Kelly Hu

Birth name Kelly Ann Hu

Born February 13, 1968 (1968-02-13) (age 42)

Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.

Occupation Actress

Years active 1987–present

Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968) is an American actress and former fashion model who held the title of Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Of Chinese, Hawaiian, and English origins, she played a pioneering role in the representation of Asian Americans in the United States, and actively encourages Asian Americans to participate in the democratic process.

Hu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, the daughter of Juanita, an engineering drafter for Honolulu, and Herbert Hu, a salesman and exotic bird breeder; the two divorced during Hu's childhood. Her brother, Glenn, is a Resource Manager at the United States Army. She is of Hawaiian, Chinese and English descent. She attended Maʻemaʻe Elementary School and Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, and currently resides in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. She has never been married.

Hu has held a lifelong interest in singing and dancing and has also been interested in martial arts since her early childhood, when her older brother would arrange for her to fight neighborhood boys. Hu's cousin was a successful model in Japan and Hu decided to follow her example. She won the title of Miss Hawaii Teen USA and competed in the 1985 Miss Teen USA pageant, becoming the pageant's third titleholder in history and its first Asian American winner. Hu has mentioned in interviews that her mother had told her America was not ready for an Asian as such a prominent role model. Ironically enough, she discovered after winning that she was prohibited from appearing in non-contest related activities for the year of her reign, this rule soon changed later on the coming years.