Ming-Na currently stars as "Dr. Jing-Mei" on NBC's medical drama "ER". Ming-Na, who first won attention with her critically acclaimed performance as June in Wayne Wang's feature film “The Joy Luck Club,” plays attending physician Jing-Mei Chen. Born in Macau, China, Ming-Na and her family immigrated to New York City when she was 4. There she learned English and discovered that acting was a great way to be accepted by her new peers when she performed in a third-grade Easter play. Having moved to Pittsburgh when she was 9, Ming-Na later graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with high honors and a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater. Her family remains in Pittsburgh, where they run a successful Chinese restaurant. Upon returning to New York, Ming-Na performed off-Broadway, where she was discovered and then cast on “As the World Turns,” in the first contract role for an Asian actor in daytime television. She also starred in the Tony Award-nominated Broadway production of David Henry Hwang’s “Golden Child,” in Lanford Wilson’s “Redwood Curtain,” in David Mamet’s “Speed the Plow” and in the world premiere of James Lapine’s “Luck, Pluck & Virtue” at the renowned La Jolla (California) Playhouse. Through her work, Ming-Na has traveled extensively. After completing “The Joy Luck Club” in Shanghai, she toured with her family for the first time, throughout China. She has also traveled to Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Manila and Mexico and worked in Thailand and Australia on the film “Streetfighter,” in which she played the female lead, Chun-Li, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia.

In 1995, Ming-Na was cast as Trudy in NBC’s comedy “The Single Guy.” Three years ago, she provided the title voice for Disney's animated feature film “Mulan,” where she won the inaugural Annie Award for best lead vocal performance in a feature-length film. She also co-starred opposite Wesley Snipes in “One Night Stand,” director Mike Figgis’ followup to “Leaving Las Vegas,” and recently was featured as the lead voice of ‘Aki’ in “Final Fantasy,” a computer-generated image/animated feature film. A few years ago, Ming-Na was included on People magazine's list of the 50 Most Beautiful People and was recently named as one of the 100 most influential Asian-Americans of the past decade by “A” magazine.

Ming-Na was born on November 20, 1963. Ming-Na (translated her name means "enlightenment") was born on the island of Macau, a Portuguese territory located 40 miles from Hong Kong that was returned to China last year. Her mother Lin Chan Wen divorced her father when Ming-Na was only a toddler. She has an older brother named Jonathan. After the divorce, they moved to Hong Kong where her mother became a nurse. There her mother met Soo Lim Yee, a Chinese-American businessman. They soon married and at age 4, Ming-Na moved with her family to Queens, New York. Five years later, they transferred to Yee's hometown of Pittsburgh where his family runs the Chinatown Inn restaurant. Jonathan and half-brother, Leong, now manage this restaurant. Struggling to fit in at school, she changed her name to Maggie & Doris. She found a love for acting while appearing in a third grade Easter play, where she played a "klutzy" bunny. Her mother was not excited about her desire to pursue acting, She preferred that she go into medicine. Nonetheless, Ming-Na graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in theater. She got her first acting job in 1988 on the soap "As The World Turns". Her big break came when she was cast in "The Joy Luck Club" (1993). When she needed a ride to the premiere of the film, her acting instructor sent one of his students, Eric Michael Zee. The two started dating in 1994 after Ming-Na moved permanently to LA and married in 1995. Ming-Na dropped her last name, Wen, at that time. She says she is now like Ann-Margret. Zee is a screenwriter and with Ming-Na, manages At Last, an Asian boy band. 

She was one of the very first Chinese American actress to have a contract role on the TV Series "As The World Turns." Ming-Na won $10,000 for the charity she was playing for after she won the World Poker Tour: Hollywood Home Game. 

Credit: findfamous.com