Cheng Pei-pei

Cheng Pei-pei (6 January 1946 – 17 July 2024) was a Hong Kong-American actress who was considered cinema's first female action hero. Popularly known as "Queen of Swords" and "Queen of Martial Arts Films", Cheng starred in numerous successful wuxia and martial arts films in Hong Kong, including the Shaw Brothers-produced Come Drink with Me, which launched Cheng into stardom, Golden Swallow (1968), Lady Hermit (1971), Flirting Scholar (1993), and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). For the latter, she won a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition to her Chinese-language works, Cheng also appeared in English-language productions, including Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), Lifting (2014), Meditation Park (2017) and Mulan (2020). In television, she appeared in the Wong Fei Hung Series (1996), Young Hero Fong Sai Yuk (1999), Legendary Fighter: Yang's Heroine (2001), Book and Sword, Gratitude and Revenge (2002), Chinese Paladin (2004), Li Wei Resigns from Office (2005), The Patriot Yue Fei (2012), and the reality show Divas Hit the Road (2014), among others.

Cheng attended World Elementary School in Shanghai, where she was a schoolmate of future movie stars Grace Chang and Chen Hou. She went to the Shanghai No. 3 Girls' High School, where she was a schoolmate of Lydia Shum. Cheng studied ballet for six years in Shanghai. In the mid-1950s, Cheng's mother and siblings moved to Hong Kong, leaving Cheng in the care of a nanny in Shanghai before the nanny also left. Cheng lived independently for several years and moved to Hong Kong in 1960, during her second year of junior high, to reunite with her family.

Due to her Mandarin skills and dance background, she quickly worked her way up in the Hong Kong film industry at a time when the Mandarin-language productions commanded higher budgets and wider distribution than Cantonese works. Cheng gained fame for starring in the Hong Kong wuxia film Come Drink with Me (1966), directed by King Hu. Set during the Ming Dynasty, it stars Cheng as Golden Swallow, a skilled swordswoman on a mission to rescue her brother. Cheng continued to play expert swordswomen in a number of films throughout the 1960s.

In 1970, at the peak of her career, Cheng married and subsequently retired from acting, moving to the United States for her husband's business endeavors. She attended business school at the University of California, Irvine In the 1980s, Cheng founded a television production company in the United States and traveled across Hawaii and Northern California at her own expense to produce a documentary series about Chinese Americans. Both Cheng's TV business and her marriage failed around the same time. In 1987, she divorced from her husband but continued to live with him for two years. In 1989, her company declared bankruptcy, and Cheng moved out of their house. , directed by Ang Lee, whom Cheng had befriended in the 90s when she was host of KSCI's Mandarin talk show, Pei-Pei's Time.

Upon receiving an award in recognition of her acting career in Hong Kong in 2015, Cheng reflected on her acting career as follows: "I always remember that I represent the Hong Kong people. So no matter where I am in the world, I will always identify myself as a Hong Kong actress and maintain the professionalism that a Hong Kong actress should have."

Personal life and death Cheng was Buddhist. Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.

In 1964, while filming Come Drink with Me, she fell in love with Chan Hung-lit, who played the villain Jade-Faced Tiger. The two often quarreled over Chan‘s infidelity and Cheng eventually left him for Yueh Hua, the leading actor in Come Drink with Me. Their relationship lasted five years until Cheng's friend Yi Shu, then an entertainment reporter, got involved; Cheng left the love triangle and moved to the United States after marriage. When Yi Shu discovered Cheng's letter to Yueh from the US, she became so furious that she cut up Yueh's clothes and stabbed a knife into his bed. Yi Shu also made the letter public through newspapers, which put Cheng's marriage in jeopardy and made Yueh end his own relationship with Yi Shu.

In 1970, Cheng married Taiwanese businessman Yuan Wen-Tung, whose father was the agent for Shaw Brothers in Taiwan. The couple met when Shaw Brothers' film Lover's Rock was being shot in Taiwan; Cheng's mother lost money playing mahjong at the Yuan family's home, and Cheng was sent to deliver the money to Yuan's mother, where Cheng first met Yuan. After their marriage, they moved to the United States. Considering Yuan was the only son in his family, Cheng felt obligated to bear a son for him. She experienced eight pregnancies and four miscarriages and had four children until a son was born. In 1987, with an alimony of $100,000, she divorced quietly without informing her children and continued to live with Yuan for two years before moving out.

In 2019, Cheng was diagnosed with corticobasal degeneration, but chose to keep the diagnosis private and spend her remaining time with her children and grandchildren. She died in the San Francisco Bay Area on 17 July 2024, at the age of 78. She was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 61st Golden Horse Awards.

Filmography

Films YearTitleRoleNotes 1964 Lovers' Rock (情人石) Lin Qiuzi 1964 The Last Woman of Shang (妲己) Dancing girl 1965 The Lotus Lamp (寶蓮燈) Liu Yanchang 1965 Song of Orchid Island (蘭嶼之歌) Ya Lan 1966 Come Drink with Me (大醉俠) Golden Swallow 1966 The Joy of Spring (歡樂青春) 1966 Princess Iron Fan (鐵扇公主) White Bone Demoness 1967 Blue Skies (艷陽天) Chen Yun 1967 The Dragon Creek (龍虎溝) Guo Er-niu 1967 Hong Kong Nocturne (香江花月夜) Chia Chuan-chuan 1967 Operation Lipstick (1967) (諜網嬌娃) 1967 The Thundering Sword (神劍震江湖) So Jiau-jiau 1968 Golden Swallow (金燕子) Golden Swallow 1968 The Jade Raksha (玉羅剎) Leng Qiuhan 1968 That Fiery Girl (紅辣椒) Pearl 1969 Dragon Swamp (毒龍潭) Qing-er/Fan Ying 1969 The Flying Dagger (飛刀手) Yu Ying 1969 The Golden Sword (龍門金劍) Ngai Jin-feng 1969 Raw Courage (虎膽) Shangguan Xiuyi 1970 Brothers Five (五虎屠龍) Yen Hsing-kung 1970 Lady of Steel (荒江女俠) Fang Ying-qi 1971 The Lady Hermit (鍾馗娘子) Leng Yu-shuang 1971 The Shadow Whip (影子神鞭) Yang Kaiyun 1971 The Patriotic Heroine (拼命娘子) 1972 The Yellow Muffler (玉女嬉春) Singer 1973 Attack of the Kung Fu Girls (鐵娃) Siu Ying 1974 Whiplash (虎辮子) Hu Pien-tze 1982 Lunatic Frog Women (烈日女娃人) 1983 All the King's Men (天下第一) 1988 Painted Faces (七小福) Ching 1993 Flirting Scholar (唐伯虎點秋香) Madame Wah 1993 Kidnap of Wong Chak Fai (綁架黃七輝) Kung Tse-sam 1994 From Zero to Hero (亂世超人) 1994 The Gods Must Be Funny in China (非洲超人) Aunty 1994 Kung Fu Mistress (神鳳苗翠琴) 1994 Lover's Lover (情人的情人) 1994 Wing Chun (詠春) Ng Mui Cameo 1996 How to Meet the Lucky Stars (運財五福星) Chu Ba 1998 The Spirit of the Dragon (老鼠龍之猛龍過港) Yun Gee 1999 Four Chefs and a Feast (四個廚師一圍菜) Cameo 1999 A Man Called Hero (中華英雄) Hero's mother Cameo 1999 The Truth About Jane and Sam (真心話) Sam's mother 2000 Fist Power (生死拳速) Brian's mother 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (臥虎藏龍) Jade Fox Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress 2000 Lavender (薰衣草) Madame Tung Cameo 2001 Shadow Mask (武神黑俠) Red Goddess a.k.a. The Legend of Black Mask 2002 Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger (龍騰虎躍) Liu Ruyan also producer 2002 Naked Weapon (赤裸特工) Faye Ching 2004 Sex and the Beauties (性感都市) Mona 2004 The Miracle Box (天作之盒) Joanna's mother 2005 Insuperable Kid (無敵小子霍元甲) Aunt San 2005 House of Harmony Amah 2007 They Wait Aunt Mei 2007 Special Boys (功夫好男兒) Aunt Lan 2007 Conny 2007 The Counting House (藏) Lia 2008 Kung Fu Killer Myling 2008 Love Under the Sign of the Dragon Tham 2009 Basic Love (愛情故事) Ling's grandmother 2009 Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Zhilan 2009 Blood Ties (還魂) Madam Lee 2009 Taishan Kung Fu (泰山功夫) 2010 Flirting Scholar 2 (唐伯虎點秋香2之四大才子) Madame Wah 2010 Here Comes Fortune (財神到) 2011 Coming Back (回馬槍) 2011 Legendary Amazons (楊門女將之軍令如山) She Saihua 2011 Let Love Come Back (讓愛回家) 2011 Shanghai Hotel 2011 Double Bed Treaty (雙人床條約) 2011 Speed Angels (極速天使) Auntie Fen 2011 My Wedding and Other Secrets Mrs. Chu 2012 Imperial Bodyguard (御前侍衛) 2012 Give Me Five (五行攻略) 2014 Lilting Junn 2014 The Scroll of Wing Chun White Crane (永春白鹤拳之擎天画卷) 2014 The Eyes of Dawn (黎明之眼) 2014 Streets of Macao 2014 The Bat Night 2015 Bright Wedding(璀璨的婚禮) 2015 Lost in Wrestling 2016 Good Take Too 2016 Goldstone Mrs Lao 2017 Love Of Hope(讓愛活下去) 2017 Meditation Park Maria Wang 2019 Flirting Scholar from the Future 2020 Mulan The Matchmaker Final film role

Television YearTitleRoleNotes 1980 Chivalrous Shadow, Fragrant Footprints (俠影香蹤) Golden Swallow 1984 The Legend Continues (霍東閣) Chan Shi-chiu 1996 Wong Fei Hung Series: The Final Victory (黃飛鴻之辛亥革命) Beggar So 1997 The Pride of Chaozhou (我來自潮州) Poon Yuk-lin 1998 Master Ma (馬永貞之爭霸上海灘) Ma Daniang 1998 Master Ma II (馬永貞之英雄血) Ma Daniang 1999 Young Master of Shaolin (少年英雄方世玉) Ng Mui 2000 Young Justice Bao (少年包青天) Bao's mother 2001 Legendary Fighter: Yang's Heroine (楊門女將—女儿當自強) She Saihua 2001 Heroes in Black (我來也) Feng Pobu's mother 2002 Book and Sword, Gratitude and Revenge (書劍恩仇錄) Empress Dowager Chongqing 2002 Springs of Life (春到人间) Yun Shuheng 2004 Chinese Paladin (仙劍奇俠傳) Granny Jiang 2004 Water Moon, Hollow Sky (水月洞天) Long Po a.k.a. Paradise 2005 Li Wei Resigns from Office (李衛辭官) Li Wei's mother 2006 Women of Times (至尊紅顏) She Huijun 2006 The Yang Sisters Honey Yang 2008 Home with Kids 5 (家有儿女5) 2010 A Weaver on the Horizon (天涯織女) Mrs. Fang 2012 Xuan-Yuan Sword: Scar of Sky (軒轅劍：天之痕) Granny Ma 2012 The Patriot Yue Fei (精忠岳飛) Yue Fei's mother 2013 Daughter's Return (千金归来) Mother Rong 2015 The Lost Tomb Huo Xian Gu 2016 Ice Fantasy (幻城) Feng Tian