
| 1959 | Bachelor Father - "Peter Meets his Match" & "Peter Gets Jury Notice" | Linda Toy | Love interest for Peter Tong (Sammee Tong) |
| 1960 | The Rebel - "Blind Marriage" | Quong Lia | Played daughter of Quong Lee (Philip Ahn) |
| 1960 | Hawaiian Eye - "Jade Song" | Lin Ming | Appeared alongside George Takei |
| 1961 | Have Gun - Will Travel | Hey Girl | Recurring Role (Season 4) |
| 1961 | Bonanza - "Day of the Dragon" | Su Ling | Appeared alongside Philip Ahn, Benson Fong, Richard Loo, and Victor Sen Yung |
| 1961 | The Dick Powell Show - "Three Soldiers" | The Prisoner | |
| 1961 | Bat Masterson - "Terror of the Trinity " | Hsieh-Lin | |
| 1962 | Cheyenne - "Pocket Full of Stars" | Mei Ling | |
| 1964 | My Three Sons - "The Lotus Blossom" | ||
| 1965 | Kentucky Jones - "The Victim" | Su Ling | |
| 1968 | The Big Valley - "Run of the Cat" | Chinese girl | |
| 1970 | Mission: Impossible - "Butterfly" | Mioshi Kellem | |
| 1986 | China Hand | ||
| 1988 | Noble House | Ah Tam | |
| 2001 | NYPD Blue - "Fools Russian" | ||
| 2002 | Qianlong Dynasty (Script error: No such module "Lang".) | Empress Dowager Chongqing | |
| 2011 2012 2015 |
General Hospital | Mrs. Yi | |
| 2023 | American Born Chinese | Ni Yang | Episode: "Rockstar Status" |
| 2024 | Death and Other Details | Celia Chun |
Recordings
- The Reunion, a Peking Opera. with Lisa Lu and K.S. Chen, Lyrichord, 1972
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 8th Golden Horse Awards | Best Actress | The Arch | Template:Won |
| 1972 | 10th Golden Horse Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The 14 Amazons | Template:Won |
| 1975 | 12th Golden Horse Awards | Best Actress | The Empress Dowager | Template:Won |
| 2018 | 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival | Snow Leopard Life Achievement Award | Herself | Template:Won[4] |
| 2019 | 9th The Asian Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Cinema | Crazy Rich Asians | Template:Won[19] |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | Template:Nom | ||
| 2025 | 24th New York Asian Film Festival | Vanguard Award | In recognition of works that has left an indelible mark on the history of cinema. | Template:Won[20] |
| Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award | Template:Won |
See also
References
Notes
External links
- Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Hong Kong Movie DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidata
- Template:Rotten Tomatoes person
- her biography in Chinese
- Biography at Jiao Tong Universities Alumni Foundation of America
Template:GoldenHorseAwardBestActress 1962-1980 Template:GoldenHorseAwardBestSupportingActress
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- ↑ Lisa Odham Stokes, Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema (2007), pg. 295.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".(incorrect birth date of December 5, 1931)
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- Pages with script errors
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- 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