Cheng Pei-pei, martial arts actor who starred in ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,’ dies at age 78

HONG KONG — Cheng Pei-pei, a Chinese-born martial arts film actor who starred in Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” has died, her family announced Friday. She was 78.

Cheng, who had been diagnosed with a rare illness with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease, passed away Wednesday at home surrounded by her loved ones, her family wrote on Facebook. They said current medical treatment could not slow the progression of the disease, called neurodegenerative atypical parkinsonism syndrome, and that she had donated her brain for medical research.