Cheng Pei Pei, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ Actress, Dead at 78

Cheng Pei Pei, the pioneering “Queen of Martial Arts” who starred in dozens of wuxia films in Hong Kong before reaching a global audience with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has died at the age of 78.

Cheng’s family revealed the actress died Wednesday in San Francisco after she was first diagnosed with atypical Parkinsonian disorder, which she battled privately since 2019. “Our mom Cheng Pei Pei wanted to be remembered for who she was: the legendary ‘Queen of Martial Arts,’” the family said in a statement (via the New York Times).

“She loved being an actress and knew, even with her hard work, how fortunate she was to have the career she had. Our mom remained humble and approachable, patient and kind, and always generous with her time, eager to help others whenever she could. She will be dearly missed.”

Born in Shanghai in 1946, Cheng began her career in the film industry in the early Sixties when she moved to Hong Kong and trained at the studio run by the Shaw Brothers, which at the time was China’s biggest production company. Cheng made her debut in the 1964 drama Lovers’ Rock before she was cast as master swordswoman Golden Swallow in Come Drink With Me, a 1966 wuxia film — or an epic Chinese martial arts period movie — that’s now considered one of the best in the genre.

The Golden Swallow role led Cheng to dozens of parts within the wuxia world, including 1966’s Princess Iron Fan and Come Drink With Me’s 1968 sequel Golden Swallow. While Cheng moved to California in the early Seventies, she continued to be a mainstay in Hong Kong cinema over the ensuing decades.

In 2000, Cheng reached a worldwide audience by portraying the villainous Jade Fox in director Ang Lee’s wuxia-inspired epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a multinational production and acclaimed film that conquered the global box office and racked up 10 Academy Awards nominations, including Best Picture; it won Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars, as well as similar awards at both the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs.

Cheng’s English-language films include an appearance in 2009’s Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and her final big screen role as the Matchmaker in Disney’s 2020 live-action remake of Mulan.

The actress’ family also announced that Cheng’s brain would be donated to the Brain Support Network, an organization that supports people diagnosed with neurodegenerative disorders.