A native of Hua county in Guangdong province (now part of the provincial capital of Guangzhou), Lucilla You Min, whose real name was Bi Yuyi, was born on 19 August 1936 in Hong Kong. She was the eldest among the seven children of famous Cantonese opera actor Bai Yutang (whose real name was Bi Kunsheng). She was also a niece of the legendary Cantonese opera star Ren Jianhui. You Min first appeared on the stage at the age of nine in one of her father's performances.

Lucilla You Min (left) with her father and a younger brother.

A portrait of You Min when she joined the movie industry.

A portrait of You Min in "Beyond the Grave".

You Min being baptised at the St. Teresa Church.

Since her parents had been busy travelling around with their opera troupe, You Min and her siblings were sent to live with her grandmother in Macau. In 1952 when You Min was studying in the Sacred Heart College in Macau, Shao Cunren, the founder of Shaw & Sons Limited, invited You Min to join the film industry after seeing her portrait. After joining Shaw & Sons she named herself "You Min" after drawing lots from some Chinese characters which she liked. Her first appearance on the silver screen was "Anything Can Happen", co-starring Wang Hao and Huang He.      You Min's first movie in ancient costumes "Beyond the Grave" won the award of "Best Picture in Aesthetics" at the second Southeast Asian Film Festival held in Singapore in May 1955.      You Min was well known as a devoted Catholic. She was baptised at the St. Teresa Church, Kowloon in September 1956.