- Ming-Na
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Ming-Na 
Ming-Na, October 2006Chinese name 溫明娜 (Traditional) Chinese name 温明娜 (Simplified) Pinyin Wēn Míngnà (Mandarin) Birth name Ming-Na Wen Born November 20, 1963
Coloane Island, MacauOccupation Actress Years active 1988–present Spouse(s) Kirk Aanes (1990–1993) (divorced)
Eric Michael Zee (1995–present) 2 childrenOfficial Website Ming-Na.com Ming-Na (Pinyin: Wēn Míng-Nà; born November 20, 1963) is a Macanese-born American actress. She has been credited with and without her family name, but most credits since the late 1990s have been without it. She has been known by such variants of her name as Ming Na, Ming Na Wen, Ming-Na Wen and Ming Wen.
She is known for voicing Fa Mulan in the Mulan films and Kingdom Hearts video game series, and as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the NBC Medical drama series ER. She was a regular on other notable TV shows such as As the World Turns, Vanished, and The Batman. She was also the series lead on her own show, Inconceivable, a Medical drama aired on NBC, but the short-lived show was cancelled after two episodes. In October 2009, the actress returned to television as main character Camile Wray in Stargate Universe.[1]
Besides television she is notable for starring in films such as The Joy Luck Club and Street Fighter.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Wen was born on Coloane Island, Macau, to Cantonese parents and lived in Hong Kong with her mother (then working as a nurse) and older brother, and later moved to the USA as a child with her mother, older brother, and stepfather first to Queens, New York and then to the Pittsburgh area.
Education
Wen attended high school in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mt. Lebanon.] During her teen years she worked at her stepfather's family's restaurant called Chinatown Inn in downtown Pittsburgh's Chinatown, which her family still runs today.[2] She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University.
Career
Wen's most prominent role may be as Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen on the NBC drama series ER. She first guest starred during the first season. Five years later, she was invited back as a series regular in Season 6 and remained on the show until midway through Season 11. Wen starred in the movie version of Amy Tan's novel The Joy Luck Club and played Chun-Li in Street Fighter. She also appeared in a supporting role on the comedy series The Single Guy which starred Jonathan Silverman.
Wen also provided the voice for the title character in Disney's animated movie Mulan, and its sequel Mulan II, as well as reprising her role in the Square Enix/Disney video game Kingdom Hearts II, Aki Ross in the computer animated film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, and Detective Ellen Yin in the animated series The Batman. She was also the voice actress for Jade, a minor character in the HBO animated series Spawn.
Earlier in her career, Wen played Lien Hughes from 1988 to 1991 on the long running series As the World Turns. In 2004, she took part in a Hollywood Home Game on the World Poker Tour, and won. In fall 2005, she starred on the NBC drama series Inconceivable as the lead character, Rachel Lu. However, the series was canceled after only a couple episodes. Her next TV role was an FBI agent in the Fox kidnap drama series Vanished, which premiered in the fall of 2006 then was canceled roughly three months later. She also has played a small role as a college professor in the comedy series George Lopez.
On October 8 through October 29, 2007, Wen (billed as Ming Wen) appeared in a four-episode arc of CBS' Two and a Half Men playing Charlie Sheen's love interest, a judge closer to his own age. In November 2008, she guest-starred on two ABC series: Private Practice and Boston Legal. On December 5–6, 2008, Wen starred in a benefit production of the musical Grease with "Stuttering" John Melendez at the Class Act Theatre.[3]
She was cast as a regular in the Stargate Universe television series as political attaché Camile Wray; the series ran from October 2009 to May 2011. Wen made an appearance in "Disney Through the Decades", a short documentary about the history of the Walt Disney Company through to the present, as the hostess of the 1990s section. It can be found on the Diamond Edition release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
In August - September 2011, she appeared on the SciFy Channel series "Eureka", as the inquisitive U.S. Senator Wen.
Personal life
In 1990, Wen married American film writer Kirk Aanes. They divorced in 1993. On June 16, 1995, Wen married her second husband Eric Michael Zee. Together they have two children, a daughter Michaela and a son Cooper Dominic Zee, born on October 12, 2005. As of 2007, Wen and her family live in Calabasas, California.
Selected filmography
Ming-Na at the January 2009 premiere for Push
Year Title Role Other notes 1988 As the World Turns Lien Hughes Regular role (1988–1991) 1992 Rain Without Thunder "Uudie" Prisoner 1993 The Joy Luck Club Jing-Mei "June" Woo 1994 Terminal Voyage Han Hong Kong 97 Katie Chun Street Fighter Chun-Li Zang ER Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen Season 1 (Recurring Stint) Season 6-11(Main cast) 1995 "The Single Guy" "Trudy" Entire run 1995 - 1997 1997 One Night Stand Mimi Carlyle 1998 12 Bucks Gorgeous Mulan Fa Mulan Voice only 1999 Spawn 3: Ultimate Battle Jade/Lisa Wu Voice only ER Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen Seasons 6-11:Regular Role (1999–2004) 2001 Aki's Dream Dr. Aki Ross Voice only Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Dr. Aki Ross Voice only 2002 A Ribbon of Dreams Mei-Ling Voice only Teddy Bears' Picnic Katy Woo 2003 The Bronx Bunny Show Talkshow: Season 1 Episode 1 2004 Perfection Woman Mike's Super Short Show Mulan II (V) Fa Mulan Voice only The Batman Ellen Yin Voice only 2005 The World of Mulan Fa Mulan Voice only 2006 Kingdom Hearts II Fa Mulan Voice only George Lopez Professor Tracy Lim Guest role 2007 Two and a Half Men Linda Harris Four-Episode Arc 2008 Prom Night Dr. Elisha Crowe Boston Legal Ming Wang Shu Guest role Private Practice Kara Guest role 2009 Push Emily Hu Supporting role 2009 Stargate Universe Camile Wray Regular role (2009–2011) References
External links
- Ming-Na at the Internet Movie Database
- Ming-Na interview
- Ming-Na at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Ming-Na in Space
Categories:- Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- American film actors
- American soap opera actors
- American television actors
- American voice actors
- American actors of Asian descent
- Annie Award winners
- Carnegie Mellon University alumni
- American people of Chinese descent
- Chinese emigrants to the United States
- Macanese people
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People from Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania
- 1963 births
- Living people
- American actors of Chinese descent
- American Buddhists
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