Stephen Chow Sing-chi (, born 22 June 1962), known professionally as Stephen Chow, is a Hong Kong filmmaker, former actor and comedian, known for '' Shaolin Soccer'' and '' Kung Fu Hustle''.

Early life and education

Stephen Chow was born in Hong Kong on 22 June 1962 to Ling Po-yee (), an alumna of

Guangzhou Normal University Guangzhou University (GU; ) is a state university in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, China. The university is made up of two campuses. The major campus is located in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center (HEMC, geographically called ...

, and Chow Yik-sheung (), an immigrant from Ningbo, Zhejiang. Chow has an elder sister named Chow Man-kei () and a younger sister named Chow Sing-ha (). Chow's

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

"Sing-chi" () derives from Tang dynasty (618–907) Chinese poet Wang Bo's essay '' Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavilion''. After his parents divorced when he was seven, Chow was raised by his mother. Chow attended Heep Woh Primary School, a missionary school attached to the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China in

Prince Edward Road Prince Edward Road East and Prince Edward Road West are roads in Kowloon, Hong Kong, going in an east-west direction and linking Tai Kok Tsui, Mong Kok, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon City and San Po Kong (outside the retired Kai Tak Airport). The roa ...

Kowloon Peninsula The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong, alongside Victoria Harbour and facing toward Hong Kong Island. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collect ...

. When he was nine, he saw

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

's film '' The Big Boss'', which inspired him to become a martial arts star. Chow entered San Marino Secondary School, where he studied alongside Lee Kin-yan. After graduation, he was accepted to TVB's acting classes.

Career

Chow began his career as an extra for Rediffusion Television. He later joined TVB in 1982. He was drawn to attention hosting the TVB Jade children's program ''

430 Space Shuttle ''430 Space Shuttle'' () is a children's show shown on TVB Jade in Hong Kong that aired from 1 February, 1982 until its final episode on 8 August, 1989. The name represents the show's starting time - 4:30pm. This program aimed to educate children a ...

''. Chow made his film debut in the 1988 film '' Final Justice'', which won him the

Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor This is a list of winners and nominees of the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor (). Superlatives Multiple wins and nominations The following individuals received two or more Best Supporting Actor awards: The following individual ...

at the Golden Horse Awards. Chow shot to stardom in ''

The Final Combat ''The Final Combat'' () is a 1989 Hong Kong TVB wuxia comedy drama series starring Stephen Chow, Richard Ng, Francis Ng, Jacqueline Law and Yammie Nam as the main cast . It aired on April 3, 1989, to May 12, 1989, with 30 episodes total. Chow a ...

'' (1989). The following decade, he appeared in more than 40 films. '' Fight Back to School'' (1991) became Hong Kong's top-grossing film of all time. In 1994, he began directing films, starting with '' From Beijing with Love''. In the latter half of the 1990s, Chow becomes very famous in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, he became a legend and the ''Stephen Chow Phenomenon'' (周星驰现象).

2001–2010 International stardom

In 2001, his film '' Shaolin Soccer'' grossed over US$50 million worldwide. Chow won Best Director and Best Actor at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, and the film went on to garner additional awards including a Blue Ribbon Awards for Best Foreign Language Film and the

Golden Bauhinia Award Golden Bauhinia Awards () is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996. The award attracted controversy in 2007, when ten nominations were given to Pang ...

for Best Picture and Best Director. It was the highest-grossing Chinese film in Hong Kong at the time, grossing $46 million in the Asia region. In 2004, his film '' Kung Fu Hustle'' grossed over US$106 million worldwide. Chow also won Best Director at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards and Best Picture of

Imagine Film Festival The Imagine Film Festival, formerly Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (AFFF), also known as Imagine Fantastic Film Festival or simply Imagine, is an annual film festival in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The festival was created in 1991 as the Amsterd ...

as well as over twenty international awards. Comedian Bill Murray said that the film was "the supreme achievement of the modern age in terms of comedy" . His film ''

CJ7 ''CJ7'' () is a 2008 Hong Kong–Chinese comic science fiction film co-written, co-produced, starring, and directed by Stephen Chow. It was released on January 31, 2008, in Hong Kong. It was also released on March 14, 2008, in the United States ...

'' began filming in July 2006 in the eastern Chinese port of Ningbo. In August 2007, the film was given the title ''CJ7'', a play on China's successful Shenzhou crewed space missions—

Shenzhou 5 Shenzhou 5 (, see § Etymology) was the first human spaceflight mission of the Chinese space program, launched on 15 October 2003. The Shenzhou spacecraft was launched on a Long March 2F launch vehicle. There had been four previous flights ...

and Shenzhou 6. ''CJ7'' became the highest-grossing film of all time in Malaysia. For his work in comedy, he has received praise from notable institutions such as the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

, who called him the King of Comedy.

2010–present: Focus on directing

In 2010, he become the executive director and major shareholder of 比高集團(BingoGroup Limited). In 2013, his film '' Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons'' was the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. In 2016, his film '' The Mermaid'' broke numerous box office records, and became the highest-grossing film of all time in China. ''The Mermaid'' was released in Vietnam on 10 February 2016. On 14 March, it became the third-highest-grossing film of all time in Vietnam. It has now grossed over US$553.81 million worldwide. Chow became the ninth-top-grossing Hollywood Director in 2016.

Personal life

Chow dated Karen Mok, who has starred alongside him in several films. Chow had a ten-year relationship with Yu Wenfeng until 2010.

Filmography

As director

As actor

As producer only

Awards

References

Bibliography

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chow, Stephen 1962 births Living people Male actors from Zhejiang Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 20th-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century Hong Kong male actors Hong Kong film directors Hong Kong film producers Hong Kong screenwriters Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong male television actors Hong Kong male comedians Hong Kong martial artists Hong Kong philanthropists Hong Kong television presenters Hong Kong idols TVB veteran actors