Mulan voice actress Coco Lee died at the age of 48 on Jul. 5, her sisters confirmed via Instagram that day. “To all the fans and friends who adore CoCo: With great sadness, we are here break the most devastating news: CoCo had been suffering from depression for a few years but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months,” the statement began. “On 2 July, she committed suicide at home and was sent to the hospital. Despite the best efforts of the hospital team to rescue and treat her from her coma, she finally passed away on 5 July, 2023.”
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In the statement, her sisters Carol and Nancy Lee, explained that Coco sought “professional help” for her mental health struggles. “Although, CoCo sought professional help and did her best to fight depression, sadly that demon inside of her took the better of her,” they penned in the caption of the photo montage of their late sister. After listing off Coco’s many accomplishments in life, her two sisters made sure to note that they were very “proud” of her.
Further in the caption, Carol and Nancy expressed how “grateful” they were to have Coco in their lives. “As a family of CoCo, we are very grateful and honored to have such an excellent and outstanding sister. We are thankful to God for giving us such a kind angel. We know now she has gone to a happier place and no longer suffers from depression; we trust God has her best interest looked after!”, they added. “Now, our greatest responsibility is to take good care of our elderly mother. I hope everyone will pray for this poor old lady & allow us time & privacy in healing.”
Finally, the grieving siblings expressed their gratitude for the medical teams efforts in helping Coco. “Finally, we would like to thank the medical staff again for their dedication to care throughout the whole process. At the same time, we hope that everyone will not only miss CoCo, but also share her bright smile, treat people with sincerity, and convey kindness and love to everyone around us, and continue CoCo’s wish to let everyone around feel her love and happiness,” they wrote. “Although CoCo stays in the world for not long a time, her rays of light will last forever!”
As mentioned above, Coco voiced the Mandarin version of Disney’s Mulan in 1998. The role was notably her first as an actress and at the time, she was in her early twenties. The late talent took to Instagram in Sept. 2020 to share a throwback clip of her singing in the film. “That was my 1st time being an actress as the voice of Mulan in 1998… Do u guys remember ?? @flower3135 thank u for sharing this precious video with me. It’s a great way to start my Friday!! #memorylane #love #mulan #innerstrength #nofear,” she captioned the video at the time. She also sang the theme song for the 2020 version of Mulan.
Some of Coco’s other works included being a pop star with over a dozen of albums under her belt. Some of her albums included Just No Other Way, Promise, Illuminate, and Exposed to name a few. She later was credited for working on several hit movies including Julia Roberts‘ Runaway Bride, Mulan (2020), Rush Hour 2, and more per her official IMDb page. Coco married businessman Bruce Rockowitz in 2011, however, they did not welcome any children. In 2018, Coco reportedly went through IVF to try to have two children, however, that did not come to fruition, per The Sun. She was also a proud stepmother to Bruce’s two adults kids from his previous marriage.