Michelle
Yeoh
Michelle Yeoh
Bio
Michelle Yeoh was born to an ethnic Chinese
family in Ipoh, Malaysia on August 6, 1962. She was very sporty
when she was young and had a passion in dance. She started to
study ballet at the age of four years old. At the age 15, her
parents accompanied her to England and enrolled her at a
boarding school there. Later Yeoh entered London Royal Academy
of Dance, majoring in Ballet. But a spinal injury ended her
dream of being a prima ballerina, and she consequently had to
switch her focus away from dance to choreography and other
arts. She later received a B.A. degree in Creative Arts with a
minor in Drama.
It was at the age of 21 when Yeoh became the
winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983. She was
also Malaysia's representative at the 1983 Miss World pageant
in London. From there, she appeared in a television commercial
with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling film
production company called D&B Films.
Michelle Yeoh's career in Hong Kong started
with a few commercials for Charles Jourdan, opposite action
movie heroes Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat before being offered
a film contract. The Charles Jourdan brand was handled by
D&B Group in Hong Kong, run by Yeoh's future husband,
Dickson Poon. In 1988, she retired after marrying Poon. Three
years later, the couple divorced, and Yeoh returned to acting
in 1992. Her first movie after the comeback was Police Story 3,
which was partly shot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Ascension to fame
Michelle Yeoh started her film career acting in action and
martial arts movies such as The Heroic Trio in 1993, and the
Yuen Woo-ping films Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun in 1994. Yeoh
has had no formal martial arts training and she relies on her
dance training and instructors, and does many of her own
stunts.
Michelle Yeoh learned English and Malay before
Cantonese, and cannot read Chinese characters. As she does not
speak Mandarin, she learned the lines for Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon phonetically.
Like many other Hong Kong stars, Yeoh has
attempted to break into Hollywood. She starred in the James
Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies as Wai Lin (1997) and the popular
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Thereafter, she was
offered the role of Seraph in the two sequels to The Matrix,
and she could not accept due to a scheduling conflict (the
Matrix writers then changed Seraph into a male character and
cast Collin Chou in the role). In 2002, she produced her first
English movie, The Touch through her own production company,
Mythical Films.
In 2005, Michelle Yeoh starred as the
graceful Mameha in the film adapation of Memoirs of a Geisha,
and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with
Sunshine.
Private Life
Michelle Yeoh was previously married to Hong Kong businessman
Dickson Poon.
She is dating French CEO of Scuderia
Ferrari, Jean Todt. Rumors spread by the Asian press about an
upcoming marriage but has been denied several times by
Yeoh.
Awards
On April 19, 2001, Michelle Yeoh was awarded the Darjah Datuk
Paduka Mahkota Perak (DPMP), which carries the title Dato' by
Sultan Azlan Shah, the Sultan of Perak, her home state, in
recognition of the fame she brought to the state[3]. The award
was given in conjunction with the Sultan's 73rd birthday
celebrations. Dato is an honorary Malaysian title somewhat like
a British knighthood, and it lies below the ranks of Dato'
Seri, Tan Sri and Tun.
On November 25, 2002, Michelle Yeoh was honored as The Outstanding
Young Persons of the World (TOYP) (Cultural Achievement) by JCI
(Junior Chamber International).
On 23 April 2007 President Jacques
Chirac awarded her Knight of the Legion of Honour of France.
The decoration was presented to her in a ceremony in Kuala
Lumpur on 3 October 2007.
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