Crouching Tiger, Come Drink With Me Star Was 78

Cheng Pei-pei, the pioneering Chinese actress dubbed the “Queen of Swords” and considered among the first female action stars who made her name in the Shaw Brothers classic Come Drink With Me and later had a memorable turn as the villain Jade Fox in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has died. She was 78.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the rumors are true. Our mother, Cheng Pei-pei, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on July 17,” Cheng’s family said in a statement posted to Facebook. “In 2019, our mom was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative, atypical parkinsonism syndrome – unofficially, corticobasal degeneration (CBD). It is a rare disease with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, however, current treatments cannot slow the progression. She chose not to make this news public so that she could deal with her condition in private and spend her remaining time with her children and grandchildren.”

The statement added, “Our mom wanted to be remembered by how she was: the legendary Queen of Martial Arts.”

In a career-spanning six decades, Cheng burst on to the scene in the 1960s, becoming a star for Shaw Brothers Studios, the Hong Kong production company that became internationally famous for action films and period martial arts epics, a genre that is known as wuxia. In all, she made 20 films for Shaw Brothers, including the previously mentioned Come Drink With Me as well as Princess Iron Fan and Golden Swallow. Cheng regained international notoriety for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and her prolific output continued until recently, with her last major role coming in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan (2020).

Born in Shanghai, China in 1946, Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962 and found her way in to the talent training program at Shaw Brothers Studios. The young Cheng had some dance training and initially the studio had wanted to position her as a star in Chinese opera movies in the vein of Ivy Ling Po, a popular Hong Kong singer at the time.

More to come…