Cheng Pei-pei, the Chinese-born actress best known for her role in Ang Lee‘s Oscar-nominated film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has died. She was 78.
According to Variety, Cheng passed away on Thursday, July 18, in the San Francisco Bay Area from a degenerative brain disease. She has donated her brain to medical research.
Born on January 6, 1946, in Shanghai, China, Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962 at the of 16 and began training at Shaw Brothers Studio, which helped popularize kung-fu movies. Being able to speak Mandarin and having a background in ballet and dance, Cheng made her feature film debut in the 1964 film Lovers’ Rock and soon became a major star in martial arts and action movies.
Her breakout role came in the 1966 action film Come Drink With Me, directed by King Hu. The movie was named as Hong Kong’s submission for the international feature Oscar but was not nominated.
Cheng moved to San Francisco in the 1970s to raise her four children. She also attended business school at the University of California Irvine and taught Chinese dance.
In 2000, she landed her most famous role when she was cast as the villain Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film went on to win four Academy Awards and became the first foreign-language movie to gross over $100 million in the United States.
She went on to portray Long Po in the 2004 television miniseries Watery Moon, Hollow Sky. Her other credits included Naked Weapon, Kung Fu Killer, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Lilting, and, most recently, the 2020 live-action adaptation of Disney’s Mulan.
“To all her friends, colleagues, and fans, thank you for all the support you showed her over the years. Our mom Cheng Pei Pei wanted to be remembered for who she was: the legendary Queen of Martial Arts best known for her roles such as Golden Swallow (Come Drink With Me), Madam Wah (The Flirting Scholar), and Jade Fox (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon),” her family said in a statement, per Variety.
The statement continued, “She was a versatile, award-winning actress whose film and television career spanned six decades, not only in Asia but internationally as well in roles such as “Junn” (Lilting), “Maria Wang” (Meditation Park), and “The Matchmaker” (Mulan),” said a statement from her family.”
She is survived by her four children, Eugenia, Jennifer, Harry, and Marsha, and her grandchildren.