Biography
Michelle Yeoh was a Malaysian film and television actress who rose to international film in the 1990s and early 2000s with her roles in films like "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000), and "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005). Born in Ipoh, West Malaysia, Yeoh took an early interest in dancing. She started doing ballet at the age of 5, and after moving with her parents to England at the age of 15, enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dance in London. Yeoh loved ballet and envisioned a career as a dancer, but her life would take an unexpected turn when, at the age of 20, she won the 1983 Miss Malaysia contest. After winning the contest Yeoh appeared in a commercial alongside the Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, which exposed her to a Hong Kong production company of martial arts films. The company, D&B Films, began casting Yeoh in many of its martial arts films, including "The Owl vs. Bumbo" (1984), "Yes, Madam!" (1985), and "Easy Money" (1987). Yeoh was quickly making a name for herself as a star of Hong Kong martial arts films, when, in 1987, she married the American businessman Dickson Poon and retired from acting. Yeoh eventually divorced Poon in 1992, and promptly returned to acting with roles in films like "Supercop 2" (1993) and "Wing Chun" (1994). It was her appearance in the 1997 James Bond film "Tomorrow Never Dies," however, that exposed Yeoh to western audiences for the first time, thus making her an international star in the process. More roles in western films with international appeal followed, including "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Memoirs of a Geisha," and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon" (2008). Yeoh continued working steadily well into the 2010s, with parts in blockbuster Hollywood films like "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017) and "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018), as well as a recurring role on the science-fiction series "Star Trek: Discovery" (CBS, 2017- ). Furthermore, Yeoh appeared in two high profile Hollywood films in 2019, the science-fiction thriller "Boss Level," directed by Joe Carnahan, and the comedy "Last Christmas," directed by Paul Feig, thus proving she had no intentions of slowing down.
