Stephen Chow

Biography

Stephen Chow was born in 1962 in British Hong Kong, with paternal ancestors who were immigrants from Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. His name is derived from the phrase "俊采星馳" in the "Preface to the Pavilion of Prince Teng." He grew up in a poor family, and his parents divorced when he was 7 years old; his mother, Ling Bao'er, raised three children on her own. He graduated from the China Primary School in 1974 and attended several secondary schools, where he became obsessed with Bruce Lee's films and aspired to become an actor. In 1980, he began his acting career as an extras at RTV (predecessor of ATV), with his first appearance in the youth drama "I.Q.成熟時." After failing to get into the TVB artist training class in 1981, he entered the night training class through his friend Margie Tsang. Upon graduation in 1983, he was assigned to host the children's program "430 Shuttle" for four years and starred in the "Black and White Zombie" series, where his distinctive performance style became popular with audiences. In 1987, he was transferred out of the children's division and appeared in "Life Journey," where co-star Alex Man recognized his talent and helped him get a film role. In 1988, he won the Best Supporting Actor at the 25th Golden Horse Awards for "Final Justice" and played a rare villain role in "Metropolis." In 1989, he took his first lead TV drama role in "The Justice of Life," and his catchphrases became popular slang in Hong Kong. That year he also landed his first commercial endorsement for Optical 88. In 1990, he starred in "All for the Winner," which broke Hong Kong box office records with HK$41 million, cementing his status in the Hong Kong film industry.