From a Cabby to a Bellboy: Chow Yun-fat’s Journey to Success

This is one actor who experienced a pretty tough life to becoming famous and rich. Well, that is how life can turn out for people who are focused with determination to succeed irrespective of their backgrounds.
Born 18 May 1955 in Lamma Island, Hong Kong, to a mother who was a cleaning lady and vegetable farmer while his father who worked on a Shell Oil Company tanker, Chow grew up in a farming community on Lamma Island, in a house with no electricity. Every morning he woke up to help his mother sell herbal jelly and Hakka tea-pudding on the streets. Chow left school at 17, took on many odd jobs working in the daytime as bellboy, postman, camera salesman and taxi driver to help support his family.
His family moved to Kowloon when he was ten.
Like many Hollywood stars who rose to fame and have become a household name.
His first step towards the film industry started as an applicant for an actor-trainee position in TVB, whose ad he saw in a newspaper. He signed a three-year contract with the studio and made his acting debut. Chow became a heartthrob and familiar face in soap operas that were exported internationally.
From there, he worked his way up. His young-looking face with his tough poise were great assets which brought his debut in Hollywood.
He was even named “the coolest actor in the world” by the Los Angeles Times and nicknamed “Babyface Killer”.
He has acted in films with John Woo, or as Li Mu-Bai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonand Sao Feng in the third instalment of Pirates of the Carribean. Looking back, Chow is a shining example and model for those with dreams in difficult situations.
With 13 Best Actor nominations, 2 Best Supporting Actor nominations, and 2 Best Original Film Song nominations, he is one of the most celebrated veteran actors in Asia. To think that he came from a humble home in Hong Kong, it is truly an amazing feat.
Chow first got married in 1983 to Candice Yu, an actress from Asia Television; the marriage lasted nine months. He married Singaporean Jasmine Tan in 1986 and though they have no children, Chow has a goddaughter, Celine Ng, a former child model for Chickeeduck, McDonald’s, Toys’R’Us.