MICHELLE YEOH

1962 – She was born Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng on the 6th day of August of this year to an ethnic Chinese family in Ipoh, Malaysia. 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.

1979 - 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. However, a spinal injury ended her dream of being a prima ballerina.

1983 - 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.This year, Yeoh returned to her home country, Malaysia. It was at the age of 21 when Yeoh became the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant.

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.

1993 - Despite having no formal martial arts training, Yeoh is best known for her roles in action and martial arts movies (notably The Heroic Trio in this year.

1994 – She starred in the Yuen Woo-ping films Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun in this year. She relies on her dance training and instructors, and does many of her own stunts.

1997 - Like many other Hong Kong stars, Yeoh has attempted to break into Hollywood. She starred in the James Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” in this year. Also in this year, she was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.

2000 – She appeared in the popular Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. She was also nominated in the BAFTA Film Awards 2000 in the Best Actress Category.

2001 - On the 19th day of April of this year, 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.

2002 – She produced her first English movie, The Touch through her own production company, Mythical Films.

2005 - In early this year, Michelle finished the shooting of Memoirs of a Geisha, a Hollywood-produced ensemble drama based on a story of Japanese geisha. The film was released on December 9 of this year.

2006 – She made Fearless, which was only a director’s cut.

2007 – Her recent films are “Sunshine”, “Far North”, and “The Children of Huang Shi” all in the same year. She has an upcoming film “The Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon” to be released in 2008.

Page last updated: 11:30am, 22nd Jun '07