Betty Ting

Betty Ting Pei (simplified Chinese: 丁佩; traditional Chinese: 丁珮; pinyin: Dīng pèi; born Tang Mei Li (simplified Chinese: 唐美丽; traditional Chinese: 唐美麗; pinyin: Táng měilì); 19 February 1947) is a former Taiwanese actress who was mainly active in the 1970s. Although she acted in more than 30 films, she is best known for being the center of international speculation regarding the untimely death of Bruce Lee in her apartment.

Career

Born Tang Mei Li in Beiping, Republic of China (present-day Beijing, China) on 19 February 1947, Tang started her acting career with China Motion Picture Corporation in Taiwan. In January 1967, after acting in six Taiwanese films, she was spotted by Shaw Brothers' director, Peter Pan Lei, and thereafter adopted the screen name of Ting Pei. Her first film in Hong Kong was The Purple Shell, where she acted as a dance hostess.

Although Ting Pei had acted in dramas, comedies, musicals, and martial arts films, she is better known in Asia for her mistress roles and her many steamy bedroom scenes. She was a regular of director Inoue Umetsugu, for whom she performed in the musicals, The Millionaire Chase, The Yellow Muffler, and The Steam Stealers.

In 1973, Ting became a freelance actress and continued to make films both in her native Taiwan and Hong Kong. She retired from acting in 1985.

Personal life

On 20 July 1973, Ting received media attention when Bruce Lee died in her apartment at 67 Beacon Hill Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. According to press reports, Lee was going over the script of Game of Death in Betty's apartment, a Golden Harvest film in which she was reported to have a lead role, when he complained of a headache. She gave him a single tablet of Equagesic, a strong aspirin-based drug that she often used herself. He then went to sleep, but when she could not wake him up for a dinner appointment with Raymond Chow, the owner of Golden Harvest, Betty called an ambulance. Lee was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Death was allegedly caused by an allergic reaction that resulted in brain edema (swelling of the brain). The coroner described his passing as "death by misadventure."

In 1976, Ting married Charles Heung and they had a daughter Candy Heung, Ting and Heung divorced in 1980.

In 2013, Ting admitted that she had an intimate relationship with Lee, but said that she did not engage in any sexual activity with him on the day that he died.