Born in Hong Kong

May 18, 1955

Chow was born on the tiny offshore Hong Kong's Lamma Island to a housewife mother and an oil rigger father. Of Hakka origins, he grew up in a farming community in a house with no electricity. He woke up at dawn each morning to help his mother sell dim sum on the streets and in the afternoons he went to work in the fields.

Quit School

January 1, 1972

At seventeen, he quit school to help support the family by doing odd jobs - bellboy, postman, camera salesman, taxi driver.

The Bund

January 1, 1980

His life started to change when he responded to a newspaper ad and his actor-trainee application was accepted by TVB, the local television station.
It did not take long for Chow to become a household name in Hong Kong following his role in the hit series The Bund in 1980.

Married to Candice Yu

January 1, 1983 - September 29, 1983

Chow has married twice. First to Candice Yu (Chinese: 余安安; pinyin: Yú Ānan) in 1983, who was an actress from Asia Television Ltd, TVB's rival. But the marriage did not last long and the two broke up after nine months.

A Better Tomorrow

January 1, 1986

Success finally came when he teamed up with a then relatively unknown director John Woo in the 1986 gangster action-melodrama A Better Tomorrow, which swept the box offices in parts of Asia and established both Chow and Woo as megastars. A Better Tomorrow won him his first Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Married Jasmine Tan

January 1, 1986 - Now

Chow has since married Singaporean Jasmine Tan (simplified Chinese: 陈萫莲; traditional Chinese: 陳薈蓮; pinyin: Chén huilián) in 1986. Tan reportedly had a miscarriage during pregnancy and the two have no children. However, Chow Yun Fat has a goddaughter, Celine Ng, former child model for Chickeeduck and other various companies.

Best Actor Hong Kong Film Awards

January 1, 1986

A Better Tomorrow won him his first Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

God of Gamblers

January 1, 1989

He brought together his disparate personae in the 1989 film God of Gamblers (Du Shen), directed by the prolific Wong Jing, in which he was by turns suave charmer, broad comedian and action hero. The film surprised many and turned out immensely popular, broke Hong Kong's all-time box office record, and spawned a series of gambling movies, as well as several more comic sequels starring Andy Lau and Stephen Chow.

The Killer

January 1, 1989

The Killer (1989)

Hard Boiled

January 1, 1992

Hard-Boiled.

The Replacement Killers

January 1, 1998

The Replacement Killers

The Corruptor

January 1, 1999

The Corruptor

Anna and the King

January 1, 1999

Anna and the King co-starring Jodie Foster

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

January 1, 2000

The film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon became a winner at both the international box office and the Oscars.

Curse of the Golden Flower

January 1, 2006

In 2006, he teamed up with Gong Li to star in the new film, Curse of the Golden Flower by Zhang Yimou.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

January 1, 2007

In 2007, Chow played the antagonist pirate captain Sao Feng in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.