Lisa Lu
Lisa Lu Yan (simplified Chinese: 卢燕; traditional Chinese: 盧燕; pinyin: Lú Yàn; born July 8, 1927) is a Chinese-born American actress and singer. She won the Golden Horse Awards three times in the 1970s.
Lisa Lu | |||||||||||
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盧燕 | |||||||||||
 Lu in 2007 | |||||||||||
| Born | Lu Pingxiang (盧萍香) July 8, 1927 Beijing, China | ||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Actress, documentary producer | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1958–present | ||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Shelling Hwong | ||||||||||
| Children | 3 | ||||||||||
| Relatives | Lucia Hwong (daughter), Michael Hwong (grandson) | ||||||||||
| Awards | Full list | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 盧燕 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 卢燕 | ||||||||||
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Career
During Lu's teen years, she was active in Chinese opera, or Kunqu, before emigrating to the United States, where, beginning in the 1950s, she enjoyed a long career in television.
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 Man from U.N.C.L.E., 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 received three Best Actress Golden Horse Awards for her Chinese-language films The Arch, The Empress Dowager, and The Fourteen Amazons.
For the remainder of her career, Lu alternated between theater 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).[3]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Panda and the Magic Serpent | Bai-Niang | |
| 1960 | The Mountain Road | Madame Sue-mei Hung | [4] |
| 1962 | Rider on a Dead Horse | Ming Kwai | |
| Womanhunt | Li Sheng | [5] | |
| 1970 | The Arch (董夫人) | Madame Tung or Madam Dong | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Actress.[6][7] |
| 1972 | The 14 Amazons (十四女英豪) | She Saihua | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1973 | Terror in the Wax Museum | Madame Yang | |
| 1975 | The Empress Dowager (傾國傾城) | Empress Dowager Cixi | Won—Golden Horse Award for Best Actress |
| 1976 | The Last Tempest (瀛台泣血) | Empress Dowager Cixi | |
| The Star (星語) | Chen Lianyu | ||
| 1977 | The Eternal Love (永恆的愛) | ||
| 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.[8] |
| 1986 | Tai-Pan | Ah Gip | |
| 1987 | The Last Emperor (末代皇帝溥儀) | Empress Dowager Cixi | |
| 1989 | The Last Aristocrats (最後的貴族) | Li' mother | [9] |
| The Heroine in Northeast (關東女俠) | Yi Pinhong | ||
| 1990 | Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes | Mrs. Sato | |
| 1993 | The Joy Luck Club | An-mei Hsu | [3] |
| Temptation of a Monk (誘僧) | Shi's Mother | ||
| 1994 | I Love Trouble | Mrs. Virginia Hervey | [10] |
| 1998 | Blindness | Mrs. Hong | |
| 2000 | Sworn Revenge (撞鬼你之血光之災) | Ling | |
| 2002 | Tomato and Eggs | Mrs. Wang | |
| 2005 | Beauty Remains (美人依舊) | Woman gambler | |
| 2006 | The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (姨媽的後現代生活) | Mrs. Shui | Nominated—Chinese Film Media Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 2007 | Invisible Target (男兒本色) | Wai King-ho's grandmother | |
| Lust, Caution (色，戒) | Mahjong partner of Aunt | ||
| 2009 | Dim Sum Funeral | Mrs. Xiao | |
| 2012 | Grandmother Sonam | ||
| 2010 | Somewhere | Chinese journalist | [11] |
| Apart Together (團圓) | Qiao Yu'e | ||
| 2012 | Dangerous Liaisons (危險關係) | Madam Du Ruixue | |
| 2018 | Crazy Rich Asians | Shang Su Yi |
Television
1960 “Four and Twenty Buddhas” “Coronado 9
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Have Gun - Will Travel - "Hey Boy's Revenge" | Kim Li | Hey Boy's sister |
| 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 | Have Gun - Will Travel - Recurring Role (Season 4) | Hey Girl | Unknown if this character is still Hey Boy's sister |
| 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 | |
| 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 (乾隆王朝) | Empress Dowager Chongqing | |
| 2011 2012 2015 | General Hospital | Mrs. Yi |
Chinese opera
Lu attempted to popularize Chinese opera in the United States, touring universities and performing in English.[12]
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 | Won |
| 1972 | 10th Golden Horse Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The 14 Amazons | Won |
| 1975 | 12th Golden Horse Awards | Best Actress | The Empress Dowager | Won |
| 2018 | 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival | Snow Leopard Life Achievement Award | Herself | Won[2] |
| 2019 | 9th The Asian Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Cinema | Crazy Rich Asians | Won[13] |
Personal life
Lu's husband was Shelling Hwong.[1]
References
- "Lisa Lu". tcm.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.(incorrect birth date of December 5, 1931)
- Xu, Ting Ting (November 2, 2018). "Lisa Lu Honored with Lifetime Achievement at Asian World Film Festival". goldenglobes.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- Passafiume, Andrea (August 8, 2017). "The Joy Luck Club". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- "The Mountain Road (1960)". tcm.turner.com. 1960. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- "Woman Hunt (1962)". tcm.com. 1962. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- "Film - The Arch". sffs.org. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- "The Arch (1970)". hkmdb.com. October 14, 1970. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- "Sewing Woman". deepfocusproductions.com. 1982. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- "The Last Aristocrats (1989)". IMDb. 1989. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- "I Love Trouble (1994)". IMDb. 1994. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- "Somewhere (2010". IMDb. 2010. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- Lisa Odham Stokes, Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema (2007), pg. 295.
- "Outstanding Achievement in Cinema – CRAZY RICH ASIANS". The Asian Awards. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
External links
- Lisa Lu at IMDb
- Lisa Lu at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
- Lisa Lu at AllMovie
- Lisa Lu at Rotten Tomatoes
- her biography in Chinese
- Biography at Jiao Tong Universities Alumni Foundation of America
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