Birthday: May 18th, 1955
Place of Birth: Lamma Island, Hong KongYun-Fat Chow
Also known as: Zhou Runfa, Fa Zai, Fa Ge, Chow Anderson, Amon Chow
Chinese zodiac sign: Sheep/Goat
Biography: Yun-Fat Chow is the jewel in the crown in the Hong Kong movie industry. Since 1975, he has acted in a dazzling array of over 100 TV series and films. His virtuoso performance won him numerous fans throughout the world.
In 1973, he was admitted into a prestigious acting class at Shaw Brother’s TVB. After the training, he started his acting career by performing in several soap operas. His TV series Shanghai Bund (Shanghai Tan) was aired in 1980, and proved a sensational success. It was from this TV drama that the viewers in the Mainland China began to know him and became his loyal fans. In 1986, his crime film A Better Tomorrow was extremely well-received. Together with his subsequent crime films, he became an icon in of the gangster movies in Hong Kong.
Though Chow is better known to the western viewers as an action star, he is indeed very versatile. He has acted in a wide range of genres such melodramas, comedies and romances. His performances in these movies make him an all-time popular, brilliant actor in the eyes of Chinese viewers. His versatility was given full play when he decided to scale new heights of his career in Hollywood. His Hollywood movies include Anna and the King (1999), Oscar Winner Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Bulletproof Monk (2003), and Pirates of the Caribbean (2007).
His latest movie The Children of Huang Shi (AKA Escape from Huang Shi) is to be released in the U.S. in May 2008. (Photo courtesy of Tom.com)