Kelly Hu

Infobox actor

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imagesize = 150px
caption = Kelly Hu, 2002
birthname = Kelly Ann Hu
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|2|13
birthplace = Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
current residence = Brentwood, California
deathdate =
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othername =
yearsactive =
spouse =
website = http://www.kellyhu.com
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Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress and former fashion model who held the Miss Teen USA 1985 title.

Biography

Early life

Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Juanita, an engineering drafter for Honolulu, and Herbert Hu, a salesman and exotic bird feeder; the two divorced during Hu's childhood. [ [http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1804497206/bio Kelly Hu Biography - Yahoo! Movies ] ] She is of Hawaiian, Chinese, and English descent. [ [http://www.kellyhu.com/bio1.html Official website biography] ] She attended Maokinaemaokinae Elementary School and Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaiokinai.

to win the title. Ironically enough, she discovered after winning that she was prohibited from appearing in non-contest related activities for the year of her reign.

Career

Hu worked in Japan and Italy, the latter in which she became well-known as the star of a series of ads for Philadelphia brand cream cheese (she played a young Japanese college student named Kaori). Hu moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career in 1987 with a guest starring role as Mike Seaver's Hawaiian love interest on the sitcom "Growing Pains". Hu followed this with appearances on TV series such as "Night Court", "Tour of Duty", "21 Jump Street", and "Melrose Place" and her first movie role in "". Hu also won the title of Miss Hawaii USA in 1993, became the first former Miss Teen USA to win a Miss USA state title and went on to compete in the 1993 Miss USA pageant held in Wichita, Kansas. She entered the top 10 in second place, after winning the preliminary interview competition and placing second and third in swimsuit and evening gown. Then she made the top 6 ranked second, winning the top 10 evening gown competition and placing second in swimsuit. Kelly was eliminated in 4th place after the judges' questions, just two hundredths of a point from the Final 3.

In 1995, Hu played an undercover police officer in the movie "No Way Back". While the movie was not a major success, it opened a new career direction for Hu in action adventure roles. Fact|date=February 2007 She was then cast as Dr. Rae Chang on "Sunset Beach" for six months in 1997. Afterwards, Hu was cast as police officers Michelle Chan in the television series "Nash Bridges" (1997 – 1998), as Pei Pei "Grace" Chen on "Martial Law" (1998 – 2000) and as Agent Mia Chen on the last three episodes of the television series "Threat Matrix" (2004). Her subsequent movie appearances include "The Scorpion King" (2002), "Cradle 2 the Grave" (2003) and "X2" (2003). She provided voice talents for the popular video game "" as Visas Marr, the Sith woman who joins the Exile's party. Hu has been featured twice in "Maxim" magazine (May 2002 and May 2005).

In January 2007, Hu began appearing in a full time role on the TV series "In Case of Emergency". She plays Kelly Lee, a Korean-American woman who accidentally reunites with her high school classmates, yet realizes none of them grew up according to their high school plans.

During the first quarter of 2007, Kelly completed filming the film "Stilleto", and after that, "The Farmhouse."

Personal life

Hu, a member of CAUSE USA, [ [http://www.causeusa.org CAUSE - Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment ] ] an organization which encourages Asian Americans to participate in the democratic process, was instrumental in creating the innovative PSA The Least Likely. [ [http://www.leastlikely.com The Least Likely ] ] This clip purports to be a promo for a typical fantasy-adventure movie, only to reveal its message at the end. It aired on MTV and other networks with appeal to young people and Asian Americans.

Hu graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu. She resides in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. She has never been married.

Her brother, Glenn, is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army.

She is an avid fan of poker, and has frequently taken part in World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour competitions (amongst others), most recently taking part in the WPT Celebrity Charity on March 3, 2008. [ [http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Los_Angeles_Charities_188/World_Poker_Tour_Celebrity_Charity_-_Commerce_Casino.php World Poker Tour Celebrity Charity - Commerce Casino by Manoj Gera, March 2008] . Accessed March 14, 2008] She has taken part in HollywoodPoker.com's "Celebrity Poker Night" (May 30th, 2006) [ [http://www.pokerplayer.com.au/news/2006/05/celebrity-poker-night-with-kelly-hu.html Celebrity Poker Night with Kelly Hu, May 25th 2006] . Accessed March 14, 2008] , and in July 2006 she placed in the top 200 in the World Series of Poker Ladies Tournament, besting nearly a thousand other competitors. Her celebrity teammates included Mimi Rogers, Victoria Pratt, Anne Heche, Mena Suvari, Jean Smart and Ricki Lake. [ [http://www.kellyhu.com/k_news.html Sunday July 16, 2006 entry] . Accessed March 14, 2008]

In January, 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called Yes We Can. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY YouTube - Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video ] ] She campaigned for Obama in their native Hawaii in the run-up to the February 19th Democratic caucuses. [ [http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS01/802160347/-1/NEWS01 Chelsea Clinton, Kelly Hu campaign on Oahu - The Honolulu Advertiser ] ] In February 2008, Hu also appeared in another viral video in support of Obama, "Si Se Puede Cambiar", written and performed by Andres Useche, directed by Eric Byler, from the group United For Obama.

Filmography

Anime roles

* "Afro Samurai" - Okiku

Non-anime roles

* "Phineas and Ferb" - Stacy
* "Robot Chicken" - Additional Voices

Live-action roles

* "" - Detective Kaile Maka
* "Threat Matrix" - Agent Mia Chen (3 episodes, 2004)
* "In Case of Emergency" - Kelly Lee
* "Martial Law" - Chen Pei Pei (Grace Chen) (1998-2000)
* "Mayday" - Sharon Crandall
* "Nash Bridges" - Insp. Michelle Chan (1997-1998)
* "Sunset Beach" - Rae Chang (1997)
* "Growing Pains" - Melia (1987-1988)

Movie roles

* "Americanese" - Brenda Nishitani
* "American Eyes" -
* "Cradle 2 the Grave" - Sona
* "" - Eva Watanabe
* "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man" - Suzie
* "No Way Back" - Seiko Kobayashi
* "Star Command" - Ens. Yukiko Fujisaki
* "Strange Days" - Anchor Woman
* "The Doors" - Dorothy
* "Fakin' Da Funk" -
* "Farmhouse (film)" - Lilith
* "Shanghai Kiss" - Micki Yang
* "Surf Ninjas" - Ro-May
* "The Scorpion King" - Cassandra
* "X2" - Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike
* "" - Lana
* "Underclassman" - Lisa Brooks
* "Undoing" - Vera
* "The Tournament" - (TBA)

Video games roles

* "" - Visas Marr
* "" - Suki Toyama [ [http://kotaku.com/5039246/meet-your-sexy-new-red-alert-3-cast] ] [ [http://www.ea.com/redalert/movie.jsp?id=7 Cast Announcement] ]

Other

* " [http://www.leastlikely.com The Least Likely] PSA (2004)

References

External links

* [http://www.kellyhu.com KellyHu.com (official site)]
* [http://www.kellyhu.net KellyHu.net (fan site)]
*
* [http://www.chopblock.com/features/kellyhu.cfm CAUSE for Concern] - article about Miss Hu's work with filmmaker Mark Allen on "The Least Likely".

Miss Universe Organization titleholders
Year=1985
Miss Universe=Deborah Carthy-Deu
Miss USA=Laura Martinez-Herring
Miss Teen USA=Kelly Hu