Edmund Chen

Edmund Chen (Chinese: 陈之财; pinyin: Chén Zhīcái; Wade–Giles: Ch'en² Chih¹ Ts'ai², born 4 February 1961 is a Mediacorp actor and artist. He began his career in 1987 and rose to become one of Singapore's most prominent and popular actors during the 1990s and early 2000s before leaving the industry in 2007 to pursue his passion for art. Since then he has also established himself as an artist and children's book illustrator.

Career

Chen entered the entertainment industry after completing the SBC (predecessor of MediaCorp) 7th drama training course in 1987.^[1] He starred in several high-profile dramas such as sci-fi drama series Star Maiden, Air Force and police thriller Patrol, where he first met and later married co-star Xiang Yun. During the late 1990s he temporarily left showbiz for several years to concentrate on other projects. After returning to MediaCorp his popularity soared and he won the Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes award seven consecutive times. During the Star Awards 2007 25th anniversary special, he and Ivy Lee, who played his on-screen partner many times, were named the Top 5 Favourite On-screen Couples for their roles as husband and wife in Double Happiness. He left MediaCorp at the end of 2007 for family reasons but made a brief return to the screens as a guest star in Channel 5 comedy Calefare and the second season of Channel U production Perfect Cut. Besides acting, he has also presented and hosted shows ranging from sports events to variety shows to charity galas.

Chen is one of the few Singaporeans to have successfully ventured into Hollywood and has starred in a film produced by Warner Brothers (Turn Left, Turn Right), as well as more recently in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li distributed by Fox Pictures, as Xiang, father of Chun Li.^[2][3]

Chen directed his first feature film Echoing Love (爱情六重奏), which consists of six shorts directed by six different people and the cast includes Erica Lee, Alaric Tay, Vincent Ng, Nathaniel Ho and his wife Xiang Yun. It was screened at the 24th Singapore International Film Festival in 2011, where it won a Special Achievement Award at the Silver Screen Awards.^[4]

Other work

Chen left the entertainment industry in 2007 due to that he was not nominated for Top 10 Most Popular Male Artist and he began writing and illustrating Chinese language children's books. Two of his titles Dino Rulez! (欢迎来到我们的世界) and Little Otters To The Rescue! (水獭宝宝救爸爸) have been selected by the National Arts Council for its yearly catalogue.^[5] He designs stationery, stamp and T-shirts, which are sold through Panda Goods online store.

Personal life

Chen married fellow MediaCorp actress Xiang Yun in 1989 after meeting on the set of Patrol and they have two children.^[6] Their son Yixi made his acting debut in the web drama series i.Rock in early 2012.^[1]

Chen is the eldest of three children. His younger sister is theatre director and entrepreneur Loretta Chen.^[7]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

• Baidu Baike (in Chinese)

External links

• Edmund Chen on IMDb
• Bio on MediaCorp website