Initially under the stage name Irene Chow, she starred onstage in London's West End in The World of Suzie Wong and on Broadway in Golden Child.
[3] During her childhood, Tsai Chin was witness to colonial occupation, the Japanese invasion of China, Chinese Civil War, and the Communist takeover in 1949.
[7] Tsai Chin followed this success by recording several more singles and two LPs, later incorporating many of these songs, written specifically for her, into a cabaret act which she performed from 1961 to 1966.
As well as touring her cabaret show throughout the United Kingdom, she also performed in London's most exclusive venues, including the Dorchester, the Savoy, the Society, and frequently Quaglino's and Allegro, sharing a bill with David Frost, then at the start of his illustrious career.
"[9] Apart from her singing, she played Juicy Lucy in The Virgin Soldiers alongside Lynn Redgrave (1969), directed by John Dexter; helped to "assassinate" Sean Connery in You Only Live Twice (1967); worked for Michelangelo Antonioni on Blowup (1966) and for Fred Zinnemann in Man's Fate (1969), when the MGM studio unfortunately collapsed before filming barely started.
From 1965 to 1969, she made five films opposite Christopher Lee as Lin Tang, daughter of Fu Manchu, a Chinese archvillain intent on dominating the world.
[10] Her stage work at this time included leading roles in The Gimmick, with Donald Sutherland, at Criterion Theatre, West End (1962); The Magnolia Tree, at Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh (1966); Mrs.
Tsai Chin made her television debut in the popular British hospital drama Emergency Ward 10, then International Detective (1960), Man of the World (1963), Dixon of Dock Green (1965), and The Troubleshooters (1967).
In 1964 she had a recurring role in TW3, short for That Was The Week That Was, a popular satirical comedy show which was at the time a new concept in television presented by David Frost and produced by Ned Sherrin.
Her performance as Wang, wife of Liu Shaoqi, Chairman Mao's chief rival, and the film about her trial by the Red Guards were unanimously praised.
Moreover, it was almost the first time Tsai Chin was asked to play a mature and intelligent person with depth and complexity, a far cry from her usual stereotypical roles.
In London, Tsai Chin suffered financial ruin and experienced mental health problems, brought on by her parents' deaths.
"[19] Under the direction of Joann Green, she was given the opportunity to play strong women in western classics, such as Klytemnestra in The Oresteia (1977), with Tim McDonough as Agamemnon.
Her Master's project was Ugo Betti's Crime on Goat Island, which starred fellow student Oliver Platt, and was her entry to American College Theatre Festival (1980).
This meeting resulted in an invitation to her by the Chinese Cultural Department to return to her home country after a quarter of a century's absence to teach a class at The Central Academy of Dramatic Art (中央戏剧学院), in Beijing in 1981.
"[28] Jean Fritz in the Washington Post and International Herald Tribune: "The heart of this book lies in her conflict as she tried to feel at home in two cultures…that is her triumph.
Sheridan Morley in the Herald Tribune International said: "She brings to this study of Madame Mao in defeat a tremendous dramatic courage and intensity….It is Tsai Chin's triumph to make us do rather more than just hate her.
Those words were repeated in both Variety and Hollywood Reporter under the title "Memo to the Academy"[32] Janet Maslin of The New York Times: "Despite its huge cast, the film is virtually stolen by Tsai Chin.
The day after the award ceremonies, on the front page of The New York Times' Arts & Leisure section, Maslin again wrote, "Did Disney back too many actresses?
In 1995, she played Brave Orchid in Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, directed by Sharon Ott, for which she received the Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award.
"[36] Other performances included roles in three Chay Yew plays: Half Lives, directed by Tim Dang at East West Players (1996); Wonderland, at La Jolla Playhouse; and adaptation of Federico García Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba, playing Maria Josefa, the mad mother to Chita Rivera's Bernarda, directed by Lisa Peterson at Mark Taper Forum (2002).
She was a guest in numerous television series, most notably the recurring role as Helen, Sandra Oh's frivolous mother, in Grey's Anatomy, and recently Royal Pains.
Chin made numerous indie films and many features, notably appearing as Chairman Xu in Red Corner (1997), Auntie in Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), and Madame Wu in the James Bond thriller Casino Royale (2006).
In 2008, she was offered the role of the Dowager Jia (贾母) in a lavish adaptation of Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦), China's most beloved classic novel from the eighteenth century.
In 2014, she appeared in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., reuniting with her The Joy Luck Club co-star Ming-Na Wen, to play Melinda May's mother, Lian May.