Chow
Yun Fat 
(Donald Chow, Aman Chow, Fat Gor)
Actor
Born: May 18, 1955, Lamma Island, HK Languages: Chinese, English
Hobbies: Cooking, Photography
If Chow Yun Fat didn't have talent, he could probably get by on sheer charisma.
Equally at home playing the debonair romantic lead, madcap funnyman, or high
octane action hero, he is renowned throughout Asia for his work in hundreds of hours
of television episodes and over 70 feature films. Chow has also become the first
Hong Kong actor to break into Hollywood without kung fu, and one of the very few
Easterners in history to earn leading film roles there.
Chow Yun Fat was born and raised on Lamma Island, a poor boy who was already working
at the age of 5 or 6 selling dim sum on the streets with his mother. His family soon
emigrated to Hong Kong, where Chow worked odd jobs in a factory, post office, etc.
Having already quit high school, at 17 the lanky teenager applied to TVB studios, who
were recruiting young actors for their television programming. He enrolled in their
actors training course and studied for one year before signing a contract with TVB as
an employee for Hong Kong's biggest television studio.
During his years in television Chow Yun Fat became a household name. His many
roles in historical dramas, comedies, suspenseful serials and modern soap operas
brought him fame and success. At the same time his contract with film producers
Goldig Films, for whom he made 8 films, placed him in low budget exploitation; mostly
poorly scripted filler and sordid sex comedies. While he earned respect starring in
numerous TVB classics like Battle Among the Clans, Smiling Proud Wanderer,
Man in the Net, and many others; his film resume was filled with forgettable titles
such as Massage Girls, Executor and Miss O. The small screen heartthrob was
box-office poison.
Chow Yun Fat was under great pressure balancing his grueling work schedule at TVB,
and a struggling film career. The demise of his relationship with TVB actress girlfriend
Idy Chan Yuk Lin left him so distraught that in 1982 he was hospitalized for consuming
household cleansers in a suicide attempt. His subsequent marriage to actress Candice
Yu On-On in February 1983 lasted only 6 months.
Up until Ann Hui's critically acclaimed drama The Story of Woo Viet (1981), Chow
Yun-Fat squandered his talent in a dozen substandard movies before finally being given
a quality project. In 1984 he achieved recognition in the award winning World War II
drama Hong Kong 1941, earning him his first Best Actor nomination from the Hong
Kong Film Awards.
In 1986 director John Woo was looking for a chivalrous hero to star in his ground
breaking gangster drama A Better Tomorrow. He found his man in Chow Yun Fat,
who portrayed the character of ultracool gangster Mark Gor with such elan that the
picture put both Woo and Chow's careers into the stratosphere.
Mark Gor's trenchcoated look inspired fashion trends, the picture spawned two sequels,
and John Woo and Chow Yun Fat began a famous partnership in the tradition of Akira
Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune that produced the Hong Kong action classics Hard Boiled,
Once a Thief and The Killer.
A similar partnership was formed with director and former TVB classmate Ringo Lam,
who directed Chow in 5 films including City On Fire, Prison on Fire I & 2, and
Full Contact. Chow Yun Fat's roles with Woo, Lam and other action directors
caused him to be known, particularly outside of Asia, as an action star. Even though
roughly half of his work is outside the exclusively action genre, Chow Yun Fat is still
best known and loved around the world for his heroic gun toting characters in Hong Kong
action films.
While Chow Yun Fat can be heard singing in Eight Happiness, Diary of a Big Man,
and Triads- the Inside Story, he never sought to become a singer himself.
However, his fame warranted the release of one album, which included a track that exceeded
9 minutes in length which reworked one of Leslie Cheung's biggest hits; and a duet with
chart topping singer and co-star Sally Yeh.
The experience, which was never pursued further, represented only a minor detour in
his professional career. Yun-Fat did do well in the lucrative world of advertising,
pitching products ranging from rice to mobile phones.
In 1995 Chow Yun Fat made his last Hong Kong film- Peace Hotel. Like John Woo,
who produced the movie, Chow had outgrown Hong Kong filmmaking and wanted to
take the next step and launch his career in the world arena. Relocating to Los Angeles,
he studied English, read scripts and met with Hollywood agents before accepting his
first role in a tailor-made action vehicle: The Replacement Killers (1997).
Another film followed, the New York based cop drama The Corruptor (1998).
Chow was then cast as the King of Siam in the King and I remake Anna and the King
(2000), opposite Oscar winning actress Jodie Foster. 2001 brought Ang Lee's martial arts
blockbuster Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which featured Chow in a distinguished
performance as Li Mu Bai, which was originally intended for Jet Li. In 2003 Chow played
the title role in the action-comedy Bulletproof Monk.
Chow Yun Fat resides in Hong Kong with his Singaporean wife Jasmine, who also
acts as his manager and English coach. Even without making a single Hong Kong film
since 1995, Chow remains one of the most popular screen figures in the history of
Hong Kong cinema.
Chow
Yun Fat Filmography
| 1976 |
The Reincarnation |
| 1976 | Learned Bride Thrice Fools Bridegroom |
| 1976 | Massage Girls |
| 1976 | The Hunter, the Butterfly and the Crocodile |
| 1977 | Bed For Day, Bed For Night |
| 1977 | Hot Blood |
| 1978 | Their Private Lives |
| 1978 | Miss "O" |
| 1980 | See-Bar |
| 1980 | Joy To the World |
| 1980 | Pembunuhan Pursuit |
| 1980 | Police Sir |
| 1981 | Executor |
| 1981 | The Story of Woo Viet |
| 1982 | The Head Hunter |
| 1982 | The Postman Fights Back (aka The Postman Strikes Back) |
| 1982 | Boat People |
| 1983 | The Bund (TVB series released in theatres) |
| 1983 | The Bund Part II (TVB series released in theatres) |
| 1983 | Blood Money |
| 1983 | The Last Affair |
| 1984 | Love in a Fallen City |
| 1984 | The Occupant |
| 1984 | Hong Kong 1941 |
| 1985 | Women |
| 1985 | Why Me? |
| 1986 | Lost Romance (aka Story of Rose) |
| 1986 | Witch From Nepal |
| 1986 | Dream Lovers |
| 1986 | The Missed Date |
| 1986 | 100 Ways To Murder Your Wife |
| 1986 | The Lunatics |
| 1986 | A Better Tomorrow |
| 1986 | Love Unto Wastes |
| 1986 | The Seventh Curse |
| 1986 | A Hearty Response |
| 1986 | My Will, I Will |
| 1987 | City on Fire |
| 1987 | Tragic Hero |
| 1987 | Scared Stiff |
| 1987 | Brotherhood (aka Code of Honour) |
| 1987 | Rich and Famous |
| 1987 | The Romancing Star |
| 1987 | An Autumn's Tale |
| 1987 | Flaming Brothers |
| 1987 | Spiritual Love |
| 1987 | Prison on Fire |
| 1987 | A Better Tomorrow 2 |
| 1988 | Eighth Happiness |
| 1988 | Tiger on the Beat |
| 1988 | Fractured Follies |
| 1988 | The Diary of a Big Man |
| 1988 | The Greatest Lover |
| 1988 | Cherry Blossoms |
| 1988 | Goodbye My Friend |
| 1988 | City War |
| 1989 | All About Ah-Long (also co-story) |
| 1989 | Wild Search |
| 1989 | The Killer |
| 1989 | Triads- the Inside Story |
| 1989 | A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon |
| 1989 | God of Gamblers |
| 1990 | The Fun, the Luck and the Tycoon |
| 1991 | Once a Thief |
| 1991 | Prison on Fire II |
| 1992 | Now You See Love... Now You Don't |
| 1992 | Hard Boiled |
| 1992 | Full Contact |
| 1994 | Treasure Hunt |
| 1994 | God of Gamblers Return |
| 1995 | Peace Hotel |
Chow Yun Fat -American Films
| 1997 |
The Replacement Killers |
| 1998 | The Corruptor |
| 2000 | Anna and the King |
| 2001 | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon * |
| 2003 | Bulletproof Monk |
| 2005 | Pirates of the Caribbean 2 |
* = Taiwan / US / Hong Kong / China co-production
Chow Yun Fat -Television Credits
|
2000 Hong Kong Film Awards (presenter with Anita Mui) |
| Angels and Devils |
| Battle Among the Clans |
| The Brothers |
| The Bund (Shanghai Beach / Shanghai Grand) |
| The Bund II |
| Chinese Folklore - God of River 'Lok' |
| Conflict |
| Episodic Drama |
| The Fate |
| The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Man in the Net) |
| Hotel |
| A House is Not a Home |
| The Legend of Master So |
| The Maverick |
| Mystery Beyond |
| Police Cadet '85 |
| The Shell Game II |
| The Yang's Saga |
Chow Yun Fat -American TV Appearances
|
2000 Academy Awards (presenter) |
| 2001 Academy Awards (presenter) |
| Access Hollywood |
| Entertainment Tonight |
| The Tonight Show with Jay Leno |
| TV Guide Channel |
| Vibe |
Hong Kong Film Awards
Best Supporting Actor Nominations- Chow Yun Fat
1986 Love Unto Wastes
Best Actor Nominations- Chow Yun Fat
1984 Hong Kong 1941
1985 Women
1987 An Autumn's Tale
1987 Prison on Fire
1989 God of Gamblers
1991 Once a Thief
1994 Treasure Hunt
1995 Peace Hotel
2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Actor Awards- Chow Yun Fat
1986 A Better Tomorrow
1987 City on Fire
1989 All About Ah-Long
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