Aug 6, 1962

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng is a Hong Kong-based actress and dancer, sometimes billed as "Michelle Khan". Yeoh is a Chinese Malaysian born in Ipoh, Malaysia. Yeoh was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 1997.
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In 1983, Yeoh returned to her home country, Malaysia. It was at the age of 21 when Yeoh became the winner of the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant in 1983. She was also Malaysia's representative at the 1983 Miss World pageant in London. From... ... (read more...) there, she appeared in a television commercial with Jackie Chan which caught the attention of a fledgling film production company called D&B Films.

Yeoh's career in Hong Kong started in modeling, where she appeared in a series of commercials for Charles Jourdan, opposite action movie heroes Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat. The Charles Jourdan brand was handled by D&B Group in Hong Kong, and this is how Yeoh met her future husband, Dickson Poon. In 1988, she retired after marrying prominent Hong Kong tycoon, Dickson Poon of D&B Films. Three years later, the couple divorced, and Yeoh returned to acting in 1992. Her first movie after the comeback was Police Story 3, which was partly shot in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.


Trivia
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]

One of the only female stars whom Jackie Chan lets do her own stunts.

A former Miss Malaysia, she got her start in acting in a commercial with Jackie Chan.

Miss Malaysia [1983]

Fought her way to the top in the male-dominated genre of Hong Kong action films, where she has been known for years as the "queen of martial arts".

Has a Bachelor's Degree in Dance from the Royal Academy of Dance (London, England).

One of the highest paid Chinese-language actresses in the world.

Highest paid actress in Asia.

Released a single CD in 1993, "Love Quite Like a Comet", from her movie Xin liu xing hu die jian (1993).

Surname, "Yeoh" is pronounced "yo".

She is currently engaged to Jean Todt, the director of the Ferrari F1 team. [2005]

She speaks 3 languages, English, Malay and Cantonese. However, she can't read Chinese and relies on pinyin (a system of phonetic notation) to pronounce words. In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, she uses pinyin to recite her lines (with help from Mandarin speaking crew members) in Mandarin as she doesn't speak the language.

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002

In 2001, she was given the title of "dato'" by the Sultan of Perak, her native state. "Dato'" is an honorary Malaysian title somewhat like an English knighthood, and it lies below the ranks of "Dato' Seri," "Tan Sri" and "Tun."

Member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1999