Ms Cecilia Yip Tung

1963-

Actress

Born Lee Sze Sze in Hong Kong, Cecilia Yip was an advertising model during her school years. She was chosen by famous screenwriter Joyce Chan and director Patrick Tam to join Century Motion Picture, playing the female lead in Nomad (1982) and Coolie Killer (1982). She rose to instant fame, with Nomad earning her a nomination for Best New Performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Her acting was further recognised in the next year for Let’s Make Laugh (1983), which saw her win Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

She went on to star in a succession of films, including Hong Kong 1941 (1984), Wonder Women (1987) and The Swordsman (1990). For Beyond the Sunset (1989), she won Best Supporting Actress at the 9^th Hong Kong Film Awards, and garnered her second Best Actress accolade at the 11^th Hong Kong Film Awards for This Thing Called Love (1991), which also brought her a Best Actress nomination at the Golden Horse Awards.

In 1988, she married filmmaker Chan Kwok Hei. She also received Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards for To Be Number One (1991), God of Fist Style (2001) and May & August (2002), as well as another Best Actress nomination for Peace Hotel (1995).

Beginning in the 1990s, she has also appeared in television dramas and theatre. She was widely acclaimed for her cross-dressing performance as Xu Xian in the Taiwanese television drama New Legend of Madame White Snake (1992). Appearing in more TV costume dramas, she was nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series at the Golden Bell Awards for The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.

After the millennium, she shifted her focus to mainland TV drama, also appearing briefly in Hong Kong films and television, such as New York New York (2016), Distinction (2018) and Still Human (2019). She sat on the jury of the 47^th Golden Horse Awards.