Biography

Barbara Lee (4 November 1933/1938 – 6 April 1997), who used the stage name Barbara Yu Ling, was a Singapore-born actress of stage, screen, and television who was based in Britain from the 1950s. One of the first Singaporean Chinese actresses to gain attention in Europe, she appeared in productions of Madame Butterfly and The World of Suzie Wong. Among the films she appeared in were The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), Ping Pong (1986), and Peggy Su! (1997). Lee was born in Singapore. Her father was a schoolteacher, and her mother died young. A protégée of Malcolm MacDonald, Britain's Commissioner-General to Southeast Asia, she worked as a teacher before moving to England in 1955 to study at London's Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. MacDonald introduced Lee to Dame Sybil Thorndike, who aided Lee with her performing career. Her sister Dorothy Lee, who joined her in England, later became the wife and collaborator of illustrator Paul Goble.Lee married British theatre producer Ian Albery in 1966; the couple had two sons before the marriage ended in divorce.She died of cancer at her home in London on 6 April 1997.