Lisa Lu

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Lisa Lu (盧燕，orig. 盧萍香 born December 5, 1931 in Beijing then known as Peiping, China) is a Chinese-American actress and documentary producer. Beginning in her teens, Lu was active in Chinese opera, or Kunqu, before immigrating to the United States. Beginning in the 1950s, she enjoyed a long career in American television, though was often forced to take stereotypical roles. Though she occasionally took film roles, her film career didn't begin in earnest until the 1970s, with supporting roles in films like Demon Seed and Peter Bogdanovich's Saint Jack. During this time, she also received three Golden Horse Awards for Best Actress 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. Today, she is best remembered by English-speaking audiences for her roles in the critically acclaimed films The Last Emperor (1987) and The Joy Luck Club (1993). In addition to her work in film, theater, and television, she is known for narrating and producing a number of documentaries.