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New York Post
‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ star Cheng Pei-pei dead at 78
By Stephanie Webber,
6 hours ago
Cheng Pei-pei died in the San Francisco Bay area on Thursday. She was 78.
The “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” actress had been suffering from a degenerative brain disease, her representatives at Echelon Talent Management confirmed in a statement to People.
The Shanghai, China, native’s family also spoke out in a Facebook post.
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
Pei-pei was born in Shanghai, China, in 1946. She joined the Shaw Brothers Studio as a contracted player after she moved to Hong Kong in 1962. She made 20 films with the production company, with roles in “Come Drink With Me,” “Princess Iron Fan,” “Golden Swallow” and more.
Often known as a pioneer of martial arts roles, she also studied ballet and dance.
Cheng Pei-pei attends a wedding on February 22, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. VCG via Getty Images
In 2000, she would go on to star as villain Jade Fox in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” opposite Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chow Yun-Fat and Chang Chen.
The Ang Lee-directed film earned four Oscars and made history as the first foreign-language film to gross more than $100 million at the box office.
Her final film role came in Disney’s live-action adaptation of “Mulan,” in which she played the Matchmaker.
Pei-pei is survived by her four children.
In lieu of flowers, Cheng requested that donations be made to the Brain Support Network (BSN), where her brain was donated.
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