Wai Ching Ho, whose turn as the calculating Madame Gao made her one of the most memorable presences in Marvel's Netflix universe, died at 82 following a stroke.
Actor Perry Yung confirmed the news, writing that Ho had "passed away peacefully after a stroke two days ago," revealing that she died on July 10. Co-stars Peter Shinkoda and Judy Lei also confirmed the loss, per People.
Ho originated the role of Madame Gao in Daredevil in 2015, bringing an understated menace to the crime lord who operated a drug network beneath New York City. She reprised the character in both Iron Fist and The Defenders in 2017, making Gao one of the few antagonists to consistently appear in Netflix‘s MCU shows.
Shinkoda, who played Kagenobu Yoshioka on Daredevil, posted about her death on July 11. "Just lost someone very special to me. She was one of the coolest. Thinking aloud,” he wrote, before adding more in a second post. "I won't ever forget you. I learned every minute from you when we were together on and off set. I know wisdom — I'd hang on your every word. We will meet again, my friend. You were beautiful."
Yung, who played Ho's husband in the film High Resolution, wrote that she was "a kind, compassionate human being whose work as an artist lifted every production to a higher standard, and we are better for it. Rest in power dear friend."
Actress Mahira Kakkar, who appeared alongside Ho in the National Asian American Theatre Company's 2018 production of Henry VI, wrote, "I had the enormous good fortune to work with Wai Ching Ho and to share a dressing room with her. She was incredible — warm, funny, caring, joyful, positive and a truly wonderful actor... For those of us who did not have a lot of role models and mentors in the industry, Wai was a pillar.”
“I am deeply grateful I got to know her, and I am very sad she is gone,” Kakkar added. “She also utterly refused to speak ill of anyone. My dear Wai, you deserve all the standing ovations — what a stellar human and a stellar artist. What an example of how to live."
Born November 16, 1943, in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong, Ho studied at the University of Hong Kong before completing her training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Her first screen credit came in a 1983 appearance on One Life to Live, and she made her film debut in the 1990 Robin Williams comedy Cadillac Man. She acted for over four decades and helped Turning Red earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature in 2022.
