BornChowSing-ChiinHongKongon22ndJune1962,StephenChowspenthisyouthdayswiththreesistersinShanghai,China.HedevelopedaninterestinthemartialartsafterwitnessingthetalentofBruceLee,wherehebegantraininginthestyleofWingChun,whichwasoneofBruceLee'sspecialties.Hismartialartstrainingservedhimwelltoaminimumandheincorporateditinmanyofhisfamousactionfilms.

　　In1982,hegraduatedfromhighschoolandauditionedforanactingschoolrunbyTVB,aHongKongtelevisionstationwherehewasrejected.Hisfriend'Waise'LeeChi-Hung(TheLegendoftheSwordsman,JohnWoo's'ABetterTomorrow')helpedhimoutandhewasallowedtotakenightclasses.Hegraduatedin1983andwashiredtohostachildren'stelevisionprogramcalled'SpaceShuttle430'eventhoughhewasn'tfondofchildren.Thisdidn'tstophimfromcarryingonhisdutyashedevelopedanoff-beatrapportwithco-starsoftheshowthataudiencesloved,whichledtheprogramtorunforfiveyears.Duringtheshow'sfinalrunin1988,hebrokeintodramaticrolesinnumeroustelevisionprogramsandwentontostarinhisfirstfeaturefilmwhereactor'Danny'LeeSau-Yin(CityonFire,JohnWoo's'TheKiller')casthimin'FinalJustice'whichearnedhimanAwardforBestSupportingActoratthe25thAnnualTaiwaneseFilmAwards.

　　In1990,heintroducedhisincrediblecomedytalentinthefilm,'AllfortheWinner'whichwasahilariousspin-offofthefilm,'GodofGamblers'starringChowYun-Fat.ThefilmbecamesuchasuccessthathealsostarredalongsideChowYun-Fatinthesuccessfulsequel,'GodofGamblers2'.HeexcelledinthecomedygenreanddevelopedatrademarkthatreinventedhiscareerinyearstocomeashebegandoingparodiesofHollywood,JapaneseHongKongcinemafilms,suchas'FistofFury1991','FromBeijingwithLove',andhisdirectorialdebut,'All'sWellEndsWell'.Theparodyfilm,'JusticeMyFoot'earnedhimBestActorofAsiaatthePacificFilmFestival.

　　Hisideaofcombiningsportswithactionkung-fu&comedycameintoplayin2002with'ShaolinSoccer'wheresomeCGIdigitaleffectswereusedtohelpcreateastonishingactionsequenceswiththehelpoflegendaryactionchoreographer'Tony'ChingSiu-Tungwhoprovidedastylizedtwisttothefights.Thefilmstruckgoldonrelease,rankingthehighestgrossingfilminthehistoryofHongKongcinemawitharecordofHK$60million.

　　Finally,HollywoodtooksupportofChow'scomedicskillsandMiramaxFilmsboughtthedistributionrightsto'ShaolinSoccer'andreleaseditinternationallyin2003.Followingthesuccessof'ShaolinSoccer'ColumbiaTristarreleasedhisnextkung-fucomedyproject,'KungFuHustle',onwhichhecollaboratedwithanotherlegendaryactionchoreographer,YuenWo-Ping,tocreatesomehard-hittingmartialartssequences,forwhichWo-Pinghasbeenfamoussincethe'70sinHongKong.

　　StephenChow'screativityofactionandcomedycontinuestofindnewaudiencesandhisworkwillcontinuetoentertainviewersaroundtheworldforyearstocome.