Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Betty Ting

Shaw Brothers Studios. Photo by Alan Levine. Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Betty Ting

Betty Ting Pei was born into a prominent and politically influential family in Beijing, China. Her father and grandfather were both doctors, and her mother was the daughter of a warlord. When she was two years old, her family relocated to Taiwan.

Betty joined the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong in 1968 and was one of its rising starlets when she met martial arts superstar Bruce Lee in 1971. Lee’s career was severely harmed by the controversy and numerous rumors surrounding her mysterious death in her apartment in 1973.

Although she had claimed for years that she and Lee were just friends, she admitted in a 2006 radio interview that they had been lovers for over a year at the time of his death. She also claimed that the public scorn and criticism drove her to turn to drugs as an escape and that while she was now clean, she still had psychological issues.

1. Ting started her acting career in 1963

In 1963, she joined the Central Motion Picture Corporation. After appearing in seven Taiwanese films, she was discovered by Shaw Brothers’ director, Peter Pan Lei, in January 1967, and took the stage name, Ting Pei. Her first Hong Kong film was The Purple Shell, in which she played a dance hostess.

Ting has appeared in various dramas, comedies, musicals, and martial arts films, but she is best known in Asia for her mistress roles and numerous steamy bedroom scenes. She was a regular for director Inoue Umetsugu, in whose musicals she appeared. They include:

• The Millionaire Chase,
• The Yellow Muffler, and
• The Steam Stealers.

Ting became a freelance actress in 1973 and continued making films in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

2. She has eminent historical figures as relatives

Ting comes from a family of three generations of doctors, as well as prominent historical figures. Her uncle was General Zhang Xueliang of the National Revolutionary Army in the 1920s, and her grandfather was Bao Yulin of the Beiping Police Bureau during the Warlord Era.

3. Betty had an intimate relationship with Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee stencil. Photo by Giga Paitchadze. Wikimedia Commons

Ting first met Bruce Lee in 1972, shortly after her six months in Switzerland, at the original Hyatt Regency Hong Kong (1969-2005), where he was staying with his wife Linda Emery and Raymond Chow, the owner of Golden Harvest.

Ting and Lee quickly became friends and later went on dates. Ting admitted to having an intimate relationship with Lee in 2013 but stated that she did not engage in any sexual activity with him on the day he died.

4. Ting was implicated in Bruce Lee’s mysterious death

She received media attention on July 20, 1973, when Lee died in her apartment at 67 Beacon Hill Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. According to press reports, Lee was rehearsing the script for Game of Death in Ting’s apartment, a film in which she was said to play the lead when he complained of a headache.

She gave him a single tablet of Equagesic, a powerful aspirin-based medication that she frequently used herself. He then fell asleep, but when Ting couldn’t wake him up for a dinner date with Raymond Chow, she summoned an ambulance. Lee was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His death was attributed to an allergic reaction that caused brain edema (brain swelling). His death was ruled a “misadventure” by the coroner.

4. Betty suffered from schizophrenia

Mental Health Wellness Psychology Mind. Photo by Wokandapix at Pixabay Wikimedia Commons

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people have an abnormal interpretation of reality. Schizophrenia can cause hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior that interferes with daily functioning and can be disabling. Schizophrenia patients must be treated for the rest of their lives. As retaliation for Bruce’s death, she received threats to her life. She was only 26 years old and terrified of death at the time. Nobody came to her aid.
Ting suffered from schizophrenia and fell apart after losing one of her best friends while being blamed by Lee fans for his death.

5. She was featured in the film Bruce Lee and I 

When the Shaw Brothers decided to film Bruce Lee and I in 1976, starring Ting as herself and Danny Lee as Lee, she thought she had an opportunity to clear up misconceptions, but the film did not accurately reflect their relationship.
The film’s sex scenes drew the most attention from the audience.

6. She married the actor Charles Heung

Charles Heung. Photo by am730. Wikimedia Commons

Charles Heung was a Hong Kong actor-turned-film producer whom she married in 1976, and the couple had a daughter the following year. Despite the fact that their marriage lasted only four years, Ting claims Heung saved her life.

7. She was a dedicated Buddhist 

Monks walking on road. Photo by Hannah Vu. Unsplash

After committing her life to Buddhism and leaving the entertainment industry, she gave up acting and became a vegetarian. She realized she wasn’t to blame for misinterpreting herself. People are succumbing to the desire to quit.

8. Betty published her biography in 2015

The text My Story appearing behind torn brown paper. Photo by Michail_Petrov-96. Unsplash

The biography of Ting’s relationship with Bruce Lee, The Best Time With Bruce Lee, was published by the Beijing Times Chinese Press on July 20, 2015, the 42nd anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death.

9. Ting is a Pisces

Zodiac Pisces symbol above astrological wheel and bokeh at dark. Photo by LeArchitecto. Unsplash

Pisces is the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac. It is a mutable, negative sign. It extends from 330° to 360° in celestial longitude. The sun will transit this area between February 19 and March 20 in the tropical zodiac.

10. She changed her real name after becoming an actress

Born originally as Tang Mei Li on February 19, 1947, in Beiping, Republic of China (present-day Beijing, China), she later began her acting career in Taiwan with China Motion Picture Corporation. After appearing in six Taiwanese films, she was discovered by Shaw Brothers’ director, Peter Pan Lei, in January 1967, and took the stage name, Ting Pei. Her first Hong Kong film was The Purple Shell, in which she played a dance hostess.