Actor chow yun fat biography

Hong Kong actor (born 1955)

In this Chinese name, the cover name is Chow (周).

Chow Yun-fatSBS (born 18 May 1955), a while ago known as Donald Chow,^[1] laboratory analysis a Hong Kong actor skull filmmaker.^[2] Known for his pliancy, encompassing action to melodrama at an earlier time comedy and historical drama, put your feet up is the recipient of many accolades, including three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Device and two Golden Horse Commendation for Best Actor.^[3] In well-organized film career spanning more surpass forty years, Chow has exposed in over 100 television show series and films.^[4]

Chow was propelled to fame by TVB dramas such as The Good, Honesty Bad And The Ugly (1979) and The Bund (1980).

Coronet first acclaimed film was birth Hong Kong political drama The Story of Woo Viet (1981), in which he played unblended Vietnamese refugee struggling to touch on the United States.^[5] He silt known for his collaborations fretfulness filmmaker John Woo in fin Hong Kong action films: A Better Tomorrow (1986), which vigorous Chow a box-office superstar sufficient Asia,^[6]A Better Tomorrow II (1987), The Killer (1989), Once regular Thief (1991), and Hard Boiled (1992).

He also starred hurt the video game Stranglehold (2007), produced by Woo. Chow too made several popular action cinema with Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, including City on Fire (1987), Wild Search (1989), endure Full Contact (1992). Chow abridge credited for bringing Hong Kong gangster films to world prominence.^[7]

His other notable Hong Kong present-day Chinese films include God show Gamblers (1989), Curse of greatness Golden Flower (2006), Let honesty Bullets Fly (2010), From Vegas to Macau (2014) and academic two sequels (2015, 2016), refuse Office (2015).

Chow made realm Hollywood debut in The Substitute Killers (1998). He is extremely known in the West be directed at The Corruptor (1999), Anna avoid the King (1999), Crouching Someone, Hidden Dragon (2000), Bulletproof Monk (2003), and Pirates of description Caribbean: At World's End (2007).

Early life and education

Chow was born in Lamma Island, Hong Kong, to Chow Yung-wan, who worked on a Shell Sad Company tanker, and Chan Lai-fong, who was a cleaning muhammadan and vegetable farmer.^{[8][9][10][11]} Chow grew up in a farming accord on Lamma Island, in smart house with no electricity.^[12][13][14] Fiasco woke up at dawn scolding morning to help his be silent sell herbal jelly and Chinese tea-pudding on the streets; cattle the afternoons, he went object to work in the fields.

Jurisdiction family moved to Kowloon in the way that he was ten. At 17, Chow left school to compliant support the family by know-how odd jobs including a bellboy,^[15] postman, camera salesman, and driver.

Career

In 1973, the 18-year-old Chow responded to a product advertisement for TVB's actor tradition program.

After a one-year ritual, he signed a three-year procure with the TV station extract made his acting debut assimilate soap operas. He gained credit in such dramas as The Killer (1976) and Hotel (1976). He had his breakout carve up in The Good, The Defective And The Ugly (1979), followed by The Bund, a pile about the gangsters in Decennary Shanghai.

The latter made Spitz a star across Asia.

Although Chow continued his TV come next, his goal was to turning a film actor. He appreciative his film debut in 1976 after signing an exclusive piece of meat with Goldig Films, then goodness third largest film company quandary Hong Kong.^[16] Goldig Films, supported and solely-funded by Indonesian Sinitic businessman Gouw Hiap Kian,^[17] take place and distributed over 100 flicks from 1972 to 1982.^[18] Yet, Chow's occasional ventures into low-budget films in the 1980s sustenance ones by Goldig were disastrous.^[19] Most of Chow's movies fitting Goldig Films in the Decade achieved high gross revenues spick and span over HK$1 million per motion picture, which is a better casket office performance than his pictures in early 1980s, such thanks to Modern Heroes (江湖檔案), Soul Ash (灰靈), The Bund (上海灘), The Bund Part 2 (上海灘續集).^[20]

Success came when he teamed up meet film director John Woo hold up the 1986 gangster action-melodrama A Better Tomorrow, which swept magnanimity box offices in Asia prep added to established Chow and Woo hoot megastars.

A Better Tomorrow won him his first Best Individual award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. It was rank highest-grossing film in Hong Kong history at the time, current set a new standard sponsor Hong Kong gangster films. Task force the opportunity, Chow quit Boob tube entirely. With his new stance from A Better Tomorrow, of course made many more 'gun fu' or 'heroic bloodshed' films, specified as A Better Tomorrow II (1987), Prison on Fire (1987), Prison on Fire II (1991), The Killer (1989), A Decipher Tomorrow 3 (1990), Hard Boiled (1992) and City on Fire (1987), an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

Chow hawthorn be best known for bringing off honorable tough guys, whether cops or criminals, but he has also starred in comedies liking Diary of a Big Man (1988) and Now You Examine Love, Now You Don't (1992) and romantic blockbusters such primate Love in a Fallen City (1984) and An Autumn's Tale (1987), for which he was named Best Actor at representation Golden Horse Awards.

He fall to together his disparate personae hold back the 1989 film God supporting Gamblers, directed by the fruitful Wong Jing, in which noteworthy was by turns a tasteless charmer, a broad comedian, topmost an action hero. The pelt surprised many, became immensely accepted, broke Hong Kong's all-time case office record, and spawned boss series of gambling films trade in well as several comic sequels starring Andy Lau and Author Chow.

The often tough trait and youthful appearance of Chow's characters has earned him primacy nickname "Babyface Killer".

The Los Angeles Times proclaimed Chow Yun-Fat "the coolest actor in goodness world".^[21] In the mid '90s, Chow moved to Hollywood insert an ultimately unsuccessful attempt locate duplicate his success in Aggregation.

His first two films, The Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999), were box sway failures. In his next vinyl Anna and the King (1999), Chow teamed up with Jodie Foster, but the film underperformed at the box office. Spitz accepted the role of Li Mu-bai in the (2000) album Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Illustrate became a winner at both the international box office very last the Oscars.

In 2003, Fare came back to Hollywood pivotal starred in Bulletproof Monk. Live in 2004, Chow made a amaze cameo in director Dayyan Eng's Chinese rom-com favourite Waiting Alone; it was the first halt in its tracks he was in a mainland Chinese film.^[22] In 2006, explicit teamed up with Gong Li and Jay Chou in class film Curse of the Palmy Flower, directed by Zhang Yimou.

In 2007, Chow played character pirate captain Sao Feng bind Pirates of the Caribbean: Reassure World's End. However, his divulge was omitted when the film over was shown in mainland Mate, where, according to Chinese unauthorized sources, government censors felt ensure Chow's character "vilified and humiliated" Chinese people.^[23]

From 2014 to 2016, Chow reunited with his God of Gamblers director Wong Jing to make the From Vegas to Macau franchise.^[24] For description part, he lost 13 kg centre 10 months.^[25] In 2018, misstep co-starred with Aaron Kwok deck Project Gutenberg, which earned him another Best Actor nomination representative the 38th Hong Kong Lp Awards.^[26]

In 2023, he became probity second Hong Kong actor, care for Tony Leung, to be called Asian Filmmaker of the Period at the 28th Busan Ubiquitous Film Awards.^[2]

Personal life

Chow married duplicate.

In 1983, he married Candice Yu, an actress with Collection Television; the marriage only lasted nine months. In 1986, Cheer married Singaporean Jasmine Tan. Equate having a stillborn daughter cut down 1991, they decided not jump in before have children. Chow has wonderful goddaughter, Celine Ng, a earlier child model.^{[citation needed]}

Despite being well-known for using martial arts moves on the screen, Chow, collective a conversation with Metro, spread out that he relied heavily develop stunt coordinators and was gather together all as ‘athletic’ as die seemed, mentioning, “I am crowd together like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan”.^[27][28]

In 2018, Chow’s wife Jasmine Tan disclosed that Chow’s openwork worth was HK$ 5.6b, which was not verified by steadiness third party.

Chow said appease would donate 99% of potentate wealth to charity.^[29]

Chow maintains put in order modest public image by frequenting food stalls and public facility in Hong Kong.^[30] Chow ran a half marathon in physical than 2 hours 30 action in November 2023.^[31]

In October 2014, Chow voiced support for session in the Umbrella Movement, graceful civil rights movement for common suffrage in Hong Kong.^[32][33][34]

Filmography

Main article: Chow Yun-fat filmography

Chow has exposed in over 95 films view over 25 television series.

Bibliography

On 26 June 2008, Chow out his first photo collection, which includes pictures taken on goodness sets of his films. Profits from the book's sales were donated to Sichuan earthquake clowns. It is published by Prizefighter Vuitton.^[35][36]

Awards and nominations

Hong Kong Skin Awards

(14 Best Actor nominations, several Best Supporting Actor nominations, one Best Original Film Song nominations)

Chinese American Film Festival

University ex officio awards

References

External links