‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ star Chen Peipei dies at age 78

Chinese-born actress Chen Peipei, who starred in the Oscar-winning film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” has died in San Francisco at the age of 78.

A pioneer of female martial arts roles, Cheng has been a staple of action films since her starring role in King Hu’s The Man Who Saw Them in 1966. The film was critically acclaimed and brought Cheng international attention.

After moving to the United States, she influenced a new generation of directors making female-led sword-fighting films from East Asia to Hollywood.

Chen’s family said he had been privately battling a neurodegenerative brain disease with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease since 2019 and died on Wednesday.

“Our mother wanted to be remembered as a legendary martial arts queen and a versatile, award-winning actress who worked in film and television for over 60 years, both in Asia and internationally,” her family wrote on Facebook.

Born in Shanghai in 1946, Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962 and quickly gained acclaim as an actor with the release of “Sip and Drink,” considered one of the greatest “wuxia” films, a period drama genre celebrating legendary martial artists from ancient China.

In the film, she played the role of Golden Swallow, the sister of a key figure who is kidnapped by a group of thugs, and her character, a kung fu master, is sent to rescue her brother.

The film was selected as Hong Kong’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards and launched her career at the age of 19.

Along with the 1968 sequel, Golden Swallow, Chan gained roles in numerous martial arts films as fearless female swordsmen.

Her character established the motif of the lone female assassin sent out for revenge, a genre that heavily influenced Quentin Tarantino’s hits Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2.

Chan moved to California in the early 1970s and played dozens of roles as an iconic action heroine during the golden age of Hong Kong martial arts films.

Her biggest role was as the villain Jade Fox in Ang Lee’s 2000 wuxia film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was one of the first mainstream wuxia films to feature a woman in the lead role.

The film was a worldwide hit, receiving ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, grossed $128 million at the North American box office, and won the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The film became the first foreign language film to gross over $100 million worldwide.

Her last role was in Disney’s 2020 live-action version of Mulan, where she played the matchmaker to the eponymous heroine.

His co-star in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Michelle Yeoh praised Chen in an Instagram post: “I will miss your kindness and brilliant talent,” she wrote.

Since being diagnosed five years ago, Chen has kept his condition private, choosing instead to spend time with his four children and grandchildren.

Her family said in lieu of flowers, she had asked that donations be made to the Brain Support Network (BSN), where she donated her brain.