Me Me Lai
Encyclopedia
Me Me Lai, sometimes billed as Me Me Lay, is an ex-actress born in Burma in 1952, to a Burmese mother and an English father. She moved to England
in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple
and Jason King
. Soon, she made the transition to acting in movies, starting with the 1971 horror movie Crucible of Terror
, soon followed by 1972's Au Pair Girls
.
Lai came into her own during the era of Italian cannibal films
, playing lead roles in two genre-defining movies: Il Paese del Sesso Selvaggio
(1972) by Umberto Lenzi
, and Ultimo Mondo Cannibale
(1977) by Ruggero Deodato
, in which her character is graphically consumed by a tribe of cannibals. Additionally, she also had a part in Mangiati Vivi (1980), again by Umberto Lenzi
, in which her death scene from Ultimo Mondo Cannibale was re-used. Outside the cannibal genre, she had a role in Blake Edwards
's 1978 comedy Revenge of the Pink Panther
.
Me Me Lai also was co-hostess of British game shows The Golden Shot
and Sale of the Century
,and appeared on the 1970s Yorkshire Television
programme Origami, with Robert Harbin
.
Her last movie was Lars von Trier
's The Element of Crime
in 1984.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in her teens, where she soon started her acting career, at first in television series like Paul Temple
Paul Temple
Paul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
and Jason King
Jason King (TV series)
Jason King was a British television series produced from 1971 to 1972. Each episode was one hour in duration , and the series had a run of one season of 26 episodes. As well as its native UK, the series was also screened in countries as far afield as Australia, Norway, Argentina and Peru...
. Soon, she made the transition to acting in movies, starting with the 1971 horror movie Crucible of Terror
Crucible of Terror
Crucible of Terror is a 1971 British horror film directed by Ted Hooker and starring Mike Raven, Mary Maude and James Bolam. Its plot involves a mad sculptor killing women to use as models for his statues.-Synopsis:...
, soon followed by 1972's Au Pair Girls
Au Pair Girls
Au Pair Girls is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Val Guest.The film is part of the British 1970s soft core sex comedy film. It also had cameo appearances by mainstream actors such as John Le Mesurier and Richard O'Sullivan.-Plot:...
.
Lai came into her own during the era of Italian cannibal films
Cannibal film
Cannibal films are a sub genre of exploitation film made mostly by Italian filmmakers through the 1970s and 1980s. This sub genre is a collection of graphically gory movies that usually depict cannibalism by primitive, Stone-age natives deep inside the Asian or South American rain forests...
, playing lead roles in two genre-defining movies: Il Paese del Sesso Selvaggio
Il paese del sesso selvaggio
Il paese del sesso selvaggio , better known as The Man from the Deep River in North America or Deep River Savages in Europe, is an Italian exploitation film directed by Umberto Lenzi...
(1972) by Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi , is an Italian film director who was very active in low budget crime films, peplums, spaghetti westerns, war movies, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries ....
, and Ultimo Mondo Cannibale
Ultimo Mondo Cannibale
Ultimo Mondo Cannibale is the debut album by American band Impetigo. It was released in 1990 and was a major influence in the grindcore scene. It is one of the first albums to use sound segments from horror films as intros for their songs...
(1977) by Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato
Ruggero Deodato is an Italian film director and screen writer, best known for directing violent and gory horror films. Deodato is infamous for his 1980 film Cannibal Holocaust.- Biography :...
, in which her character is graphically consumed by a tribe of cannibals. Additionally, she also had a part in Mangiati Vivi (1980), again by Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi , is an Italian film director who was very active in low budget crime films, peplums, spaghetti westerns, war movies, cannibal films and giallo murder mysteries ....
, in which her death scene from Ultimo Mondo Cannibale was re-used. Outside the cannibal genre, she had a role in Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
's 1978 comedy Revenge of the Pink Panther
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Revenge of the Pink Panther is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series. Released in 1978, Revenge of was the last entry featuring series star Peter Sellers, who died in 1980...
.
Me Me Lai also was co-hostess of British game shows The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot
The Golden Shot is a British television game show produced by ATV for ITV between 1 July 1967 and 13 April 1975, based on the German TV show Der goldene Schuss. It is most commonly associated with host Bob Monkhouse, though, three other presenters also hosted the show during its lifetime...
and Sale of the Century
Sale of the Century (UK game show)
Sale of the Century was a UK game show based on a US game show of the same name. It was first shown on ITV from 1972 to 1983, hosted by Nicholas Parsons...
,and appeared on the 1970s Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
programme Origami, with Robert Harbin
Robert Harbin
Robert Harbin was a British magician and writer. He is noted as the inventor of a number of classic illusions, including the Zig Zag Girl...
.
Her last movie was Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
's The Element of Crime
The Element of Crime
The Element of Crime is the first feature film directed by noted Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. The film, released in 1984, is also the first in the director's Europa trilogy...
in 1984.
Filmography
- Crucible of TerrorCrucible of TerrorCrucible of Terror is a 1971 British horror film directed by Ted Hooker and starring Mike Raven, Mary Maude and James Bolam. Its plot involves a mad sculptor killing women to use as models for his statues.-Synopsis:...
(1971) - She'll Follow You AnywhereShe'll Follow You AnywhereShe'll Follow You Anywhere is a 1971 British comedy film directed by David C. Rea and starring Kenneth Cope, Keith Barron and Richard Vernon. Two chemists working in a lab of a big corporation accidentally stumble across a love potion while working to create a new aftershave. The potion makes a man...
(1971) - Au Pair GirlsAu Pair GirlsAu Pair Girls is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Val Guest.The film is part of the British 1970s soft core sex comedy film. It also had cameo appearances by mainstream actors such as John Le Mesurier and Richard O'Sullivan.-Plot:...
(1972) - The Man from the Deep River (1972)
- Last Cannibal World (1977)
- Revenge of the Pink PantherRevenge of the Pink PantherRevenge of the Pink Panther is the sixth film in the Pink Panther film series. Released in 1978, Revenge of was the last entry featuring series star Peter Sellers, who died in 1980...
(1978) - Licensed to Love and Kill (1979)
- Eaten Alive!Eaten Alive!Mangiati vivi!, also known by its English title Eaten Alive!, is an Italian cannibal-rape film, directed by Umberto Lenzi, released in 1980. Alternative titles for the movie, include "The Emerald Jungle" and "Eaten Alive by Cannibals". It stars Robert Kerman, Janet Agren and Me Me Lai. In secondary...
(1980) - The Element of CrimeThe Element of CrimeThe Element of Crime is the first feature film directed by noted Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. The film, released in 1984, is also the first in the director's Europa trilogy...
(1984)
Television appearances
- Paul TemplePaul TemplePaul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
- Hine
- SpearheadSpearhead (TV series)Spearhead is a British television series. Produced by Southern Television and broadcast on the ITV network, it ran for a total of three series and 19 episodes from 1978 to 1981. It featured the daily lives of a group of soldiers in 'B' Company, 1st Battalion Royal Wessex Rangers, a fictional...
- The Optimist
