Chow Yun-fat
Hong Kong actor
Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. In a film career spanning more than forty-five years, Chow has appeared in over 100 television drama series and films. Known for his versatility, encompassing action and melodrama, comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor and two Golden Horse Awards for Best Actor.
Chow was propelled to fame by TVB dramas such as The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1979) and The Bund (1980). His first acclaimed film role came in the political drama The Story of Woo Viet (1981), in which he portrayed a Vietnamese refugee attempting to reach the United States. He is widely known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in five Hong Kong action films: A Better Tomorrow (1986), which made Chow a box-office superstar in Asia, A Better Tomorrow II (1987), The Killer (1989), Once a Thief (1991), and Hard Boiled (1992). He later reprised his iconic "Tequila" persona in the video game Stranglehold (2007), produced by Woo. Chow also made several popular action films with Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, including City on Fire (1987), Prison on Fire (1987), and Full Contact (1992). He is credited with helping bring Hong Kong gangster films to international prominence.
His other notable films in Asia include An Autumn's Tale (1987), God of Gamblers (1989), All About Ah-Long (1989), Curse of the Golden Flower (2006), Let the Bullets Fly (2010), From Vegas to Macau (2014), and Project Gutenberg (2018).
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q181425. VIAF identifies the subject as 81659206. The Library of Congress control number is no98066909. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1955, 1979, 1980 and 1981.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chow Yun-fat” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.