Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh
(Photo: amfAR)

Internationally acclaimed actress and producer Michelle Yeoh has starred in more than 30 films, including global hits such as Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Memoirs of a Geisha, and most recently, the soul-stirring biopic The Lady. In 1997, Michelle impressed audiences in her international debut playing a Chinese double agent in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. In that same year, she was the only Asian actress chosen by People magazine as one of its “50 Most Beautiful People in the World.” Her acclaimed performance in the period epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee, earned her Best Actress nominations at the 2001 Taipei Golden Horse Awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards, and the BAFTA Awards. The film won over 40 major awards around the world, including four Oscars, and went on to become the highest-grossing foreign-language motion picture in American history.

Michelle has devoted a major part of her time to charitable and social endeavors. She is an ambassador of AIDS Concerns, the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, Live to Love, and The Brain & Spine Institute (ICM). In 2013, Michelle joined UNAIDS, an international organization that leads and inspires the world to achieve its vision of “zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths,” participating in the first meeting of The UNAIDS and Lancet Commission: Defeating AIDS–Advancing global health in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Recently, she joined Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former first lady Laura Bush to launch a nonprofit initiative called the Suu Foundation, which aims to improve healthcare and education in Myanmar (Burma). Michelle currently serves on the foundation’s board of directors.