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Ming Na Bio
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Ming-Na
Ming-Na had a very colorful early life, and later went against her mother’s wishes to pursue a career in acting. After the success she has had on television and film, it appears she was correct in her choice of a career path.
Ming-Na was born as Ming-Na Wen (enlightenment in Chinese) on November 20, 1963 on the island of Macau, at the time a Portugese territory, but now belonging again to the Chinese. With her parents divorce when she was just four years old, Ming-Na and her brother, Jonathon, moved to Hong Kong with their mother. After her mother met and married a Chinese-American businessman, Soo Lim Yee, the family relocated to Queens, New York, and later to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Yee’s hometown. Ming-Na didn’t easily fit in, but soon found a greater peace when acting in plays in school. Despite her mother’s wishes that she pursue a medical career, it was a theatre degree that Ming-Na earned while studying at Carnegie Mellon University.
The first professional role for Ming-Na came as the royal trumpeter on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. After this, she took on the role of Lien Hughes on As The World Turns, and became the first regularly appearing Asian on a daytime soap opera. After a couple of small parts on television and in film, Ming-Na got her big break, appearing as Jing-Mei “June” Woo in the film The Joy Luck Club, based on the Amy Tan novel.
Ming-Na continued to work regularly, scoring roles in movies and guest star spots on television. Before long she landed the role she is best known for, that of Dr. Jing-Mei “Deb” Chen on ER. This was a part that she would leave occasionally, but always come back to. It seemed there was an open door for her to leave to film movies or other series, but it was always open for her to return if she wished. She has worked with many different actors and actresses during her time on the show, among them, George Clooney, Anthony Edwards, Noah Wyle, and Laura Innes. Ming-Na would go on to begin work on another television series around the same time, The Single Guy, with Jonathon Silverman and Ernest Borgnine.
A few years later, Ming-Na had yet another big role, this time only using her voice. She laid the voice tracks for the lead character in the Disney animated film, Mulan, about a young girl who poses as a young man in order for her ailing father to not have to fight in the war. Harvey Fierstein, Eddie Murphy, and Miguel Ferrer added their voices to the film as well. This led to many other Mulan projects for Ming-Na, such as the video game, Mulan Story Studio, and the sequels Mulan II and The World of Mulan.
From her success voicing a character in Mulan, Ming-Na has voiced many other roles as well. She has voiced Dr. Aki Ross in Aki’s Dream, appearing with such other noted voices as Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, and James Woods. Ming-Na has also voiced the character of Detective Ellen Yin in several Batman episodes.
After appearing in the short-lived series, Inconceivable, with Jonathon Slavin, Ming-Na currently has a lead role in Vanished, as Agent Lin Mei, investigating the disappearance of a senator’s wife. She stars with Gale Harold and Rebecca Gayheart.
Married once before, Ming-Na met her current husband, and father of her two children, Eric Michael Zee, when he picked her up for the premiere of The Joy Luck Club, at the request of her acting instructor. They started dating a year later and eventually married. When Ming-Na married, she dropped having a surname from her professional name altogether. Together, Ming-Na and Eric manage an Asian boy band, At Last. They made it to the finals of the reality series, America’s Got Talent. |
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