4.Chow Yun Fat

Chow Yun Fat is a charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian-born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles in the high-octane/blazing guns action films of maverick HK director John Woo.

Born in 1955 on the island of Lamma, near Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, Chow's family moved to Hong Kong in 1965 and in early 1973, Chow attended a casting call for TVB, a division of Shaw Bros. productions. With his good looks and easy-going style, Chow was originally a heartthrob actor in non-demanding TV and film roles. However, his popularity increased with his appearance as white-suited crime boss Hui Man-Keung in the highly popular HK film Shang Hai tan xu ji (1983).

In 1985, Chow started receiving acclaim for his work and scored the Golden Horse (Best Actor) Award in Taiwan and another Best Actor Award from the Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in Dang doi lai ming (1983). With these accolades, Chow came to the attention of Woo, who cast Chow in the fast-paced gangster film Ying hung boon sik (1986) (aka "A Better Tomorrow"). The rest, as they say, is history. The film was an enormous commercial success, and Chow's influence on young Asian males was not dissimilar to the adulation given to previous Asian film sensations such as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Nearly every young guy in Hong Kong ran out and bought himself a "Mark Coat," as they became known--a long, heavy woolen coat worn by Chow in the movie (although it is is actually very unsuited to Hong Kong's hot and humid climate).

Further hard-edged roles in more John Woo crime films escalated Chow's popularity even higher, and fans all over the world flocked to see Ying hung boon sik II (1987) (aka "A Better Tomorrow 2"), Dip hyut shueng hung (1989), (aka "The Killer"), and Laat sau sen taan (1992) (aka "Hard Boiled"). With the phenomenal global interest in the HK action genre, Chow was enticed to the United States and appeared in The Replacement Killers (1998) with Mira Sorvino, The Corruptor (1999) with Mark Wahlberg, and, for a change of pace, in the often-filmed romantic tale of Anna and the King (1999).

Chow then returned to the Asian cinema circuit and starred in the critically lauded kung fu epic Wo hu cang long (2000) (aka "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). His wide appeal can be seen in his "boy next door" type of personality and his ability to play such a broad spectrum of roles from a comedic buffoon to a lovestruck romeo to a trigger-happy professional killer. A highly entertaining and gifted actor with dynamic on-screen presence, Chow continues to remain in strong demand in many film markets.

1965 At age ten, moved with family to Kowloon, a part of Hong Kong connected by land to China (date approximate)
1967 Participated in riots as the Cultural Revolution spread to Hong Kong; transferred by his alarmed mother to a boarding school set up by the Nationalist Party Kuomintang
1972 Enrolled in an actor's training course at TVB, a leading HK television operation (broadcasting at home, video distribution throughout Asia) owned by the Shaw Brothers
1972 Answered a newspaper ad inviting people to apply for "free" acting classes
1972 Quit school at age 17 (date approximate)
1972 Suffered a serious motor bike accident
1976 Began his 128 episode stint as the young hunk on the HK primetime soap "Hotel"
1976 Feature debut, "The Reincarnation"
1976 First film in a leading role, "Massage Girls"
1980 Increased his popularity playing a white-suited 1920s crime boss in the TV series, "Shanghai Bund"
1981 Breakthrough feature performance in "The Story of Woo Viet"
1983 Episodes of "Shanghai Bund" re-edited into two features released in January, "The Bund" and "The Bund, Part II"
1984 Won acclaim starring in the period dramatic feature, "Hong Kong 1941"
1986 Revived flagging film career and attained international superstar status as star of the landmark gangster melodrama, "A Better Tomorrow"; first collaboration with writer-director John Woo; starred in two sequels, "A Better Tomorrow II" (1987, also directed by Woo) and "A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon" (1989, helmed by Tsui Hark); Woo modeled Chow's fast-shooting but noble gangster on similar characters played by Alain Delon, even lifting Delon's trademark trench coat for the character, causing a run on trench coats of the same look in stores throughout Asia
1987 In "Scared Stiff", played a true villain for the first (and, to date, the last) time in his HK film career
1987 Starred as an undercover cop in the popular, influential and Hong Kong Academy Award-winning crime film, "City on Fire"; first collaboration with director Ringo Lam; starred in two thematically related sequels, "Prison on Fire" (also 1987) and "Prison on Fire II" (1991)
1989 Starred in the popular action comedy "The God of Gamblers", which inaugurated a cycle of gambler films; reprised his role for "Return of the God of Gamblers" (1994)
1992 Fifth and last HK collaboration with Lam, "Full Contact"
1992 Fifth and last HK collaboration with Woo, "Hard Boiled"
1995 Last Hong Kong film (to date), "Peace Hotel"
1998 First American feature, "The Replacement Killers", executive produced by Woo; acted opposite Mira Sorvino, whose fluency in Mandarin helped immeasurably as the two co-stars could converse when Chow's English failed him
1999 Played Nick Chen, head of the NYPD's Asian gang unit, who teams with unlikely partner Mark Walhlburg, in "The Corrupter", a routine guns and mayhem picture
1999 Portrayed Siamese ruler Mongkut to Jodie Foster's English governness in "Anna and the King"; filmed in Malaysia
2000 Starred as Li Mu Bai, a noble and expert warrior looking for peace in his final days, in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", a tour de force martial arts epic filmed in Mandarin dialect; subtitled for foreign audiences; debuted at Cannes
2003 Starred in title role of "Bulletproof Monk"
2004 Made a surprise cameo in the mainland Chinese indie-hit "Waiting Alone"
2006 Teamed up with Gong Li to star in "Curse of the Golden Flower" a film by Zhang Yimou
Acted in over 1,000 episodes of various soap operas
Arose at 4 am each morning to sell dim sum
At 16, worked in a factory, packing radios to ship overseas for $1.40 per day
Enrolled in a leftist school that promoted the teachings of Mao Tse-tung
Grew up on Lamma Island near Hong Kong (HK)
Renegotiated contract with TVB; stayed for an additional ten years
Started acting; signed a three-year contract with TVB for less than HK $500 per month
Worked variously as a bellboy, office boy, postman and camera salesman

周润发：1973年，出身贫穷的周润发报考了香港无线电视台的艺员训练班，进入演艺圈。只经过短短的龙套生涯，便得到了出演无线重头戏《上海滩》的机会，从而奠定了他无线头号小生的地位。之后，他又在《狂潮》、《网中人》、《火凤凰》和《笑傲江湖》等作品中一路拼杀，终使观众认可了他英俊潇洒的个人风格。

1980年主演《上海滩》引起轰动，周润发由此成名；1986年《英雄本色》首开英雄片潮流，奠定了周润发在香港演艺界大哥大的地位。随后的《喋血双雄》《赌神》《阿郎的故事》等影片都成为香港90年代的经典，将他推上票房冠军宝座，先后7次赢得影帝称号，为香港男演员之最。

1995年，周润发又毅然走出香港，到好莱坞寻求发展。在2000年时，他参与了由李安导演的第一部武侠电影《卧虎藏龙》，扮演李慕白，把一个“人在江湖、身不由己”的义侠形象塑造得令人心动，非凡的演技征服了美国观众，这部影片使得周润发成为好莱坞热门的明星级人物。 2006年周润发在张艺谋最新影片《满城尽带黄金甲》片中饰演王。
代表作：

　　等待黎明(1984)　英雄本色(1986)　玫瑰的故事(1986)

　　原振侠与卫斯理(1986)　义盖云天(1986)　监狱风云(1987)

　　秋天的童话(1987)　英雄本色2(1987)　老虎出更(1988)

　　长短脚之恋(1988)　大丈夫日记(1988)　喋血双雄(1989)

　　阿朗的故事(1989)　我在黑社会的日子(1989)　赌神(1990)

　　纵横四海(1990)　和平饭店(1995)　替身杀手(1998)

　　再战边缘(1999)　安娜与国王(1999)　卧虎藏龙(2000)

　　获奖记录：

　　☆1985年凭《等待黎明》获亚洲太平洋影展、第22届金马奖最佳男主角奖；

　　☆1987年凭《英雄本色》“MARK”哥一角获第六届香港电影金像奖最佳男主角奖；

　　☆1988年凭《秋天的童话》获香港第一届“导演评选大奖”最佳男主角奖；同年凭《龙虎风云》获香港第七届电影金像奖最佳男主角奖；

　　☆1988年获美国电影协会“亚洲杰出演员奖”；

　　☆1990年凭《阿朗的故事》获香港第九届电影金像奖最佳男主角奖

　　作品年表：

　　1976年：《投胎人》、《新苏小妹三难新郎》、《池女》、《捞家邪牌姑爷仔》

　　1977年：《入册》

　　1978年：《爱欲狂潮》

　　1980年：《师爸》

　　1981年：《执法者》、《胡越的故事》、《巡城马》

　　1982年：《猎头》

　　1983年：《血汗金钱》、《花城》

　　1984年：《等待黎明》、《灵气逼人》、《倾城之恋》

　　1985年：《女人心》、《何必有我》

　　1986年：《玫瑰的故事》、《奇缘》、《初一十五》、《癫佬正传》、《地下情》、《原振侠与卫斯理》、《义盖云天》、《你情我愿》、《英雄本色》、《杀妻二人组》、《梦中人》

　　1987年：《小生梦惊云》、《龙虎风云》、《义本无言》、《江湖情》、《精装追女仔》、《英雄本色2>、《秋天的童话》、《监狱风云》、《英雄好汉》、《江湖龙虎斗》、《鬼新娘》

　　1988年：《公子多情》、《八星报喜》、《老虎出更》、《长短脚之恋》、《大丈夫日记》、《郁达夫传奇》、《再见英雄》、《义胆红唇》

　　1989年：《赌神》、《伴我闯天涯》、《阿郎的故事》、《英雄本色3之夕阳之歌》、《喋血双雄》、《我在黑社会的日子》

　　1990年：《吉星拱照》

　　1991年：《纵横四海》、《监狱风云II逃犯》

　　1992年：《我爱扭文柴》、《辣手神探》、《侠盗高飞》

　　1994年：《花旗少林》、《赌神续集》

　　1995年：《和平饭店》

　　1998年：《血仍未冷》(TheReplacementKillers)

　　1999年：《再战边缘》(TheCorruptor)、《安娜与国王》(AnnaandtheKing)

　　曾演出电视剧：

　　1976年：《大江南北》、《江湖小子》、《狂潮》

　　1977年：《家变》

　　1978年：《强人》、《奋斗》

　　1979年：《天虹》、《网中人》

　　1980年：《上海滩》、《亲情》

　　1981年：《前路》、《千王群英会》、《上海滩续集》、《有楼收租》、《火凤凰》、《苏乞儿》

　　1982年：《播音人》、《孤城客》、《北斗双雄》、《天降财神》

　　1983年：《笑傲江湖》

　　1985年：《大香港》、《新扎师兄》

　　1986年：《杨家将》

　　曾推出大碟：

　　《旧情人》、《十二分十分寸》、《飞砂风中转》