Tsai Chin

Tsai Chin, also known by her Chinese name Zhou Caiqin, is an actress, director, teacher and author, best known in America for her role as Auntie Lindo in the film “The Joy Luck Club.”

Chin was born on November 30, 1933, in Tianjin, China, where her father was on tour. She grew up in Shanghai's French Concession, where (under her western name, "Irene Chow") she received a multi-lingual education at The Convent of the Sacred Heart, Mctyeire High School in Shanghai, and King George V School in Hong Kong. During her childhood, Chin was witness to colonial occupation, Japanese invasion of China, Chinese Civil War, and the Communist take-over in 1949. At age 17, she left Shanghai and was sent to England to study at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she later became an Associate Member. Her brother is Michael Chow, restaurateur and painter.

The third daughter of the legendary Peking opera actor and singer Zhou Xinfang and Western-educated mother Ju Lilian, Tsai Chin was the first Chinese student trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and later earned a Masters Degree at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. Her career spans more than five decades and three continents. She starred onstage in London's West End in The World of Suzie Wong, and on Broadway in Golden Child.

Chin appeared in two James Bond films: as a Bond girl in "You Only Live Twice," and "Casino Royale." Her single, "The Ding Dong Song," recorded for Decca, hit the top of the music charts in Asia. She was the first acting instructor to be invited to teach acting in China after the Cultural Revolution, when China's universities re-opened. In China she is best known for her portrayal of Grandmother Jia in the 2010 TV drama series “The Dream of Red Mansions.”