Chow Yun-Fat

Infobox Chinese-language singer and actor
name = Chow Yun-Fat SBS
tradchinesename = 周潤發
simpchinesename = 周润发
pinyinchinesename = Zhōu Rùnfā
jyutpingchinesename = Zau1 Jeon6faat3

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imagesize = 200px
birthdate = birth date and age|1955|5|18
birthplace = Hong Kong
= Bao'an, Guangdong
yearsactive = 1974 - present
spouse = Candise Yu (1983-1983)
Jasmine Chan (1986-)
hongkongfilmwards = Best Actor
1987 "A Better Tomorrow"
1988 "City on Fire"
1990 "All About Ah Long"
goldenbauhiniaawards =
hkfcsawards =
goldenhorseawards = Best Actor
1985 "Hong Kong 1941"
1987 "An Autumn's Tale
goldenroosterawards =
ntsawards =
awards =

Chow Yun-Fat SBS (zh-tspcy|t=周潤發|s=周润发|p=Zhōu Rùnfā|cy=Jàu Yeuhn Faat; born May 18, 1955) is a Chinese actor. He is one of the most famous actors in Asia and a major actor in the Hong Kong film industry, in collaboration with filmmaker John Woo in heroic bloodshed genre films "A Better Tomorrow", "The Killer", and "Hard-Boiled". He mainly plays in dramatic films and has won three Hong Kong Film Awards for "Best Actor" and two Golden Horse Awards for "Best Actor" in Taiwan.

Biography

Early life

Chow was born in Hong Kong, to a mother who was a cleaning lady and vegetable farmer, and a father who worked at a Shell Oil Company tanker. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/2/Yun-Fat-Chow.html Yun-Fat Chow Biography (1955-) ] ] [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF46E2D345CD11&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM] Of Hakka origins [cite web | title = Honorary Doctor of Letters - Mr CHOW Yun-fat | url=https://www.cityu.edu.hk/cityu/about/honorary/doc/chow-en.pdf ] [cite web | title = Martial parts - Artist: Yun-Fat, Chow | url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/Y/Yun_Fat_Chow/2003/04/13/762802.html ] , he grew up in a farming community on Lamma Island in a house with no electricity. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-100226992.html Film chat: Chow Yun-Fat - CHOWING THE FAT; HOW EASTERN HERO CHOW YUN-FAT CAME TO HOLD THE WEST HOSTAGE. BY ANNA DAY.(Features) | Article from The Mirror (London, England) | Hi... ] ] He woke up at dawn each morning to help his mother sell herbal jelly and Hakka tea-pudding on the streets and in the afternoons he went to work in the fields. His family moved to Kowloon when he was ten. At seventeen, he quit school to help support the family by doing odd jobs - bellboy, postman, camera salesman, taxi driver. His life started to change when he responded to a newspaper advertisement and his actor-trainee application was accepted by TVB, the local television station. He signed a three-year contract with the studio and made his acting debut. With his striking good looks and easy-going style, Chow became a heartthrob and a familiar face in soap operas that were exported internationally.

Career

It did not take long for Chow to become a household name in Hong Kong following his role in the hit series "The Bund" in 1980. "The Bund", about the rise and fall of a gangster in 1930s Shanghai, made him a superstar. It was one of the most popular TV series ever made in Hong Kong and was a hit throughout Asia, including Shanghai itself, where the streets were emptied during the times it was broadcast.

Although Chow continued his TV success, his ultimate goal was to become a big screen actor. However, his occasional ventures onto the big screens with low-budget films were disastrous. Success finally came when he teamed up with a then relatively unknown director John Woo in the 1986 gangster action-melodrama "A Better Tomorrow", which swept the box offices in parts of Asia and established both Chow and Woo as megastars. A Better Tomorrow won him his first Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards. It is reputed to be the highest grossing film in Hong Kong history at the time, and it set the standard for Hong Kong gangster films. Taking the opportunity, Chow quit TV entirely. With his new image from "A Better Tomorrow", he made many more 'gun fu' or 'heroic bloodshed' films, such as "A Better Tomorrow 2" (1987), "Prison on Fire", "Prison on Fire II", "The Killer" (1989), "A Better Tomorrow 3" (1990) and "Hard Boiled" (1992).

Chow may be best known, especially in the West, for playing honorable tough guys, whether cops or criminals, but he is a versatile performer. He has starred in comedies like "Diary of a Big Man" (1988) and "Now You See Love, Now You Don't" (1992) or romantic blockbusters such as "Love in a Fallen City" (1984) and "An Autumn's Tale" (1987). He brought together his disparate personae in the 1989 film "God of Gamblers" ("Du Shen"), directed by the prolific Wong Jing, in which he was by turns suave charmer, broad comedian and action hero. The film surprised many and turned out immensely popular, broke Hong Kong's all-time box office record, and spawned a series of gambling films, as well as several more comic sequels starring Andy Lau and Stephen Chow.

The "Los Angeles Times" proclaimed Chow Yun-Fat "the coolest actor in the world." At that point, he had not even made a single American film, but he had already become an icon. Being one of the hottest screen commodities in Hong Kong, Chow moved to Hollywood in the mid-'90s in an attempt to duplicate his success on an international scale. His first two films, "The Replacement Killers" (1998) and "The Corruptor" (1999), were box-office disappointments. His next film "Anna and the King" (1999) did better, but the success was mostly credited to actress Jodie Foster. He returned to Asia for the (2000) film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and it became a winner at both the international box office and the Oscars. In 2004, he made a surprise cameo in the mainland Chinese indie-hit "Waiting Alone". In 2006, he teamed up with Gong Li to star in the new film, "Curse of the Golden Flower" by Zhang Yimou.

Chow is still waiting for the type of success he once enjoyed in Hong Kong. He once admitted to a Hong Kong reporter that his ultimate goal is to win an Oscar as an actor. When asked what if it never comes true, he replied "I would just have to laugh about it..."

In 2007, Chow played the antagonist pirate captain Sao Feng in "". His character, however was censored in mainland China. As proclaimed by mainland officials, "He also has a long beard and long nails, whose image is still in line with Hollywood’s old tradition of demonising the Chinese." The censors also cut Chow’s line in which he states "Welcome to Singapore", because "it hints Singapore is a land of pirates" Xinhua stated. It quoted Zhang Pimin, deputy head of the film bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television as saying the cuts had been made "according to the country’s relevant regulations on film censorship," and "China’s actual conditions".

In Taiwan, Chow Yun-Fat is also famous in some commercial endorsemants including a TV commercial of an alcoholic tonic drink called, Whisbih where he's a product endorser for that said brand. [ [http://www.thewest.com.au/printfriendly.aspx?ContentID=31506 Thewest.com.au] ]

Book

On June 26, 2008 Chow released his first photo collection in Hong Kong, which included pictures taken on the sets of his films. Proceeds from sales of the book will be donated to Sichuan earthquake victims. Published by Louis Vuitton, the book will be sold in Vuitton's Hong Kong and Paris stores. [ [http://www.gmanews.tv/story/103489/Crouching-Tiger-actor-launches-book-for-benefit-of-Chinese-earthquake-victims gmanews.tv, 'Crouching Tiger' actor launches book for benefit of Chinese earthquake victims] ] [ [http://www.pr-inside.com/crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon-star-r664705.htm pr-inside.com, 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' star Chow Yun-fat publishes photo collection] ]

Personal life

Chow has married twice. First to Candice Yu (zh-cp|c=余安安|p=Yú Ānan) in 1983, who was an actress from Asia Television Ltd, TVB's rival. But the marriage did not last long and the two broke up after nine months. Chow has since married Singaporean Jasmine Tan (zh-stp|s=陈萫莲|t=陳薈蓮|p=Chén huilián) in 1986. Tan reportedly had a miscarriage during pregnancy and the two have no children. However, Chow Yun-Fat has a goddaughter, Celine Ng, former child model for Chickeeduck and other various companies.

Filmography

"For more information, see Chow Yun-Fat filmography."

Chow has appeared in over 80 films and 24 television series.

Video games

* "Stranglehold (video game)"
* ""
* "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (video game)"

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0000334|name=Chow Yun-Fat
* [http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_12032.html Chow Yun Fat Pirates 3 interview]

###@@@KEY@@@### s-achsuccession box
title=Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor
years=1985
for "Hong Kong 1941"
before=Danny Lee
for "Law With Two Phases"
after=Ti Lung
for "A Better Tomorrow" succession box
title=Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor
years=1987
for "A Better Tomorrow"
before=Kent Cheng
for "Why Me?"
after=Chow Yun-Fat
for "City on Fire" succession box
title=Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor
years=1987
for "An Autumn's Tale"
before=Ti Lung
for "A Better Tomorrow"
after=Alex Man
for "Dua Tau A" succession box
title=Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor
years=1988
for "City on Fire"
before=Chow Yun-Fat
for "A Better Tomorrow"
after=Sammo Hung
for "Painted Faces"succession box
title=Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor
years=1990
for "All About Ah Long"
before=Sammo Hung
for "Painted Faces"
after=Leslie Cheung
for "Days of Being Wild"