| Elizabeth Sung | |
| Birth Name: | Elizabeth Fong Sung |
| Birth Date: | 1954 10, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Happy Valley, British Hong Kong |
| Death Place: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education: | Juilliard School (BFA) American Film Institute (MFA) |
| Occupation: | Actress, director, screenwriter |
| Years Active: | 1988–2018 |
| Spouse: | Peter Tulipan |
Elizabeth Fong Sung (; 14 October 1954 – 22 May 2018) was a Chinese-American actress, director, and screenwriter. She was also a revered acting teacher and mentor to young performers and filmmakers in the Asian-Pacific community.
Sung was born and raised in British Hong Kong and studied ballet at a young age before coming to the United States.[1]
She attended the Juilliard School 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.[2]
From 1994-96, Sung appeared on the American soap opera The Young and the Restless as Luan Volien.[3] She directed the short film Requiem, based on her childhood in Hong Kong and her journey to New York City as a ballet student. It won a CINE Golden Eagle Award in 1996.[3]
Her other notable television appearances included roles on Hawaii Five-O, The Sopranos, Bones, Curb Your Enthusiasm, , and Charmed. She starred in The Joy Luck Club, Memoirs of a Geisha, and Lethal Weapon 4.[4]
Sung appeared in Asian-American comedies including Anita Ho,[5] Front Cover,[6] and Vivian Bang's White Rabbit that screened at the Sundance Festival in 2018.[7]
Sung was married to writer and actor Peter Tulipan.[8] She was fluent in both Cantonese and Mandarin.[2] [4] Her brother, Philip, died in 1985 from AIDS.[8]
Sung died on 22 May 2018, aged 63.[9] Her cause of death initially had not been released,[10] but it was later revealed Sung died from lymphoma.[11]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Le Palanquin des larmes (récit) | Tsong Hai | Drama film directed and co-written by Jacques Dorfmann | [12] |
| 1989 | Tango & Cash | Interpreter | Buddy cop action comedy film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky | [13] |
| 1990 | China Cry | Interrogator | Biographical film directed by James F. Collier | [14] [15] |
| 1992 | Death Ring | Ms. Ling | [16] | |
| 1993 | The Joy Luck Club | Second Wife | Drama film directed and co-produced by Wayne Wang | [17] [18] |
| 1994 | The Puppet Masters | Technician #1 | Science fiction film, adapted by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and David S. Goyer | [19] [20] |
| 1995 | Requiem | Mother | Short film | |
| 1997 | The White Fox | Short; director, writer | ||
| 1998 | Lethal Weapon 4 | Hong's Wife | Buddy cop action film directed and produced by Richard Donner | [21] |
| Restless | Richard's mother | Romantic film directed and co-written by Jule Gilfillan | [22] | |
| The Water Ghost | Short; director, writer (as F. Elizabeth Sung) | |||
| 2002 | Hero | Flying Snow | Voice Wuxia film directed and produced by Zhang Yimou | [23] |
| 2005 | Memoirs of a Geisha | Mrs. Sakamoto | Epic drama film directed by Rob Marshall | [24] [25] |
| 2006 | Falling for Grace | Ma | Romantic comedy directed by Fay Ann Lee | [26] |
| 2007 | Ping Pong Playa | Mrs. Wang | Sports comedy film directed by Jessica Yu and written by Yu & Jimmy Tsai | [27] |
| 2008 | Nuptials of the Dead | Mrs. Lee | Short drama film directed by Maya Lim | |
| Finding Madison | Mrs. Lee | Drama film directed by Tuan Tran | ||
| 2010 | House Under Siege | Margot | Action thrlller film written and directed by Mark Hazen Kelly | |
| The Boxer | May | Short drama film directed by David Au and Teddy Chen | [28] | |
| 2011 | L.A. Coffin School | Ming | Short drama film co-written and directed by Erin Li | [29] |
| 2012 | The People I've Slept With | Mrs. Lee | Sex comedy film directed by Quentin Lee | [30] |
| Anita Ho | Mrs. Lee | |||
| 2013 | Go for Sisters | Mother Han | Crime drama written, directed, and edited by John Sayles | [31] |
| 2014 | Woman In Fragments | Mei-Ling Wong | Short drama film by Zhou Quan | [32] [33] [34] [35] |
| Yes, And... | Mrs. Ding | |||
| 2015 | Front Cover | Yen Fu | ||
| Pali Road | Mrs. Zhang | |||
| 2016 | The Unbidden | Anna | ||
| Big Fish & Begonia | Old Chun | English version, Voice | ||
| 2017 | Fallen Stars | Joyce | ||
| 2018 | White Rabbit | |||
| Duck Duck Goose | Voice | |||
| For Izzy | Anna | |||
| North Blvd | Landlord |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Equalizer | Manika | Episode: "Riding the Elephant" | ||
| 1989 | China Beach | Roxanne | Episode: "Independence Day" | ||
| Murder, She Wrote | Lipreader | Episode: "Jack and Bill" | |||
| 1990 | Extra | Historical Made-for-TV Movie directed by Peter Werner | [36] | ||
| Kojak: Flowers for Matty | Lan | Made-for-TV Movie directed by Paul Krasny | [37] | ||
| 1991 | Knots Landing | Linda Takashi | Episode: "Call Me Dimitri" | ||
| 1994–1996 | The Young and the Restless | Luan Volien | Main cast member | ||
| 1998 | Charmed | Mrs. Chao | Episode: "Dead Man Dating" | ||
| 1999 | Border Line | Mrs. Chen | Made-for-TV Movie directed by Ken Kwapis | [38] | |
| ER | Mrs. May Fong | Episode: "Sticks and Stones" | |||
| 2000 | Touched by an Angel | Yung Shim Noh | Episode: "Reasonable Doubt" | ||
| Passions | Danielle Dwyer | ||||
| 2002 | NYPD Blue | Mrs. Quon | Episode: "A Little Dad'll Do Ya" | ||
| Gotta Kick It Up! | Ms. Kim | Made-for-TV Movie directed by Ramón Menéndez | [39] | ||
| For the People | Yen Marty | Episode: "Nascent" | |||
| 2005 | Crossing Jordan | Su-Ying Zhang | Episode: "You Really Got Me" | ||
| House | Marilyn Park | Episode: "Love Hurts" | |||
| E-Ring | Kit Yee's Mother | Episode: "Pilot" | |||
| 2006 | Desperate Housewives | Translator | Episode: "Silly People"; Uncredited | ||
| 2007 | Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Mrs. Tao | Episodes: | ||
| The Sopranos | Mrs. Chong | Episode: "Remember When" | |||
| 2008 | Ni Hao, Kai-Lan | Mommy Panda | Voice, Episode: "Kai-Lan's Trip to China" | ||
| 2009 | The Suite Life on Deck | Khun Yai | Episode: "Family Thais" | ||
| The Forgotten | Mei Chen | Episode: "Parachute Jane" | |||
| 2009–2010 | FlashForward | Saayo Noh | Episodes: | ||
| 2010 | Kosher Pig | Lillian Li | Made-for-TV Movie directed by Eric Patton | [40] | |
| Ming Lee | Episode: "Chinatown" | ||||
| 2011 | Bones | Mama Liu | Episode: "The Body in the Bag" | ||
| Cynthia Katsu | Episode: "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Dead" | ||||
| Curb Your Enthusiasm | O'Donnell's Housekeeper | Episode: "The Divorce" | |||
| 2012 | Awake | Mrs. Koh | Episode: "Game Day" | ||
| Mike & Molly | Tammy | Episode: "Yard Sale" | |||
| 2013 | Shameless | Mrs. Wong | Episodes: | ||
| 2014 | Miss Guidance | Mrs. Chen | [41] | ||
| 2016 | Elementary | Bai May-Lung | Episode: "Who Is That Masked Man?" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Rise to Honor | Voice | Made for PlayStation 2 | |
| 2006 | Splinter Cell: Double Agent | Voice | Made for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii, and Microsoft Windows | |
| 2008 | The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor | Female Chinese Soldier | Adaption of film of the same name for PlayStation 2, Wii, and the Nintendo DS | [42] [43] |
| 2012 | Refugees | Third-person shooter game made for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 | ||
| Sleeping Dogs | Broken Nose Jiang | |||
| Resident Evil 6 | Enemies | Action-adventure third-person shooter made for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 | ||
| 2014 | Additional Voices | |||
| Asian-accented Female Pedestrian #2 | Action-adventure single-player game made for PlayStation 4 | [44] | ||
| 2018 | Prey: Mooncrash | Riley Yu | Posthumous release | |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | The Local Pedestrian Population | Posthumous release |