Biography - Ang Lee

Who is Ang Lee?

Ang Lee is a film director, actor, film producer, and screenwriter by profession and Taiwanese, Chinese, and American by nationality. He is best known for his work in Life of Pi, Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hulk, and Brokeback Mountain. He is also known for the emotional charge in his work.

Ang Lee – Age, Parents, Siblings

Ang Lee’s birth took place on 23 October 1954 in Chaozhou, Pingtung, Taiwan. He was born in a Waishengren family and his mother Yang Si-Chuan Lee and father Sheng Lee were from Jiangxi. He is not the only child of his parents and has a sibling, a brother named Khan Lee.

Education, Ethnicity

For education, Ang Lee studied at Provincial Tainan First Senior High School, where his father was a principal. Lee then enrolled at National Arts School, graduating in 1975.

After completing his mandatory military service in the Republic of China Navy (ROCN), he then moved to the US in 1979. There he joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and graduated in 1980 with a bachelor's degree in theater.

For further education, Lee enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where he earned his MFA in film production. His ethnicity is Chinese.

Ang Lee – Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Divorce

Lee met his future wife Jane Lin, a microbiologist while both were students at the University of Illinois. He married his longtime girlfriend on 19 August 1983.

Ang Lee and his wife have welcomed two children together. Their first child, a son named Haan Lee was born in 1984. They welcomed their second child, son Mason Lee on May 30, 1990.

The couple is still happily married and resides in Larchmont, New York, the USA without rumors of extra-marital affairs and divorce.

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Ang Lee: Career

Before fame

Lee’s thesis, a 43-minute drama titled Fine Line was the winner of NYU's Wasserman Award for Outstanding Direction. It was also selected for the Public Broadcasting Service. His thesis also drew the attention of the William Morris Agency.

Although he already had an agency to represent him, opportunities for him dwindled. He was unemployed for six years and was a full-time house-husband. His wife Jane Lin, whom he had met at the University of Illinois, worked as a molecular biologist. She was the breadwinner for the family the entire time.

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With support from his wife, he continued to indulge in screenwriting. In 1990, Ang Lee wrote two screenplays, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet, which were submitted to the competition. Both came in first and second position and caught the attention of Hsu Li-kong, a Chinese film producer.

Pushing Hands debuted in 1991 and was a success. Li-kong and Lee worked together to make The Wedding Banquet (1993), Eat Drink Man Woman which were both critically acclaimed.

Films, Series

Lee entered Hollywood in 1995 with the film Sense and Sensibility, which he directed. Since then he has worked with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hulk (2003), Brokeback Mountain,  Lust Caution (2007), Life of Pi (2009), Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016), Gemini Man (2019).

Worked with

Lee was a classmate of Spike Lee, an American director, producer, writer, and actor. 

He also worked with actors Will Smith, Benedict Wong, Garrett Hedlund, Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, and Hugh Grant.

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Ang Lee – Awards, Nominations

Ang Lee has had over 60 award nominations. Over the course of his career, he has won 12 Academy Awards, 14 BAFTA Awards, and 9 Golden Globe Awards.

Ang Lee – Net Worth, Salary

His net worth is $32 million. Lee's annual salary is under review.

Ang Lee – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

Ang Lee is absent from social media pages like Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

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