Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
🎨

Stephen Chow

arts Maturity 11-13 Next article →

Stephen Chow is a famous filmmaker and actor from Hong Kong.

Stephen Chow, 2008 (cropped)
Stephen Chow, 2008 (cropped)

He is well known for a special style of comedy called mo lei tau. This type of humor has had a huge influence on Chinese culture. Many people see him as a true cultural icon. Some even call him the "King of Comedy." His work brings joy to many people through funny stories and unique acting.

Chow's journey to stardom took many steps. He first worked as an extra for Rediffusion Television. He later joined a famous training course at TVB in 1982. Before that, he worked as an office assistant for a shipping company. He found that job to be very boring. He also spent five years hosting a children's show called 430 Space Shuttle. This helped him capture the attention of the public.

His acting career grew very fast in the late 1980s. In 1988, he won a Golden Horse Award for a supporting role. He then starred in the television series The Final Combat in 1989. His movie All for the Winner came out in 1990. This film broke box office records in Hong Kong. In 1992, he was so popular that five of his films were in the top ten.

Flag of Hong Kong
Flag of Hong Kong

Chow eventually moved from acting to directing his own movies. He worked on films like Flirting Scholar and A Chinese Odyssey. These films were made as co-productions between Hong Kong and Mainland China. Even though they did not do well at first, they became very popular later. They even helped shape early Chinese internet culture through memes. In 2001, he directed the international hit Shaolin Soccer.

This film earned over US$50 million worldwide.

His success continued with many more big projects. He directed Kung Fu Hustle in 2004, which earned over US$106 million. His last role as an actor was in the film CJ7 in 2008.

Stephen Chow in Malaysia
Stephen Chow in Malaysia

Later, his film Journey to the West became a huge success in 2013. In 2016, he made The Mermaid, which broke many records. That movie earned over US$553.81 million around the world. Chow remains a very important name in the world of movies.

361 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (3)
File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg
Flag of Hong Kong.svg
File:Stephen Chow, 2008 (cropped).JPG
Stephen Chow, 2008 (cropped).JPG
File:Stephen Chow in Malaysia.jpg
Stephen Chow in Malaysia.jpg
More to explore

🔗 What's this?

Concepts mentioned in this article

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.