Gwendoline Yeo | |
|---|---|
| 杨时贤 | |
 Yeo in 2018 | |
| Born | Gwendoline See-Hian Yeo (1977-07-10)10 July 1977 (age 48) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Relatives | George Yeo (uncle) |
| Website | www |
Gwendoline See-Hian Yeo (Chinese:杨时贤;pinyin:Yáng Shíxián; born 10 July 1977)[1] is an actress based in the United States. Born in Singapore, she moved to California in 1988 and began acting in sitcoms such asGrounded for Life andThe Random Years. Yeo is known for her roles as Dr. Kelly Lee onGeneral Hospital, Xiao-Mei onDesperate Housewives, and Sun Fu inBroken Trail.[2][3][4] She is also known for voicing different roles in voiceover projects.
Born inSingapore, Yeo moved toCalifornia, United States when she was eleven,[5] where she attendedSt. Ignatius College Preparatory before graduating with honors in 1994. Yeo graduatedsumma cum laude from theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, in 1997. She also completed a diploma in classical piano at theSan Francisco Conservatory of Music.[6]
Yeo was crowned Miss Asian America in 1995 and was also namedMiss Chinatown USA in 1998–99.[5]
She is the niece ofGeorge Yeo, a Singaporean former politician who served asMinister for Foreign Affairs between 2004 and 2011.
Yeo starred oppositeRobert Duvall andThomas Haden Church in theEmmy Award-winningWesternBroken Trail as Sun Fu (also known as "Number Three"), a Chinese woman sold into prostitution in the 1800s. After a worldwide search, Duvall personally selected her to star opposite him in the role.[7] Her performance in the film earned her critical acclaim and a NAMIC Vision Award nomination for Best Actress in 2007.[2]
In the independent filmHeathens and Thieves, Yeo played Kun Hua, a role which garnered her Best Actress Awards at both the WorldFest Houston International Film Festival and the Iowa Film Festival.[8]
Yeo also starred in theEmmy Award-nominated Amazon original specialAmerican Girl: Ivy & Julie.
Other notable film roles include Dr. Samantha Yep inThe Jane Austen Book Club withEmily Blunt andHugh Dancy, June inNight Skies, andThe Magic of Ordinary Days withKeri Russell.
Yeo is perhaps best known for her recurring guest star role as Xiao-Mei, the Chinese maid ofGabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria) andCarlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) inDesperate Housewives. The character's popularity in the series led to an offer for a series regular contract the next season.[9]
Set to debut in the2020–21 television season, Yeo was cast as a series regular onThe CW'sKung Fu as Zhilan, a dangerous nemesis with criminal ties and a connection to the Shaolin monastery.[3][4] Before the series aired, Yeo was replaced byYvonne Chapman.[10]
She also had a recurring role as the Oklahoma-born Sargent Richelle (oppositeFelicity Huffman) in the critically acclaimed seriesAmerican Crime, played Kelly Lee onGeneral Hospital, and has also guested on other popular shows such asNCIS,Grey's Anatomy,Castle,The Mentalist, andChuck.
Yeo is a prominent voice artist in several animated series, films, video games, and commercials, and has multiple action figures based on her characters. She started her career in voice-over in 2003 with guest role onWhat's New, Scooby-Doo?. More recently, she voicedLady Shiva in the 2019 animated seriesYoung Justice, and Tsiao Jung in the 2019Emmy Award-winning seriesLove, Death & Robots.[11]
Her character Shinigami, fromNickelodeon'sTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was officially launched duringSan Diego Comic-Con to a huge crowd of fans.[12] In 2020, she voiced another iconic role from the TMNT universe,Karai, inNickelodeon'sRise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
She has voiced several other popular animated characters including Nala Se, Jedi Kalifa, and Cato Parassiti inStar Wars: The Clone Wars,Domino andMaster Mold inWolverine and the X-Men,Mariko Yashida inMarvel Anime: Wolverine, Dr. Yui Sasaki inMarvel Anime: X-Men, Li Mei inThe Invincible Iron Man, Lola Chang inBatman: The Dark Knight Returns, Gramma onStitch!,Mercy Graves inThe Batman, Kitsune inHellboy: Sword of Storms, andLi-en inZatch Bell!. She has also guest starred onPhineas and Ferb,Kim Possible,Curious George,Yasuke,Ben 10: Omniverse, and Mayor in "Star Wars: Tales of the Underground".
In video games, Yeo is best known asPaine inFinal Fantasy X-2 andKingdom Hearts II. She was also the female lead inSOCOM 4 U.S. Navy SEALs as the character Forty-Five.[13] Other notable video game credits includeLady Deathstrike inX-Men: Next Dimension, Yuma inFar Cry 4, and Four-Eyes inResident Evil: Operation Raccoon City.
Yeo's love of music led her to specialize in playing the Chinese long zither, also known as theguzheng, which culminated into a one-woman radio show on NPR-KCRW about her immigrant and ugly duckling story. It also included the debut of her first two zither/vocal tracks "Kiss My Grits" and "Lovers."
Her radio show evolved into a theater piece which Yeo wrote, scored, and starred in calledLaughing With My Mouth Wide Open, which received rave reviews during its run at the El Centro Theatre.[13][14]
Yeo also designed her own limited-edition clothing line, which quickly sold out, and donated the proceeds to Kentucky's Christian Appalachian Project.[15]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | A Day Without a Mexican | Newscaster | |
| 2007 | Night Skies | June | |
| Dead Tone | Detective Anne Hastings | ||
| The Jane Austen Book Club | Dr. Samantha Yep | ||
| 2008 | Vacancy 2: The First Cut | Bride | |
| 2012 | Freeloaders | Yue Jie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Grounded for Life | Linda | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | The Random Years | Happy Dragon Hot Waitress | Episode: "Don't Make Me Have Sex in the Hamptons" |
| 2003 | Watching Ellie | Andrea Barlow | Episode: "Shrink" |
| 2004 | The O.C. | Sara / Amy | Episode: "The Strip" |
| Judging Amy | Lisa Bart | Episode: "Consent" | |
| 2005 | The Magic of Ordinary Days | Rose | Television film |
| NYPD Blue | Ai Watanabe | Episode: "Moving Day" | |
| JAG | Lt. Chang | Episode: "Unknown Soldier" | |
| 24 | Melissa Rabb | 2 episodes | |
| 2006 | General Hospital | Dr. Kelly Lee | 7 episodes |
| Desperate Housewives | Xiao-Mei | 9 episodes | |
| Broken Trail | Sun Fu | Television film | |
| Hannah Montana | Bree Samuels | Episode: "New Kid in School" | |
| 2007 | Standoff | Ratana Sadka | Episode: "No Strings" |
| The 1/2 Hour News Hour | Yujira Shinato | 1 episode | |
| Chuck | Mei-Ling Cho | Episode: "Chuck Versus the Sizzling Shrimp" | |
| 2008 | Eli Stone | Joanna Kim | Episode: "Unwritten" |
| The Mentalist | Alexandra | Episode: "Red-Handed" | |
| 2009 | The Beast | Jennifer Ling | Episode: "The Walk In" |
| 2011 | Gigantic | Val | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Castle | Elise Kim | Episode: "The Wrong Stuff" |
| American Crime | Richelle | 4 episodes | |
| 2016 | Grey's Anatomy | Michelle Carpio | Episode: "Mama Tried" |
| 2017 | Switched at Birth | Ling | Episode: "The Call" |
| Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders | Lin Huang | Episode: "Cinderella and the Dragon" | |
| Wisdom of the Crowd | Deputy Chief Elaine Wu | Episode: "User Bias" | |
| 2018 | NCIS | NCIS Special Agent Joanna Wright | Episode: "Death From Above"[16] |
| 2023 | Truth Be Told | Social Worker | 3 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Invincible Iron Man | Li Mei | Direct-to-video[17] |
| 2011 | Dead Space: Aftermath | Isabel Cho | |
| Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | Blu | ||
| Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur | Ms. Deitch | ||
| 2012 | Back to the Sea | Waitress | [17] |
| Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part One | Lola Chang | Direct-to-video[17] | |
| 2013 | Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part Two | ||
| 2015 | Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle | Popcorn Vendor, Automated Voice | [17] |
| 2018 | Charming | Maiden | Netflix film[17] |
| 2022 | Animal Attraction | Marcy | Direct-to-video |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | What's New, Scooby Doo? | Lt. Keiko Tanaka | Episode: "Big Appetite in Little Tokyo"[17] |
| 2005 | Higglytown Heroes | Dentist Hero | Episode: "Kip's Sweet Tooth/Wayne's Lollipop" |
| 2005–06 | Zatch Bell! | Li-en | English dub 3 episodes |
| 2006 | The Life and Times of Juniper Lee | Cousin Lisa, Aunt Lily | Episode: "Party Monsters" |
| Hellboy: Sword of Storms | Kitsune | Television film | |
| 2007 | Kim Possible | Hoodie | 2 episodes |
| The Batman | Mercy Graves | Episode: "The Batman/Superman Story"[17] | |
| 2008–09 | Wolverine and the X-Men | Domino,Master Mold, Madeline Drake,Mariko Yashida | 11 episodes |
| 2008 | Phineas and Ferb | Fifi | Episode: "Leave the Busting to Us!"[17] |
| 2008–20 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars | Nala Se, Kalifa | 9 episodes[17] |
| 2009 | Special Agent Oso | Jack's Mother | Episode: "Octo-Puzzle/One Suitcase Is Not Enough" |
| 2009–13 | Stitch! | Gramma (Obaa), AdultLilo Pelekai | English dub 11 episodes |
| 2011 | Marvel Anime: Wolverine | Mariko Yashida | English dub 4 episodes |
| Marvel Anime: X-Men | Dr. Yui Sasaki | English dub 7 episodes | |
| 2012 | Days of Our Lives | Female Movie Voice | 3 episodes |
| 2013–14 | Ben 10: Omniverse | Nyancy Chan, Sheelane | 3 episodes[17] |
| 2014 | Two and a Half Men | Computer | Episode: "Alan Shot a Little Girl" |
| 2015 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Mrs. Liao | Episode: "Fortune Cookies"[17] |
| Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! | Dr. Lang | Episode: "Be Quiet Scooby-Doo!"[17] | |
| Regular Show | Mary, Girl #2, Waitress #2 | Episode: "Hello China"[17] | |
| 2016–17 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Shinigami | 6 episodes[17] |
| 2019–21 | Young Justice | Lady Shiva, Rictus | 5 episodes[17] |
| 2019 | Love, Death & Robots | Tsiao Jung | Episode: "Good Hunting"[17] |
| Star Wars Resistance | Stormtrooper #2 | Episode: "Break Out"[17] | |
| 2020, 2025 | American Dad! | Chinese Scientist, Jane | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Hamato Karai | 2 episodes |
| Curious George | Dr. Chu | 1 episode | |
| 2020–2024 | Lego Monkie Kid | Princess Iron Fan | 7 episodes[17] |
| 2021 | Yasuke | Ichika | English dub 5 episodes[17] |
| 2021–2024 | Star Wars: The Bad Batch | Nala Se, Onedron Fighter | 12 episodes[17] |
| 2022 | Big City Greens | Masseuse | Episode: "Little Buddy/Zen Garden" |
| 2025 | Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld | Mayor | Episode: "One Good Deed" |
| Disney's How NOT to Draw | Phineas and Ferb's animator (Jill) | Episode: "Phineas and Ferb" |
Gwendoline Yeo immigrated from Singapore to San Francisco at eleven. She won Miss Teen Chinatown SF, Miss Asian America & Miss Chinatown USA. She graduated from UCLA Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa and has a diploma in piano from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
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