Lucy Alexis Liu was born on December 2, 1968 in Queens, New York.

Lucy graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986 and enrolled in New York University. Discouraged by the "dark and sarcastic" atmosphere of NYU, she transferred to the University of Michigan after her freshman year. She graduated from UM with a degree in Chinese Language and Culture, managing to squeeze in some additional training in dance, voice, fine arts, and acting. During her senior year, Lucy auditioned for a small part in a production of "Alice in Wonderland" and walked away with the lead role. Encouraged by the experience, she decided to take the plunge into professional acting. She moved to Los Angeles and split her time between auditions and food service day jobs, eventually scoring a guest appearance on "Beverly Hills, 90210" in 1990. That performance led to more walk-on parts in shows like "NYPD Blue" (1993), "ER" (1994), and "The X Files" (1993).
In 1996, Lucy was cast as an ambitious college student on Rhea Perlman's sitcom "Pearl".

Lucy first appeared on the big screen as an ex-girlfriend in "Jerry Maguire" (1996). She then waded through a series of supporting parts in small films before landing her big break on "Ally McBeal" in 1997. This gave Lucy's film career a much-needed boost. In 1999, she was cast as a dominatrix in the Mel Gibson action flick "Payback", and as a hitchhiker in "Play It to the Bone". The next year brought even larger roles: first as Princess Pei Pei in "Shanghai Noon", then as one-third of the crime-fighting trio in "Charlie's Angels".

Lucy Liu practices the martial art of Kali-Eskrima-Silat (knife-and-stick fighting), skis, rock climbs, rides horses, and plays the accordion.

Misspellings & aliases:
Lusy, Lucey, Luci, Lusi, Lusey, Lucee, Lusye, Lusie, Lussy, Luey, Liue, Lee, Lu, Lue, Lui.