Hailed by The Los Angeles Times, as quite simply, "the coolest actor in the world," Chow Yun-Fat was a fixture of Hong Kong film and TV since his debut in the early 1970s. Most celebrated by American and British cultists as a hard-boiled action hero, Chow specialized in portrayals of honorable hitmen, gangsters, thieves and trigger-happy cops. A bona fide superstar in his native Asia, Chow‘s extensive credits spanned a variety of genres, including romances, dramas, slapstick comedies and supernatural thrillers. A favorite of both common folk and cinephiles alike, Chow segued effortlessly
At age ten, moved with family to Kowloon, a part of Hong Kong connected by land to China (date approximate)
Enrolled in a leftist school that promoted the teachings of Mao Tse-tung
1967
Participated in riots as the Cultural Revolution spread to Hong Kong; transferred by his alarmed mother to a boarding school set up by the Nationalist Party Kuomintang
