Elizabeth Fong Sung (; 14 October 1954 – 22 May 2018) was a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

actress, director, and screenwriter. She was also a revered acting teacher and mentor to young performers and filmmakers in the Asian-Pacific community.

Early life and education

Sung was born and raised in British Hong Kong and studied ballet at a young age before coming to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. She attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

and earned a BFA in dance. She was a member of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. Sung also earned an MFA in directing from the American Film Institute.

Career

From 1994-96, Sung appeared on the American

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

'' as Luan Volien. She directed the

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

'' Requiem'', which was based on her childhood in Hong Kong and her journey to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

as a ballet student. It won a CINE Golden Eagle Award in 1996. Her other notable television appearances included roles on ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...

'', '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'', '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', and '' Charmed''. She starred in '' The Joy Luck Club'', ''

Memoirs of a Geisha ''Memoirs of a Geisha'' is a historical fiction novel by American author Arthur Golden, published in 1997. The novel, told in first person perspective, tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and the many trials she faces on the path to becoming and ...

'', and ''

Lethal Weapon 4 ''Lethal Weapon 4'' is a 1998 American buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner, and starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, and Jet Li (in his international film debut). It is the fourth ins ...

''. Sung appeared in the Asian-American

comedies Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term origin ...

including ''Anita Ho'', ''Front Cover'', and Vivian Bang's ''White Rabbit'' that screened at the Sundance Festival in 2018.

Personal life and death

Sung was married to writer and actor Peter Tulipan. She was fluent in both

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

and

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. Her brother, Philip, died in 1985 from AIDS. Sung died on 22 May 2018, aged 63. Her cause of death initially had not been released, but it was later revealed Sung died from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

Citations

Sources

External links

* *
Elizabeth Sung at ECI Global Talent Management
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sung, Elizabeth 1954 births 2018 deaths American people of Chinese descent American film directors of Hong Kong descent American theatre directors of Chinese descent American film directors American women film directors AFI Conservatory alumni American film actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Hong Kong emigrants to the United States Deaths from lymphoma Juilliard School alumni