Born Yeoh Chu-Kheng in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, the ethnically Chinese Yeoh received her primary and secondary education in her homeland. She displayed an early propensity for things physical, even competing nationally in squash, swimming and diving in her teens. Her true love, however, was dance. Moving to England, Yeoh earned her BA at London's Royal Academy of Dance with a dance major and a minor in drama. After a serious ballet injury derailed her postgraduate studies, she briefly shifted her focus to choreography. Yeoh tried her hand at acting in stage productions but did not particularly enjoy it and decided to return to her native Malaysia. Arriving home, Yeoh was dismayed to learn that her mother had entered her in a beauty pageant. Nevertheless, she decided to follow through with her mother's brainstorm and went on to be crowned Miss Malaysia in 1983.

While in the midst of her beauty queen chores, Yeoh took a vacation in Hong Kong where she was approached by D and B Films to make a commercial with action-comedy star Jackie Chan. This lead to a commercial with the ultra-cool Chow Yun-fat and a contract with D and B Films. Urged to try her hand at features, Yeoh made her film debut in "Owl vs. Dumbo" (1985), an action comedy starring (and directed by) Samo Hung. Beginning with her next film, "Yes, Madam!" (also 1985; retitled "Police Assassins 2" for UK release and "Super Cops" in the USA), Hung and D and B Films began grooming her to become Asia's foremost female action star. Yeoh was teamed with blonde American martial arts champion Cynthia Rothrock playing female "buddy" cops for that maiden action outing. Not yet capable of doing all her own stunts, she had veteran stuntman Stanley Tong (who would subsequently direct some of her features) doubling for her in some scenes.

Though she had no prior martial arts training, Yeoh proved a natural--and a quick study. Her extensive background in dance and movement gave her the strength and agility needed to appear credible in her action scenes. Yeoh's dedication and willingness to work through pain and injuries quickly won her the respect of Hong Kong action producers, directors and stunt men. She made four more films in the ensuing four years—all profitable except for the globe-trotting caper flick "Easy Money" (1988)—and became a beloved movie star. This was doubtlessly abetted by her characters' tendency to rely more on resourcefulness and intellect than on brawn. At the (first) peak of her success, Yeoh stunned her fans with the announcement of her impending marriage and retirement. At the request of her husband, billionaire studio head Dickson Poon, Yeoh left acting for the three years they were married.

After divorcing Poon, the former action diva made a resounding comeback opposite Jackie Chan in "Police Story 3: Supercop" (1992). Playing a mainland Chinese policewoman aiding a Hong Kong cop Chan on an undercover mission in China, Yeoh was the first female co-star to receive equal footing with Chan. Indeed she even received more positive notices with her breath-taking stunt work. Highlights included dropping off of a bus and onto a car driven by Chan. In the first take, Yeoh slid off the hood and over the side of the car; only her co-star's quick reflexes prevented her from cracking her skull. Another memorable sequence had Yeoh using a motorcycle—a vehicle which she had never before driven—to jump onto a moving train. This risky stunt required five takes.

Yeoh's renewed popularity was even more impressive than her initial success. Now the highest paid actress in Hong Kong, she appeared in ten films over the next four years. Her follow-up, "The Heroic Trio" (1992) was a distaff action classic of sorts. Yeoh joined forces with Anita Mui (as the masked heroine Wonder Woman), Maggie Cheung (as the motorcycle-riding mercenary Thief Catcher) to play the Invisible Woman, a heroine who receives the power to turn invisible with the aid of a special suit. She was also effective playing a down-on-her-luck street person who regains her self-respect with the help of Buddhist monk-turned-adventurer Jet Li in the rousing "Tai-Chi Master" (1993). She shone on her own in "Project S/Once a Cop" (also 1993) which culminated in an awesome fight scene wherein she battles a man twice her size.

The year 1996 proved noteworthy for the Hong Kong action star. On the advice of her manager Terrence Chang, she adopted the last name Khan as part of her assault on the English-speaking film market. "Supercop" was released to healthy US box office in a dubbed (Yeoh dubbed her own voice) and slightly edited form. She also incurred her first serious injury making "Stunt Woman/Ah Kam/The Story of Stuntwoman Ah Kam", a reflexive story about the travails of a stuntwoman in Hong Kong action films, falling 18 feet and landing on her head. Worse yet, Yeoh heard what she thought was the sound of her back snapping in the process. Though she was sidelined for awhile, Yeoh's injuries were not quite that dire. Still, her doctors were reportedly amazed that she could walk at all. Confounding the experts, Yeoh was soon not only back on her feet but ready to pursue a film career in America. She next turned up (again using the name Michelle Yeoh) in the 18th James Bond feature, "Tomorrow Never Dies" (1997). opposite Pierce Brosnan. Yeoh seemed well-suited to support an action hero even more iconic than Jackie Chan.

Her next released film, “Song Jia Huang Chao” (“The Soong Sisters,” 1997), a sweeping epic about China’s troubled history during the first half of the 20th century as seen through the real-life story of the powerful Soong sisters, was actually shot in 1995. But censorship from the Chinese government—mainly due to the sister’s standing as enemies of the state—halted release of the film despite previous script approval by the government. After extensive cuts, the feature was finally released and Yeoh—once again billed as Michelle Khan—was seen playing Ai-ling, the wife of a wealthy industrialist (Niu Zhenhua) and symbol of the rising force of capitalism in communist China. The film went on to win five awards at the 1998 Hong Kong Film Awards.

After appearing in a middle-of-the-road martial arts feature, “Twin Warriors” (1999), Yeoh achieved her biggest exposure to date with a starring role in the Oscar-winning “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000). Beautifully directed by Ang Lee, this martial arts epic set in 19th century China was equally balanced between thrilling action sequences and emotionally resonant characters. Yeoh gave one of her finest performances as Yu Shu Lien, the secret love of Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-Fat), a retiring martial arts master who entrusts her with delivering the Green Destiny, an invincible 400-year-old sword, to another master. After the sword is stolen by the feisty and lethal daughter (Ziyi Zhang) of the province’s governor, the two traverse the country in search of the weapon and ultimately the murderer of Li’s former master. In one thrilling action sequence, Yeoh and Zhang battle each other after theft of the sword, magically running up walls and dancing across rooftops—a standout sequence that underscored the film’s lyric beauty. Meanwhile, Yeoh earned a couple of nominations for Best Actress, including nods at the 2000 BAFTA Awards and 2000 Hong Kong Film Awards.