Name: Stephen Chow Sing Chi (Stephen Chau, Chow Xing Chi, Zhou Xingchi)
Chinese name: 周星驰 (周星馳)
Birth date: June 22, 1962
Birthplace: Hong Kong
Height: 174cm
Profession: Actor, director and producer
Stephen Chow spent his teenage in Shanghai with his family. Chow is a great admirer of late action star Bruce Lee, and developed interest in martial arts and aimed to be an action star.
Stephen Chow got into Hong Kong TVB acting school and graduated in 1982. He was given the opportunity to host a children program “430 Shuttle” in TVB that he began to gain some fame. (TVB is the largest TV channel network in Hong Kong.)
Stephen Chow got some supporting role in numerous TVB series, but his breakthrough came from the big screen. Chow’s 1988 sitcom role as a thief in Danny Lee’s movie “Final Justice” won him a Golden Horse best supporting actor award.
Seeing Chow’s potential, TVB offered him leading role in TV drama “Final Combat” which he started to show off his non-logic comedy talent.
Tasted success in movie scene, Stephen Chow continues to star in a few popular movies. It was till 1990 when he starred “Saint of Gamblers,” a comedy version of Chow Yun-Fat’s box office hit “God of Gamblers” that made Stephen Chow a superstar.
Saint of Gamblers (also named “All for the Winner”) went on to break Hong Kong’s movie record with boxoffice of over HK$40 million. Since then Chow was unstoppable and starred in over 50 movies, most of it were super hits.
In 1992, Stephen Chow dominated the top 5 movie bestseller of the year in Hong Kong. Back then he was one of the box office hit-trio, together with Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fatt. All 3 of them have now expanded their influence into Hollywood.