Stephen Chow

Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow in 2008.
Background information
Chinese name	周星馳 (traditional)
Chinese name	周星驰 (simplified)
Pinyin	Zhōu Xīngchí (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Zau1 Sing1-ci4 (Cantonese)
Born	(1962-06-22) 22 June 1962 British Hong Kong
Origin	Ningbo, Zhejiang
Ethnicity	Han
Alma mater	adjunct professor of Renmin University of China[1]
Occupation	Director producer playwright actor entrepreneur political advisor
Years active	1980–present
Parents	Ling Po Yee (凌寶兒) (mother) Chow Yik Sheung (周驛尚) (father)
Siblings	Chow Man Kei (周文姬) (sister) Chow Sing Ha (周星霞) (sister)
Also known as	Sing Yeh (meaning "Master Sing") (星爺)
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Director 2002 Shaolin Soccer Best Actor 2002 Shaolin Soccer Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Director 2002 Shaolin Soccer Best Actor 1996 A Chinese Odyssey Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Best Director 2016 The Mermaid Best Actor 1996 A Chinese Odyssey Golden Horse Awards Best Director 2005 Kung Fu Hustle Best Supporting Actor 1988 Final Justice TVB Anniversary Awards Jade Lifetime Achievement Award 1999 Other awards Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Silver Scream Award 2005 Kung Fu Hustle Asia Pacific Film Festival Best Actor 1992 Justice, My Foot Blue Ribbon Awards Best Foreign Language Film 2002 Shaolin Soccer Critics' Choice Awards Best Foreign Language Film 2005 Kung Fu Hustle

Stephen Chow Sing Chi (Chinese: 周星馳, born 22 June 1962) is a Chinese film director,^[2][3] actor,^[4][5] producer, political adviser of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference^[6][7] and martial artist.

Early life and education

Chow was born in Hong Kong on 22 June 1962 to Ling Bao'er (凌寶兒), a alumnus of Guangzhou Normal University, and Zhou Shangyi (周尚驛), an immigrant from Ningbo, Zhejiang.^[8] Chow has two sisters, Chow Wenji (周文姬) and Chow Xingxia (周星霞).^[9] Chow's given name "Sing-chi" (星馳) derives from Tang dynasty (618–907) Chinese poet Wang Bo's essay Preface to the Prince of Teng's Pavilion.^[10] After his parents divorced when he was seven years old, Chow was raised by his mother.^[10] Chow attended Xiehe School , a missionary school attached to the Hong Kong Council of the Church of Christ in China in Prince Edward Road, Kowloon Peninsula.^[11] When he was nine years old, he saw Bruce Lee's film The Big Boss, which inspired him to become a martial arts star.^[12] Chow entered San Marino Secondary School, where he studied alongside Lee Kin-yan.^[12] After graduation, he was accepted to TVB's acting classes.^[13]

Film career

Chow began his career as a temporary actor on television.^[14] He graduated from TVB's acting classes in 1982. Chow began to find some success with the children's programme 430 Space Shuttle. In 1987, Chow entered the movie industry through the film Final Justice, which won him the Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[15]

Chow shot to stardom in The Final Combat (1989) and All for the Winner (1990). 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, China began to warm to Chow's films and he became the Stephen Chow Culture.^[16][17][18]

In 2001, his film Shaolin Soccer grossed over US$50 million worldwide.^{[19][20][21][22]} 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 for Best Picture and Best Director.^[23]

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 as well as twenty international awards.^[24]

Chow's film CJ7 began filming in July 2006 in the eastern Chinese port of Ningbo.^[25] In August 2007 the film was given the title CJ7, a play on China's successful Shenzhou manned space missions—Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 6.^[26] CJ7 became the highest-grossing film of all time in Malaysia.^[27]

In 2013, Chow's film Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons became the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.^[28]

In 2016, his new film The Mermaid broke numerous box office records: Biggest opening day, biggest single-day gross after its seventh day of release, biggest opening week of all time in China.^[29] On 19 February, it became the highest-grossing film of all time in China.^[30]

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^[31] and is the highest-grossing movie of all time in Asia.^[32]

Stephen Chow became the ninth-top-grossing Hollywood Director of 2016.^[33]

Filmography

Awards

References

Bibliography

• Hua, Cheng (2016). 《周星驰：做人如果没有梦想，跟咸鱼有什么分别》 [Stephen Chow: Without Dream, What's the Difference between Men And Salted Fish] (in Chinese). Xicheng District, Beijing: Sino-Culture Press. ISBN 978-7-5075-4635-4.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stephen Chow.

• Stephen Chow on IMDb
• Stephen Chow at AllMovie