She became famous with her role in the James Bond movie ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' (1997).
Born: 06-08-1962
Birthplace: Ipoh
Nationality: Malaysian
Ethnicity: Chinese
Height: 5'4" (165cm)
Weight: 106 lb (48kg)
Religion: Buddhism
Michelle grew up in Ipoh and is scion from an Malaysian Chinese family. Her father is MCA politician Kian Teik Yeoh and her mother is lawyer Janet Yeoh. She moved with her parents to England when she was 15 years old.
She studied at the boarding school in London and received a Bachelor's Degree in dance at the London Royal Academy of Dance where she studied ballet. She started with ballet classes when she was four years old. She is active with ballet until the moment that her career as professional ballet dancer is ended by an spinal injury.
She is very sportive and started with swimming, diving and squash as teenager. She represented the state of Perak with squash and became Malaysian Junior Squash Champion. She represented Malaysia on national level with swimming and diving.
She returns to Malaysia for summer vacation when she was twenty one years old in 1983. Her mother registers her for the national beauty contest and sends her photos to the competition judges without her knowledge. She wins the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant and became Miss Malaysia 1983. She represented Malaysia and won the crown at the Queen of the Pacific beauty pageant in 1983 which was held in Australia. She also represented Malaysia at the Miss World 1983 pageant in London.
She meets businessman Dickson Poon from Hong Kong at the end of her one-year term as Miss Malaysia. He asks her to promote watches of his company in a tv commercial alongside action star Jackie Chan. She travels to Hong Kong for the commercial and gets an offer for a second commercial alongside Chow Yun-Fat (The man who starred next to her in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). She signs an movie contract at Dickson's newly formed film production company D & B Films.
She stops with acting after getting an relationship with Dickson Poon. The couple married in 1988 and their wedding ends when they divorce in 1992. She had also an short-term relation with French rally driver Jean Todt in 2005.
She is the highest paid actress in Asia and one of the highest paid Chinese-language speaking actresses in the world.
She made her Hong Kong movie comeback after her divorce, when she received a number of movie offers. She plays Insp. Jessica Yang in the action movie ''Police Story III: Supercop'' (1992). This movie becomes a success and breaks the box office record in Asia.
She plays Lady Ko who gets the order to steal a precious scroll in the action movie ''Butterfly and Sword'' (1993). She must kill the head of the Elite Villa clan with help of her friends.
She plays guard Sister Rebeka in the action movie ''Babylon A.D.'' (2008). She escorts Aurora (played by Mélanie Thierry) through dangerous Russian landscape together with mercenary Toorop (played by Vin Diesel) in order to protect her against the mercenaries who hunt on her.
She plays Dr. Yu Wenzhuo next to Zhao and Xun Zhou in the action movie ''True Legend'' (2010).
She plays skilled assassin Zeng Jing who transforms herself in a modest shop owner in order to transport the remains of an exalted Buddhist monk to their eternal resting place in ''Reign of Assassins'' (2011"). An team of assassins are also looking for the remains which contain a ancient power-wielding secret. Zeng protects her husband during transport and the couple must find the remains, before the robbers find them.
Her action movie character is portrayed in the documentary ''Top Fighter II: Deadly China Dolls'' (1996). This documentary is a sequel of the documentary "Top Fighter" (1995) and portrays the biggest action heroines ever. The show goes behind the scenes with TV footage and interviews with several heroines in short clips. The documentary shows how the path goes from upcoming action heroine till real action movie superstar. The most beautiful and wellknown female fighters are playing in this documentary and is a voyage by the times.
Top Fighter II: Deadly China Dolls Cast
Michelle played in her movie career alongside famous female martial arts heroines as ''Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, Zang Ziyi, Carol 'Do Do' Cheng, Sharla Cheung, Sandra Ng Kwan Yue, Pei-pei Cheng, Yan Hai and many more.
There are covershoots and articles about her in magazines as Women's Weekly, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Femme Fatales, Cinema, Starlog, Vox amd many more.
Action Movies Filmography
She returns to Malaysia for summer vacation when she was twenty one years old in 1983. Her mother registers her for the national beauty contest and sends her photos to the competition judges without her knowledge. She wins the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant and became Miss Malaysia 1983. She represented Malaysia and won the crown at the Queen of the Pacific beauty pageant in 1983 which was held in Australia. She also represented Malaysia at the Miss World 1983 pageant in London.
She meets businessman Dickson Poon from Hong Kong at the end of her one-year term as Miss Malaysia. He asks her to promote watches of his company in a tv commercial alongside action star Jackie Chan. She travels to Hong Kong for the commercial and gets an offer for a second commercial alongside Chow Yun-Fat (The man who starred next to her in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). She signs an movie contract at Dickson's newly formed film production company D & B Films.
She stops with acting after getting an relationship with Dickson Poon. The couple married in 1988 and their wedding ends when they divorce in 1992. She had also an short-term relation with French rally driver Jean Todt in 2005.
She is the highest paid actress in Asia and one of the highest paid Chinese-language speaking actresses in the world.
D & B Films gives her the choice what to do and she decides to go for an action movie career. The way Sammo Hung and the guys fight between the action scenes fascinates her. She has all ingredients in order to become an succesful action heroine. She trains all kinds of kicks, punches and martial arts movements in sessions of 10-12 hours a day at the gym in order to prepare her for action roles.
She made her action movie debut in an pathetic female role without real action scenes in the D & B Films action comedy ''The Owl vs Dumbo'' (1984).
She plays an Judo instructor in her first serious action role in the action movie ''Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars'' (1985).
She plays her first big action role alongside female martial arts movies legend Cynthia Rothrock (who made her movie debut) in ''Yes, Madam'' (1985). She breaks through in asia with ''Yes Madam'' and the movie became a hit which broke the box office records in Hong Kong. It's the start of the long successful action movie careers of Cynthia and Michelle.
She plays an Judo instructor in her first serious action role in the action movie ''Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars'' (1985).
She plays her first big action role alongside female martial arts movies legend Cynthia Rothrock (who made her movie debut) in ''Yes, Madam'' (1985). She breaks through in asia with ''Yes Madam'' and the movie became a hit which broke the box office records in Hong Kong. It's the start of the long successful action movie careers of Cynthia and Michelle.
She plays Hong Kong police officer Michelle Yip in the action movie ''Royal Warriors'' (1986). An secured mafia prisoner flies from Tokyo to Hong Kong with the same airplane as Michelle. The problems start when mobsters have hijacked the plane, with the intention to rescue the prisoner. Michelle manages to kill the mobsters and the airplane lands safely on the ground. The friends of the hijackers decide to take revenge on her and she fights against them till death.
She plays pilot Ming Ming who gets involved in a plot against the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s in ''Magnificent Warriors'' (1987). This film showcases her visually impressive martial arts abilities.
She plays pilot Ming Ming who gets involved in a plot against the Japanese occupation of China during the 1930s in ''Magnificent Warriors'' (1987). This film showcases her visually impressive martial arts abilities.
She made her Hong Kong movie comeback after her divorce, when she received a number of movie offers. She plays Insp. Jessica Yang in the action movie ''Police Story III: Supercop'' (1992). This movie becomes a success and breaks the box office record in Asia.
She plays Lady Ko who gets the order to steal a precious scroll in the action movie ''Butterfly and Sword'' (1993). She must kill the head of the Elite Villa clan with help of her friends.
She plays alongside action heroines Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung in ''The Heroic Trio'' (1992). She plays the lethal assassin Invisible Girl who steals an invisibility cloak from her mad scientist boyfriend. She is slave of the Evil Master and her task is to kidnap newborn male babies for her master. Anita Mui plays Wonder Woman who's a mild-mannered domestic housewife at daytime and a super ninja with Cool Mask by night. Maggie Cheung plays hard-boiled bounty hunter Thief Catcher. The three super heroines who share a terrible past, have the job to rescue the city from crime, because the police is powerless against the Evil Master. The girls use their incomparable kung-fu skills in order to stop the Evil Master.
She plays one of the seven women who are recruited to challenge a Japanese swordsman with supernatural power and ability in ''Holy Weapon'' (1993).
She plays one of the seven women who are recruited to challenge a Japanese swordsman with supernatural power and ability in ''Holy Weapon'' (1993).
She plays assassin invisible Girl again in the sequel ''The Heroic 2'' (1993). An evil deformed villain controls the scarce water supply of the city after a nuclear attack. He tries to influence a popular leader and a military colonel. The three heroines have the task to avert a military takeover and the girls must find clean water in order to save the city.
She plays Siu Lin who is searching for her lost husband in ''Tai Chi Master'' (1993). Junbao (played by Jet Li) protects Siu Lin against her ex-husband and his guards during her journey.
She plays kung fu expert Wing Chun who lives in a faraway village which is often pillaged by robbers in the action movie ''Wing Chun'' (1994). She wants to take revenge against the robbers and loses her composure. She fights against dozens of men and defeats all opponents after a super fight. The men beg for mercy and she spares their lives.
She plays Yeung Chi-King who is member of an secret group of well-trained government agents in China in ''Wonder Seven'' (1994). Her team has the assignment to solve an computer disc robbery. Their investigation leads to Hong Kong and the agents strike back when a disastrous national conspiracy unravels.
She plays Siu Lin who is searching for her lost husband in ''Tai Chi Master'' (1993). Junbao (played by Jet Li) protects Siu Lin against her ex-husband and his guards during her journey.
She plays kung fu expert Wing Chun who lives in a faraway village which is often pillaged by robbers in the action movie ''Wing Chun'' (1994). She wants to take revenge against the robbers and loses her composure. She fights against dozens of men and defeats all opponents after a super fight. The men beg for mercy and she spares their lives.
She plays Yeung Chi-King who is member of an secret group of well-trained government agents in China in ''Wonder Seven'' (1994). Her team has the assignment to solve an computer disc robbery. Their investigation leads to Hong Kong and the agents strike back when a disastrous national conspiracy unravels.
She plays Colonel Wai Lin who works for the chinese goverment as spy in the James Bond movie "Tommorow Never Dies" (1997). She shows her strong martial arts skills in her fight against dozens of men in an abandon factory.
''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000) is made with a budget of $17 million US dollar and won more then 40 awards. This movie is one of the best Chinese foreign language films in the United States and is praised for the story, cinematography and martial arts sequences. She plays Yu Shu Lien who brings the sword of retired warrior Lien Mu Ba (played by Yun-Fat Chow) to Sir Te (played by Sihung Lung) in Peking. Things went wrong when the sword is robbed by an masked thief during the journey. She teams up with Lien Mu Bai to trace the sword when the trail leads to Governor Yu's (played by Fa Zeng Li) compoud. They try to take the sword back from Jade Fox (played by Pei-Pei Cheng), the girl who's responsible for the theft.
''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' (2000) is made with a budget of $17 million US dollar and won more then 40 awards. This movie is one of the best Chinese foreign language films in the United States and is praised for the story, cinematography and martial arts sequences. She plays Yu Shu Lien who brings the sword of retired warrior Lien Mu Ba (played by Yun-Fat Chow) to Sir Te (played by Sihung Lung) in Peking. Things went wrong when the sword is robbed by an masked thief during the journey. She teams up with Lien Mu Bai to trace the sword when the trail leads to Governor Yu's (played by Fa Zeng Li) compoud. They try to take the sword back from Jade Fox (played by Pei-Pei Cheng), the girl who's responsible for the theft.
She starts her own movie production company "Mythical Films" in the year 2000. Her first action movie production ''The Touch'' is released in Asia in august 2002. She plays Pak Yin Fay who searches for the secret family artifact together with her brother Pak Yeuk Tong (played by Brandon Chang) and ex-friend Eric (played by Ben Chaplin). Some legends say that the secret artifact is buried in an ancient desert in order to uncover. Her brother and his girlfriend are kidnapped during their journey by an ruthless treasure hunter who wants the artifact also. Pak Yin Fay tries to rescue them with help of Eric.
Her second movie production ''Silver Hawk'' is directed and writen by Jingle Ma and was released in 2004. She plays Lulu Wong who is a successful business woman at day time and ''Silver Hawk'' a silver masked heroine at night. She cleans the city from thugs and become the secret protector of Polaris City. Professor Ho Chung (played by Daming Chen) is kidnapped by Alexander Wolfe (played by Luke Goss), a criminal with bionic arms. Silver Hawk must find the professor before he is forced to reveal his secrets.
She plays an short role alongside Shidô Nakamura in ''Fearless'' (2006) and plays an supporting role as Zi Yuan in ''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008).
Her second movie production ''Silver Hawk'' is directed and writen by Jingle Ma and was released in 2004. She plays Lulu Wong who is a successful business woman at day time and ''Silver Hawk'' a silver masked heroine at night. She cleans the city from thugs and become the secret protector of Polaris City. Professor Ho Chung (played by Daming Chen) is kidnapped by Alexander Wolfe (played by Luke Goss), a criminal with bionic arms. Silver Hawk must find the professor before he is forced to reveal his secrets.
She plays an short role alongside Shidô Nakamura in ''Fearless'' (2006) and plays an supporting role as Zi Yuan in ''The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' (2008).
She plays guard Sister Rebeka in the action movie ''Babylon A.D.'' (2008). She escorts Aurora (played by Mélanie Thierry) through dangerous Russian landscape together with mercenary Toorop (played by Vin Diesel) in order to protect her against the mercenaries who hunt on her.
She plays Dr. Yu Wenzhuo next to Zhao and Xun Zhou in the action movie ''True Legend'' (2010).
She plays skilled assassin Zeng Jing who transforms herself in a modest shop owner in order to transport the remains of an exalted Buddhist monk to their eternal resting place in ''Reign of Assassins'' (2011"). An team of assassins are also looking for the remains which contain a ancient power-wielding secret. Zeng protects her husband during transport and the couple must find the remains, before the robbers find them.
Her action movie character is portrayed in the documentary ''Top Fighter II: Deadly China Dolls'' (1996). This documentary is a sequel of the documentary "Top Fighter" (1995) and portrays the biggest action heroines ever. The show goes behind the scenes with TV footage and interviews with several heroines in short clips. The documentary shows how the path goes from upcoming action heroine till real action movie superstar. The most beautiful and wellknown female fighters are playing in this documentary and is a voyage by the times.
Top Fighter II: Deadly China Dolls Cast
- Cheng Pei Pei
- Chia Ling
- Sophia Crawford
- Hsu Feng
- Cynthia Khan Lai Ching
- Moon Lee Choi Fong
- Elaine Lui Siu Ling
- Angela Mao Ying
- Michiko Nishiwaki
- Yukari Oshima
- Cynthia Rothrock
- Polly Shang-Kwan Ling Feng
- Shih Szu
- Michelle Yeoh
- Sharon Yeung Pan Pan
- Amy Yip Chi May
Michelle played in her movie career alongside famous female martial arts heroines as ''Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, Zang Ziyi, Carol 'Do Do' Cheng, Sharla Cheung, Sandra Ng Kwan Yue, Pei-pei Cheng, Yan Hai and many more.
There are covershoots and articles about her in magazines as Women's Weekly, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Femme Fatales, Cinema, Starlog, Vox amd many more.
Awards And Achievements
- She won the Asian Media Award at the Asian American International Film Festival (1998).
- She won the ShoWest Award for "International Star Of The Year" at the ShoWest Convention (2001).
- She won the Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema at the Asian Film Awards (2013).
- She was chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World".
Action Movies Filmography
- Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
- Jianyu a.k.a. "Reign of Assassins" (2010)
- Su Qi-Er a.k.a. "True Legend" (2010)
- Babylon A.D. (2008)
- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor a.k.a. "The Mummy 3" (2008)
- Huo Yuan Jia aka "Fearless" (2006)
- Fei ying a.k.a. "Silverhawk" (2004)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003)
- Jackie Chan Adventures (2002) ''TV-series''
- The Touch a.k.a. "The Martial Touch" (2002)
- Wo hu cang long a.k.a. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (2000)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- A Jin de gu shi (1996)
- Top Fighter 2 a.k.a. "Top Fighter 2: Deadly Fighting Dolls" (1996)
- 7 jin gong a.k.a. "Wonder Seven" (1994)
- Wing Chun (1994)
- Tai ji: Zhang San Feng a.k.a. "Tai Chi Master" (1993)
- Jin doi hou haap cyun a.k.a "Executioners" (1993)
- Wu xia qi gong zhu a.k.a. "Holy Weapon" (1993)
- Dung fong saam hap a.k.a. "The Heroic Trio" (1993)
- San lau sing woo dip gim a.k.a. "Butterfly and Sword" (1993)
- Chao ji ji hua a.k.a. "Police Story 3: Supercop 2" (1993)
- Zhong hua zhan shi a.k.a "Magnificent Warriors" (1987)
- Wong ga jin si a.k.a. "In the Line of Duty" (1986)
- Huang jia shi jie a.k.a. "Yes, Madam!" (1985)
- Xia ri fu xing a.k.a. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars" (1985)
- Mao tou ying yu xiao fei xiang (1984)
