Lisa Lu
Biography
Lisa Lu is a Chinese-American actress who began in Kunqu opera, following her adoptive father Mei Lanfang and her mother Li Guifen, both Kunqu performers. After her family moved to the United States, she studied drama and speech in Hawaii, joined the Pasadena Playhouse, and did her first professional stage work in 1958. On television she had recurring roles on Yancy Derringer, and in 1960 she was the female lead of the antiwar film The Mountain Road. She won Golden Horse Awards in the 1970s, twice as Best Actress, including for The 14 Amazons (1972). Her signature part was Cixi, the Qing empress dowager, played in The Empress Dowager and The Last Tempest and again in The Last Emperor (1987). Later films include Demon Seed (1977), The Joy Luck Club (1993) and Crazy Rich Asians (2018). In 2025 she became the oldest person to receive a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
99years old
Turns 100 on January 19in 98 days
- Born Beijing
- Star sign: CapricornLast day of the sign, on the Aquarius cusp
- Also credited as Lisa Lu Yan
Movie Career
- Films
- 9
- Career span
- 66 years1958 to 2024
Share
Lisa Lu movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Lisa Lu shares two films with Jimmy O. Yang, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Jimmy O. Yang's page
J.K. Simmons's page
Nick Nolte's page
John Cleese's page
Robert Loggia's page
Eugene Levy's page
All films by Jon M. Chu
Wayne WangDirector, 1 film, 1993
All films by Wayne Wang
Charles ShyerDirector, 1 film, 1994
All films by Charles Shyer
Awards
Two awards and honors from 1971 to 1975.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 1975 | Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress | The Empress Dowager | Won |
| 1971 | Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress | The Arch | Won |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.