Early life and career

Yeoh was born in Ipoh, Malaysia to an ethnically Chinese family of Fujianese descent. Her parents are Janet Yeoh and Yeoh Kian Teik, a lawyer and MCA politician.

She was keen on dance from an early age, beginning ballet at the age of four. At the age of 15, she moved with her parents to the United Kingdom, where she was enrolled in a boarding school. Yeoh later studied at the Royal Academy of Dance in London, majoring in ballet. However, a spinal injury prevented her from becoming a professional ballet dancer, and she transferred her attention to choreography and other arts. She later received a B.A. degree in Creative Arts with a minor in Drama.

In 1983, at the age of 20, Yeoh won the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant. She represented Malaysia at the Queen of the Pacific 1983 beauty pageant which was held in Australia and won the crown. She was also Malaysia's representative at the Miss World 1983 pageant in London. From there, she appeared in a television commercial with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling Hong Kong film production company, D&B Films. Yeoh started her film career acting in action and martial arts films such as Yes, Madam in 1985, after which she did most of her own stunts. The D&B Group in Hong Kong was run by Dickson Poon. Yeoh married Poon in 1987 and retired from acting. After the couple divorced in 1992, Yeoh returned to acting.

Wider fame

Yeoh's performance in Police Story 3: Super Cop marked her comeback. She acted in The Heroic Trio in 1993, and the Yuen Woo-ping films Tai Chi Master and Wing Chun in 1994. Yeoh learned English and Malay before Cantonese. She learned the lines for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon phonetically.

She starred in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies as Wai Lin (1997). Natasha Henstridge was rumoured to be cast in the lead Bond girl role but eventually Yeoh was confirmed. Brosnan was impressed, describing her as a "wonderful actress" who was "serious and committed about her work". He referred to her as a "female James Bond" in reference to her combat abilities. She wanted again to perform her own stunts but was prevented because director Roger Spottiswoode considered it too dangerous. Still, she performed all of her own fighting scenes. Thereafter, she was offered the role of Seraph in the two sequels to The Matrix, but 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 film, The Touch, through her own production company, Mythical Films.

In 2005, Yeoh starred as the graceful Mameha in the film adaptation of Memoirs of a Geisha, and she continued her English-language work in 2007 with Sunshine. In 2008, Michelle Yeoh also starred in fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with Brendan Fraser and Jet Li.

In October 2011, she was chosen by Guerlain to be its skincare ambassador. Yeoh will play a role in strengthening the French cosmetics company's relationship with Asia. Apart from action films, she is famous for playing nationalists in two biopics. In 1997, she played Soong Ai-ling in the award winning The Soong Sisters. In 2011, she portrayed Aung San Suu Kyi in Luc Besson's The Lady.

Yeoh has also recently branched out into television, as it was announced in September 2014 that she had accepted her first television role on the fifth and final season of Strike Back. Yeoh plays the role of Mei Foster, wife to the British Ambassador to Thailand, and who is secretly a North Korean spy named Li-Na.

Deportation from Burma

On 22 June 2011, Yeoh was deported from Burma, allegedly over a new film The Lady, in which Yeoh portrays Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Personal life

Yeoh was married to Hong Kong entrepreneur Dickson Poon, owner of businesses such as Harvey Nichols and Charles Jourdan, from 1988 to 1992. In 2008 she confirmed a new engagement to Jean Todt, a leading figure in motor racing, during an interview with Craig Ferguson on CBS's The Late Late Show.

She is a Buddhist.

In March 2008, she visited Vietnam to film a documentary for the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF). Yeoh is also a patron of the Save China's Tigers project committed to protect the endangered South China tiger.

Awards, honours and styles

In 1999, she was a member of the jury at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.

On 19 April 2001, 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.

On 25 November 2002, she was honoured as The Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) (Cultural Achievement) by JCI (Junior Chamber International).

On 23 April 2007, the then French President Jacques Chirac awarded her Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur. The decoration was presented to her in a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur on 3 October 2007.

In 2011, she received a special award for her contribution to Malaysian cinema at Malaysian Film Festival (FFM 24).

On 14 March 2012, the then French President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded her the Officier de la Légion d'honneur. The decoration was presented to her at a ceremony held at the president's official residence, the Elysee Palace on that day.

On 22 May 2012, she was awarded the Darjah Seri Paduka Mahkota Perak (SPMP) which carries the title Datuk Seri' during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah's birthday.

Michelle Yeoh received the Excellence in Asian Cinema award during the seventh annual Asian Film Awards on March 2013 in Hong Kong.

On 1 June 2013, she was awarded the Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) which carries the title Tan Sri during the investiture ceremony in conjunction with the birthday of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah.

On 30 November 2013, she presided as the Chief Guest at the International Film Festival of India.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	The Owl vs Bombo	Miss Yeung
1985	Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars	Judo instructor
1985	Yes, Madam	Inspector Ng	Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer
1986	Royal Warriors	Michelle Yip	a.k.a. Wong ga jin si
1987	Magnificent Warriors	Fok Ming-Ming
1987	Easy Money	Michelle Yeung	a.k.a. Tong tian da dao
1992	Police Story 3: Super Cop	Inspector Jessica Yang
1993	The Heroic Trio	Ching / Invisible Woman / Number 3
1993	Butterfly and Sword	Lady Ko
1993	Executioners	Ching/San/Carol
1993	Holy Weapon	Ching Sze / To Col Ching
1993	Once a Cop	Jessica Yang
1993	Tai Chi Master	Siu Lin
1994	Shaolin Popey 2 - Messy Temple	Ah King	a.k.a. Shao Lin xiao zi II: Xin wu long yuan
1994	Wonder Seven	Ying	a.k.a. 7 jin gong
1994	Wing Chun	Yim Wing Chun
1996	The Stunt Woman	Ah Kam	a.k.a. A Jin de gu shi
1997	The Soong Sisters	Soong Ai-ling / Madam Kung	Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress
1997	Tomorrow Never Dies	Wai Lin	Nominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Fight
1999	Moonlight Express	Sis	a.k.a. Sing yuet tung wa
2000	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Yu Shu Lien	Nominated-TFCA Award for Best Performance, Female Nominated-Saturn Award for Best Actress Nominated-BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Nominated-Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Action Team Nominated-Golden Horse Award for Best Actress Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress Nominated-VFCC Award for Best Actress
2002	The Touch	Pak Yin Fay
2004	Silver Hawk	Lulu Wong / The Silver Hawk	Executive producer、producer
2005	Memoirs of a Geisha	Mameha
2006	Fearless	Ms. Yang	Director's cut only
2007	Sunshine	Corazon
2007	Far North	Saiva
2008	The Children of Huang Shi	Mrs. Wang
2008	Purple Mountain
2008	Babylon A.D.	Sister Rebeka
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Zi Juan (voice)	Video game
2008	The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor	Zi Yuan
2010	True Legend	Sister Yu
2010	Reign of Assassins	Zeng Jing	Chinese title Jianyu a.k.a. Jianyu Jianghu Nominated-Asian Film Award for Best Actress Nominated-People's Choice Award for Favorite Actress Nominated-Huabiao Film Award for Outstanding Abroad Actress
2011	Kung Fu Panda 2	Soothsayer	Voice
2011	The Lady	Aung San Suu Kyi	biographical film about the Nobel laureate
2012	Pad Yatra: A Green Odyssey		Documentary，executive producer
2013	Final Recipe	Julia
2014	Air Force	Sarah
2015	Strike Back	Mei Foster/Li-Na	Television series; recurring role
2016	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	Yu Shu Lien
2016	Marco Polo	Hand Maiden
2017	Blazing Samurai	Yuki	Filming

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated Work	Award	Results
1986	Yes, Madam	Nominated-Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer	Nominated
1998	Tomorrow Never Dies	Nominated-MTV Movie Award for Best Fight	Nominated
2000	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	TFCA Award for Best Performance, Female	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Saturn Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	BAFTA Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Action Team	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Nominated-Golden Horse Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2001	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	VFCC Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2011	Reign of Assassins	Asian Film Award for Best Actress	Nominated
2011	Reign of Assassins	People's Choice Award for Favorite Actress	Nominated
2011	Reign of Assassins	Huabiao Film Award for Outstanding Abroad Actress	Nominated

Special Awards

Year	Award	Results
1998	Asian Media Award	Won
2001	ShoWest Award for International Star of the Year	Won
2013	Outstanding Contribution to Asian Cinema	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]