星爺
Stephen Chow Sing-chi (Chinese: 周星馳; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong filmmaker and former actor, known for his mo lei tau comedy, which has a significant influence on Chinese popular culture. His career began in television, where he gained recognition through variety shows and TV dramas. Chow's breakthrough came in 1989 with the comedy dramas The Final Combat and The Justice of Life, the latter marking the beginning of his on-screen collaboration with Ng Man-tat. He consecutively broke Hong Kong’s box office records in the next two years with films All for the Winner (1990) and Fight Back to School (1991), cementing his status as one of the region's most popular comedic actors.
Since the early 1990s, Chow began working as a screenwriter and director, serving as a de facto director for Flirting Scholar (1993) before receiving his first directorial credit with From Beijing with Love (1994). His first two attempts at Hong Kong–mainland co-productions, Flirting Scholar and A Chinese Odyssey (1995), received mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office in both markets upon release. However, they gained popularity over time, and by the 2000s, A Chinese Odyssey had particularly elevated his status as a cultural icon in China.
In 2001, he directed and starred in Shaolin Soccer (2001), which brought him international recognition, furthered by Kung Fu Hustle (2004). His final on-screen performance was in CJ7 (2008), after which he transitioned fully to filmmaking, achieving great success with comedies such as Journey to the West (2013) and The Mermaid (2016).
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