Cheng Pei-pei, a pioneering China-born actress known for her role in the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has passed away in San Francisco at the age of 78.
Renowned for her groundbreaking martial arts roles, Cheng rose to fame with her performance in King Hu’s Come Drink with Me in 1966, which brought her international acclaim.
She moved to the US, inspiring directors across East Asia and Hollywood to create female-driven swordplay films.
Cheng’s family revealed that she had been battling a neurodegenerative brain disease with Parkinson’s-like symptoms since 2019 and passed away on Wednesday.
They expressed their desire for her to be remembered as the “legendary Queen of Martial Arts” and a versatile actress with a career spanning over six decades.
Born in Shanghai in 1946, Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962 and gained recognition with her role in Come Drink with Me. Playing Golden Swallow, a kung-fu master rescuing her kidnapped brother, she established the motif of the lone female assassin, a theme that influenced Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films.
Her career flourished, especially during the golden age of Hong Kong martial arts films in the early 1970s.Cheng’s most notable role came in 2000 in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, where she portrayed the villain Jade Fox.
The film became a global sensation, earning 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and grossing over $100 million worldwide. Cheng’s final role was in Disney’s live-action Mulan in 2020.
Her Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon co-star Michelle Yeoh praised Cheng’s kindness and talent. Despite her illness, Cheng chose to keep her condition private and spent her final years with her family. In lieu of flowers, her family requested donations to the Brain Support Network, to which Cheng had donated her brain.
