StarLink Blog Alert: Bai Ling Arrested on Shoplifting Charges at LAX.....

Bai Ling Biography:

Bai Ling means "white spirit" in her Chinese language and Ling has become a growing talent on both sides of the world. The frail, virtually unearthly actress was mainly memorable to United States viewers as Myca, the drug addicted human-eater with a preference for eyeballs, in Alex Proyas' thriller "The Crow" opposite Brandon Lee in 1994, and as the President's Chinese interpreter in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" (1995) with the powerful Anthony Hopkins playing President Nixon. The part was practically ironic as Bai Ling had arrived in the United States just five years earlier not understanding a single word of English.

Raised in a average Chinese family, one tolerant of the upheaval, Bai Ling was a musical performer at age fourteen, enlisted into the army and dispatched to Tibet to help entertain the troops. In 1987, she made her film introduction in "Haitan" and then appeared in various movies developed and produced in China. 

She was issued a special visa and allowed to stay in the United States due to her actions at Tiananmem Square.

International viewers could see a brief glance of her in Bernardo Bertolucci's "Little Buddha" starring Keanu Reeves (1993), but it was her next project in "Dead Funny" (1995) and her charming role as an American immigrant in "Somewhere in the City" (1996) that brought her media and tabloid attention. Bai Ling then made news when she was cast in the leading role opposite Richard Gere in the political thriller "Red Corner" (1997).

Her television work has included "Nobody's Girls" (PBS, 1994) a documentary with re-enactments in which Bai Ling was Mary Bong, a 14-year old sexy Chinese girl who became legendary as a midwife after she moved to Alaska. Ling made her American television film debut in "Dead Weekend" (Showtime, 1995).

In 1999 she appeared in "Wild Wild West" working with Will Smith and Salma Hayek and "Anna and the King" alongside leading lady Jodie Foster. She's also appeared in "The Beautiful Country" (2004), "My Baby's Daddy" (2004), and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. (2004). 

Bai Ling then took a small role as a senator in "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" with power-house stars including Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson (2005), but her work cut during editing. Bai Ling claimed it was because of her nude pictures released in the June 2005 issue of Playboy Magazine, where there was quite a spread of naked photos, but director George Lucas denied it. 

Bai Ling also appeared in "Man About Town" (2006), starring Ben Affleck. In the film, a top Hollywood talent agent finds his comfortable life threatened when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him, and that his personal journal has been stolen by a news reporter out to bring him down.

In February 2008, Ling's profile was front page for all the wrong reasons. The Chinese born actress was arrested for allegedly shoplifting at Los Angeles International Airport after a gift shop employee accused her of stealing, not buying, two magazines and a pack of batteries.

Los Angeles Airport Police booked Bai Ling on suspicion of shoplifting $16 worth of merchandise, a misdemeanor, and ordered her to appear in court on May 5th, 2008 in L.A.

You can read more about her arrest and follow the court hearings at our StarLink Blog.

• Born:
  on 10/10/1970 in China
• Job Titles:
  Actor

Family

• Father: Bai Yu-xiang.
• Grandmother: Peng Zhi-jia.
• Mother: Chen Bin-bin.
• Sister: Bai Je.

Significant Others

• Companion: Chris Isaak. reportedly dating from late 1999

Education

• New York University, New York, New York

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