King Yan Wu, Engineer, Madame Wu Co-Owner

King Yan Wu, a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, passed away on March 20. He was 93 years old.   King was born in Peking, China, and grew up in Hong Kong, where he graduated from the University of Hong Kong. He came to the United States in the 1940s and received a postgraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautical engineering.   On August 5, 1945, King married Sylvia Cheng, also a native of China, and they lived in New York City for 12 years with King working as an engineer and Sylvia raising their three children, Loretta, George and Patrick. The family then moved to Los Angeles for King’s work as an engineer at Hughes Aircraft.   King came from a long line of diplomats and dignitaries. His father, Wu Chao Chu, was the Chinese minister to the United States in the 1930s. His great-grandfather, Wu Ting Fong, after graduating from law school in London, was the first ethnic Chinese barrister. Fong was also the Chinese minister to the United States, Spain and Peru in the Qing Dynasty, and later joined Sun Yat-sen in founding the Chinese republic. King’s grandfather, on his mother’s side, Sir Ho Kai, was the first Hong Kong Chinese to qualify in medicine, was the second barrister to be admitted to Hong Kong’s Supreme Court, played a key role in the relationship between the Hong Kong Chinese community and the British colonial government, and was knighted for his public service. Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, was named after him and his son-in-law, Au Tak.   In 1959, King and his wife became proprietors of Madame Wu’s Garden restaurant in Santa Monica. The restaurant became well-known worldwide for its celebrity clientele who hailed from Hollywood, the political sphere and all over the world. The regular celebrities included, among others, Cary Grant, Mae West, George Burns, Charlton Heston, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Carson, Carol Burnett, Walter Matthau, Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Governor Pete Wilson, President Ronald Reagan, and Princess Grace Kelly.   King Wu was an avid sports fan, Rotarian, ballroom dancer and family man. He lived life to the full.   He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Madame Sylvia Wu; two children, Patrick Wu (an assistant L.A. County counsel) and George Wu (a federal judge); three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. His daughter, Loretta, died of cancer at age 34.