Lisa Lu
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{short description|Chinese actress (born 1927)}}
{{family name hatnote|Lu|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lisa Lu
| image = Lisa Lu en una celebración.jpg
| caption = Lu in 2007
| birth_name = Lu Pingxiang ({{lang|zh-hant|盧萍香}})
| native_name = {{lang|zh-hant|盧燕}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1927|01|19}}
| birth_place = Beijing, Republic of China
| citizenship = United States
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1958–present
| spouse = Shelling Hwong
| children = 3, including Lucia Hwong
| awards = Full list
| module = {{Infobox chinese|child=yes
| t = 盧燕
| s = 卢燕
| p = Lú Yàn
| j = Lou4 Jin3
| t2 = 盧萍香
| s2 = 盧萍香
| p2 = Lú Píng Xiāng
}}
}}
Lisa Lu Yan{{efn|{{zh|t=盧燕|s=卢燕|p=Lú Yàn}}}} (born Lu Pingxiang{{efn|{{zh|t=盧萍香|s=盧萍香|p=Lú Píng Xiāng}}}}; 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.{{Cite web |date=2023-11-26 |title=When a young Lisa Lu acted opposite James Stewart and Marlon Brando |url=https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3242561/when-lisa-lu-star-crazy-rich-asians-acted-opposite-marlon-brando-and-james-stewart-early-her |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=South China Morning Post |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/golden-globes-analysis-plenty-of-wins-and-controversy-to-go-around|title=Golden Globes Analysis: Plenty of Wins and Controversy to Go Around|website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=March 2021}}
On May 5, 2025, Lu became the oldest person to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/lisa-lu-hollywood-walk-of-fame-star/ |title=A 98-Year-Old 'Living Legend' Will Make History as Oldest Recipient of Hollywood Walk of Fame Star|website=CBR |date=May 3, 2025 |access-date=May 3, 2025}}
Early life and education
Lu was born in Beijing in 1927, 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.{{Cite news |date=18 September 2013 |title=老上海的女性有種特別的風度 |language=zh |work=東方早報}}
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.{{Cite web |date=2006-06-21 |title=交通大学南加州校友会--盧燕學長簡介 |url=http://ctuaa-sc.com/alumni/alu_luy.htm |access-date=2023-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621233330/http://ctuaa-sc.com/alumni/alu_luy.htm |archive-date=June 21, 2006 }}
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).
Lu also attempted to popularise Chinese opera in the United States, touring universities and performing in English.Lisa Odham Stokes, Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema (2007), pg. 295.
Personal life
Lu was married to Shelling Hwong until his death in 1996. They had three children, including composer Lucia Hwong.{{cite web |title=Lisa Lu |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/117061%7C99676/Lisa-Lu/ |access-date=August 22, 2019 |publisher=Turner Classic Movies}}(incorrect birth date of December 5, 1931)
Filmography
= Film =
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| 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 ({{lang|zh|乾隆王朝}}) | 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
| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Nominated work ! Result |
|---|
| 1970
| Best Actress | The Arch | {{won}} |
| 1972
| Best Supporting Actress | {{won}} |
| 1975
| Best Actress | {{won}} |
| 2018
| 4th Annual Asian World Film Festival | Snow Leopard Life Achievement Award | Herself |
| rowspan="2"| 2019
| Outstanding Achievement in Cinema | rowspan="2"|Crazy Rich Asians |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards
| Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | {{nom}} |
| rowspan="2"| 2025
| rowspan="2"|24th New York Asian Film Festival | Vanguard Award | rowspan="2"|In recognition of works that has left an indelible mark on the history of cinema. |
| Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award
| {{won}} |
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Notes
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
External links
{{commonscat}}
- {{IMDb name|0523734}}
- {{HKMDB name|3735}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes person|lisa_lu}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060621233330/http://ctuaa-sc.com/alumni/alu_luy.htm her biography in Chinese]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090105164801/http://www.jtufund.com/biolisalu.htm Biography at Jiao Tong Universities Alumni Foundation of America]
{{GoldenHorseAwardBestActress 1962-1980}}
{{GoldenHorseAwardBestSupportingActress}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Lisa}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:20th-century Chinese actresses
Category:21st-century Chinese actresses
Category:American actresses of Chinese descent
Category:American film actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:Chinese emigrants to the United States
Category:Chinese film actresses
Category:Actresses from Beijing
Category:Chinese Civil War refugees
Category:20th-century Chinese women singers
Category:20th-century American women singers