Josephine Siao

Josephine Siao Fong-fong () is a Hong Kong film star who became popular as a child actress and continued her success as a mature actress, winning numerous awards including Best Actress at the 45th Berlin International Film Festival (for '' Summer Snow''). Since retiring from show business (partly due to her increasing deafness), she has become a writer and a psychologist, known for her work against child abuse.

Biography

Siao was born as Siao Liang in Shanghai, with her ancestral home in Luzhi, Suzhou, Jiangsu. At the age of two, she was brought to Hong Kong by her parents.

Soon after her father died, at the age of six (1953), she began to become a child star to solve the family's financial problems. When she was 7 years old, she took on the first film and art film "Little Star Tears" (1954). In 1956, she performed "Aunt Mei" for the Shaw Brothers Company. Her famous work is "The Wandering Children" (1960) and this made her became one of the biggest teen idols in Hong Kong during the late 1960s, along with frequent co-star Connie Chan Po-chu. The two were often cast in wuxia films as disciples of the same master and sometimes—when Connie played the male lead—as young heroes in love. Back in the 1960s, Josephine's and Connie's fans maintained a heated rivalry. News of their fans getting into catfights was not uncommon in those days.

Unlike many child stars, Siao made a successful transition to adult stardom, remaining one of Hong Kong's most prolific and popular actresses. She was also one of the directors (co-directing with Leung Po-Chih 梁普智) and writers of ''Jumping Ash'' (跳灰). This film is regarded as a prelude to the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980s by film critics.

Having largely missed out on formal education because of her acting career as a child, Siao pursued her studies in later years despite the handicap of increasing deafness and the demands of raising a family (she has two daughters by her second husband). During this time she made fewer films, but her output included highly praised work such as her award-winning performance in ''Summer Snow'' (1995) as a middle-aged widow trying to cope with her father-in-law suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

Western fans of martial arts films will probably know her best from the ''Fong Sai-yuk'' films made in 1993, in which she played Jet Li's kung fu–fighting mother. (These films were released on Western DVD as ''The Legend'' and ''The Legend II''.)

Siao has been retired from show business since 1997 in favour of her work in child psychology. In particular, she is a noted campaigner against child abuse, and founded the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation, which she now chairs, in 1999. She is also a published author.

Some of the milestones in her life include:

* 1970: Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Asian Studies at Seton Hall University
* 1974: won the best actress award at Spain Film Festival and Taiwan Film Festival
* 1990: obtained a master's degree in child psychology from Regis University
* 1995: won the best actress award at the Berlin Film Festival for ''Summer Snow''
* 1996: member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
* 2009: Life Achievement Award of the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards

Filmography

Films

This is a partial list of films.
* 1954 ''Tears of a Young Concubine'' - Hsiao-Yu.
* 1955 '' An Orphan's Tragedy''
* 1967 ''A Sweet Girl''
* 1967 ''Blood Stains The Iron Fist'' - Ting Wai-Kuen.
* 1967 ''The Blue Bees''
* 1967 ''Diamond Robbery''
* 1967 ''The Flying Red Rose''
* 1967 ''The Golden Cat'' - Golden Cat.
* 1967 ''Happy Years'' - Mei-Yuk/Yuk.
* 1967 ''The Horrifying Adventure of a Girl''
* 1967 ''How the Sacred Fire Heroic Winds Defeat the Fire Lotus Array'' - To Kuen-Yee.
* 1967 ''I Love A-Go-Go'' - So So.
* 1967 ''Lady in Pink'' - Kwok Siu-lan.
* 1967 ''The Lady Killer'' - Wong Fuk-Mui.
* 1967 ''Lau Kam Ding - the Female General''
* 1967 ''Lightning Killer'' - Fong Ching-Wah.
* 1967 ''Maiden Thief''
* 1967 ''The Professionals'' - Kam Ngau, Gold Bull.
* 1967 ''Rocambole'' - Ching Yuk-Chu.
* 1967 ''Romance of a Teenage Girl'' - Kit-Fong.
* 1967 ''Seven Princesses (Part 1)'' - Luk Sau-King.
* 1967 ''Seven Princesses (Part 2)'' - Luk Sau-King.
* 1967 ''Shaky Steps'' - Lui Suk-Chong.
* 1967 ''The Three Swordsmen''
* 1967 ''You Are the One I Love'' - Law Oi-Lin.
* 1974 ''Rhythm of the Wave'' 海韻
* 1976 ''Jumping Ash'' (1976) 跳灰
* 1978 ''Lam Ah Chun'' 林亞珍
* 1980 '' The Spooky Bunch'' 撞到正
* 1982 ''Plain Jane to the Rescue'' 八彩林亞珍
* 1982 ''The Perfect Match'' 佳人有約
* 1984 ''A Friend from Inner Space'' 奸人鬼
* 1987 ''The Wrong Couples'' 不是冤家不聚頭
* 1991 ''Fist of Fury 1991'' 新精武門1991
* 1992 ''Fist of Fury 1991 II'' 漫畫威龍
* 1992 ''Too Happy for Words'' 兩個女人，一個靚，一個唔靚兩個女人
* 1993 ''Fong Sai Yuk'' 方世玉
* 1993 ''Fong Sai-yuk II'' 方世玉續集
* 1993 '' Always on My Mind'' 搶錢夫妻
* 1993 ''Kin Chan No Cinema Jack'' 陳健沒有傑克電影院
* 1995 '' Summer Snow'' 女人四十
* 1996 '' Hu-Du-Men'' 虎度門
* 1996 ''Mahjong Dragon'' 麻雀飛龍

Sources:

Books

* 洋相 : 英美社交禮儀. .

Legacy

The Siao Fong-fong Performing Art Hall was established in 1998 at Shantang Street of Luzhi township in the Siao family's former residence.

References

External links

*

Josephine Siao Fong-Fong at hkmdb.com

Josephine Siao at senscritique.com



End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation (founded and chaired by Siao)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siao, Josephine
1947 births
20th-century Hong Kong actresses
Actresses from Shanghai
Cantopop singers
Child psychologists
Chinese Civil War refugees
20th-century Hong Kong women singers
Hong Kong film actresses
Hong Kong people with disabilities
Hong Kong women psychologists
Hong Kong television actresses
Hong Kong women writers
Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Regis University alumni
Seton Hall University alumni
Silver Bear for Best Actress winners
Hong Kong idols