Cheng Pei-pei, the pioneering Chinese actress dubbed the “Queen of Swords” and considered among the first female action stars who made her name in the Shaw Brothers classic Come Drink With Me and later had a memorable turn as the villain Jade Fox in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, has died. She was 78.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that the rumors are true. Our mother, Cheng Pei-pei, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on July 17,” Cheng’s family said in a statement posted to Facebook. “In 2019, our mom was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative, atypical parkinsonism syndrome – unofficially, corticobasal degeneration (CBD). It is a rare disease with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, however, current treatments cannot slow the progression. She chose not to make this news public so that she could deal with her condition in private and spend her remaining time with her children and grandchildren.”
The statement added, “Our mom wanted to be remembered by how she was: the legendary Queen of Martial Arts.”
Zhang Ziyi (left) and Cheng Pei-pei in Ang Lee’s 2000 film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.’
Everett Collection
In a career-spanning six decades, Cheng burst on to the scene in the 1960s, becoming a star for Shaw Brothers Studios, the Hong Kong production company modelled on the Hollywood studios that became internationally famous for action films and period martial arts epics, a genre that is known as wuxia. In all, she made 20 films for Shaw Brothers, including the previously mentioned Come Drink With Me as well as Princess Iron Fan and Golden Swallow. Cheng regained international notoriety for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and her prolific output continued until recently, with her last major role coming in Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan (2020).
Born in Shanghai, China in 1946, Cheng moved to Hong Kong in 1962 and found her way to Shaw Brothers Studios as a contracted player. The young Cheng had some dance training and initially the studio had wanted to position her as a star in Chinese opera movies in the vein of Ivy Ling Po, a popular Hong Kong singer at the time.
She made her screen debut in 1964, releasing two films that year, including the melodrama Lover’s Rock. But the following year, just as Shaw Brothers shifted into the action genre, they pushed much of their young talent into making martial arts films. As part of a studio training program, the likes of Cheng, Lo Mang, Lu Feng, Sun Chien, Chiang Sheng, and Kuo Chui were trained in martial arts, how to use swords and knives as well as horse riding, all key elements of the wuxia epics that Shaw Brothers was now committed to producing.
Cheng Pei-pei in King Hu’s 1966 wuxia film ‘Come Drink With Me.’
Everett Collection
Cheng’s breakthrough came in the 1966 wuxia film Come Drink With Me, which was both the 19-year-old’s first action film and the first in the genre for director King Hu. The film, along with Chang Cheh’s One-Armed Swordsman, is considered one of the seminal wuxia movies and greatly popularized the genre both in Hong Kong and abroad. In the period film, Cheng stars as Golden Swallow, a gifted swordswoman who has to defeat bandits to rescue her brother. The film is notable for the establishing the gripping and dramatic fight choreography that wuxia is known for, something Cheng excelled at due to her dance background.
In 1968, Shaw Brothers looked to capitalize on the huge success of Come Drink With Me and released the sequel, Golden Swallow, directed by Chang Cheh. The partnership between Cheng, by now a huge star, and Chang, the filmmaker behind the phenomenally successful One-Armed Swordsman, meant box office gold for Shaw Brothers, but the production was troubled as the character of Golden Swallow was changed beyond all recognition from Come Drink With Me. Moreover, Cheng and Chang had a difficult working relationship, owning to the latter’s conservative views about women.
“Chang Cheh disliked women, he liked men,” the South China Morning Post reported Cheng telling the Hong Kong Film Archive’s oral history series. “When I was making Golden Swallow with Jimmy Wang Yu and Lo Lieh, he asked them to jump out of a window, and me to walk through a door. I refused – I said I wanted to do the same thing as them, as I was a swordswoman. But he said, ‘You’re a lady, and ladies should be more refined.’”
The other Shaw Brothers films Cheng starred in include The Jade Raksha (1968), Dragon Swamp (1969), The Lady Hermit (1971) and The Shadow Whip (1971).
After a prolific decade long run of film work from 1964, Cheng’s career slowed down as she moved to the U.S. with her family. She worked sporadically and in cameos in the 1980s and the 1990s, before returning to prominence in 2000 with Ang Lee’s wuxia classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film, which was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won four, was a huge commercial and critical success and Cheng was lauded for her portrayal of a villainous Jade Fox.
After the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Cheng’s screen career underwent something of a renaissance, and she worked steadily in the 2000s and 2010s. Her notable film credits include the action film Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), co-starring with Ben Whishaw in the British drama Lilting (2014), the Canadian drama Meditation Park (2017), and playing The Matchmaker in Disney’s 2020 live-action remake of Mulan.
