Biography of Kelly HuKelly Ann Hu was born February 13, 1968, in Honolulu, Hawaii, of Cantonese/English/Hawaiian lineage. Her parents divorced when she was only six years old, and, living with her mother Juanita, Kelly benefited from an upbringing as diversified as her background.
While her mother enrolled her in ballet classes and the Sears Charm School, Kelly indulged in other interests on the side, taking karate lessons from her older brother. By age thirteen, she decided to pursue a modeling career, and her fighting skills were sufficiently developed for her brother to make some quick cash betting on her bouts with neighborhood kids. It was this blend of natural beauty and martial-arts proficiency that determined Kelly's path.
hawaiian tropical teen
At the age of fifteen, hoping to give an early boost to her modeling career, Kelly entered the Miss Teen Hawaii pageant. The results exceeded even Kelly's expectations, as she went on to win the pageant and qualify for the national competition. In 1985, Kelly was crowned Miss Teen USA, becoming the first Asian-American to do so. Kelly's victory afforded her a bit of fame and, with it, a number of opportunities.
She soon made her acting debut in a season premiere of Growing Pains, playing Kirk Cameron's love interest, inciting jealousy and rage amongst millions of teenage girls. Immediately following her graduation from high school, Kelly left Hawaii to model in Japan and Italy.
Kelly returned from overseas five months later determined to pick up where she had left off -- in pursuit of a serious acting career. She had $75,000 at her disposal (her winnings from the Miss Teen USA pageant, along with a Mazda RX-7 and a speedboat), which she invested toward moving to Los Angeles. When Kelly arrived in LA, she was the portrait of youthful naivet, convinced that superstardom was just around the corner.
kelly's kicking it
Her first order of business was taking out a full page ad in Variety announcing her availability for "West Coast representation." Kelly's arrival didn't have quite the impact that she had envisioned, and although she did get a number of calls from agents, hers wasn't the name on everyone's lips. Nonetheless, Kelly did manage to land roles fairly regularly, which is more than your average Hollywood waitress can boast.
She appeared in a string of commercials, from Bud Light to Ivory soap, and an equally random assortment of TV programs and movies, including 21 Jump Street, Night Court, and a role as one of Jason's victims in Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Kelly returned to the pageant circuit briefly in 1993, winning the title of Miss Hawaii and qualifying as a Miss USA finalist. She then returned to LA to resume her somewhat sporadic career, appearing alongside Leslie Nielsen in Surf Ninjas, and as the girl who tends to a vomiting Meg Ryan in The Doors.
Throughout her trials in Hollywood, Kelly continued her martial-arts training. Her talents in this field helped her land her first recurring role in 1997, in the action series Nash Bridges. Soon thereafter, Kelly found more regular work on the daytime soap Sunset Beach, although her character was written off that same year.
chopping towards a career
In 1998, Kelly earned her brown belt in karate, and was offered a role in a new kung fu cop series, Martial Law. The critical reception to the show wasn't entirely warm, but the program did win the loyal following of a number of viewers, who seemed especially inclined toward Kelly's character, Detective Grace Chen.
By the series' second season, Kelly was sharing top billing in the credits. Yet even as her popularity was increasing, the shows' ratings were plummeting. Shortly after Arsenio Hall was cast into a regular role (a move that some may have cited as the kiss of death for the series), Martial Law was canceled.
Martial Law may have been a failure from its producers' perspective, but the program did wonders for Kelly Hu. Having showcased her beauty and fighting abilities to a television audience, she soon became a staple in men's magazines and Internet celebrity sites.
Kelly has achieved a high degree of visibility without any hit series or movies under her belt. She'll be starring alongside WWF superstar The Rock in the summer 2002 feature, The Scorpion King (a spin-off of The Mummy series), and we may just see what a blockbuster will do for Kelly Hu's already successful career.
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