Actor, comedian, director, writer, and martial artist Stephen Chow is one of China’s top-grossing movie stars, and his films are a wild mix of over-the-top comedy and cartoony action. Chow began his career on television in the early 1980s as the host of the children’s program 430 Space Shuttle. In 1986 he moved into film acting with an uncredited role in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow. Soon Chow was starring in films, and in 1994 he moved into directing with the movie From Beijing with Love. Chow began to find international success in 2001 with his film Shaolin Soccer, which won numerous Hong Kong Film Awards and paved the way for 2004’s Kung Fu Hustle, which won no fewer than 18 awards, including five Golden Horse Awards and six Hong Kong Film Awards. Since the success of Kung Fu Hustle, Chow’s only big release has been 2007’s CJ7, but there has been much talk of a new film coming out this year called Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. You can bet I’ll be seeing it, because I love this guy’s work! He turns 51 today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-_D2IzUIYM