On February 13th, 1968, a girl of Chinese, English, and Hawaiian ancestry was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. Her father, Herbert, was a salesman and her mother, Juanita, worked many odd jobs to help support the family. She has one older brother, Glenn. She is a former Miss Teen USA, and modeled in Japan and Italy for several months before deciding to relocate to L.A. and try her hand at show business. She got her break on TV's _"Growing Pains" in 1987 and never looked back.
Miss Hawaii USA 1993.
Was the very first Asian American female to be crowned Miss Teen USA .
Her older brother is a Lt. Colonel in US Army.
She graduated from The Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Her mother worked as a Draftsperson for city and county of Honolulu.
Father raised exotic birds.
Her first big break was as Kirk Cameron s love interest on the hit TV show, "Growing Pains" .
Her cousin is the playwright Jenelle Riley.
Co-owned a fast food restuarant, Basic Bites, with her ex-boyfriend.
Has a black belt in karate.
Finished in the Top 6 at Miss USA 1993.
Winner of the Miss Photogenic award at Miss USA 1993.
In May 2005, she visited with soldiers in Iraq alongside Dean Cain and Amanda Swisten. Unfortunately, she had to cut her visit short due to personal matters.
First Asian-American to be featured on the cover of Maxim magazine. That issue was the biggest-selling issue in the magazines history.
Has a dog named Mushu.
Had only one line of dialog in X2 .
For a recent magazine interview, she showed how she made her favorite dish -- pork lumpia (fried spring rolls).
She was cast in the attempted remake of Dark Shadows for the WB in 2003-2004. She was ironically cast as the indomitable Dr. Julia Hoffman, a role immortalized by the late Grayson Hall.
Took part in many elementary-school and high-school theatrical productions.
She successfully completed the Honolulu Marathon on Dec. 10, 2006, in just under five hours, finishing 7212th out of more than 28,000 runners.
(May 2003) Announced that she will be performing in the play "Vagina Monologues" in Honolulu, her hometown.
Shes the spokesperson in a Viagra commercial.
2017 : Won the "Pioneer in Entertainment Award" from OCA (Organization of Chinese Americans).
I was doing poorly in a US history class . . . partly, I think, because,Hawaii is so isolated from the rest of the country. So my mother took,me to Philadelphia and Boston to see the Liberty Bell and other famous,sites. I ended up getting an A in the course.
My brother taught me how to fight. I was the neighborhood bully. .
