Andy Lau

劉德華
Born (1961-09-27) 27 September 1961[1]
Other names
(Dharma name)
Alma materHo Lap College
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
  • film producer
  • lyricist
  • composer
  • businessman
Years active1981–present
Works
Spouse
(m. 2008)
[2]
Children1
Parent
  • Lau Lai (father)
RelativesLau Tak-sing (brother)
AwardsFull list
Musical career
OriginHong Kong
Genres
Instrument(s)Vocals
LabelsCapital Artists (1985)
EMI Music Publishing (1987–1989)
Polygram (1990–1992)
UFO Record (1992–1995)
Bertelsmann Music Group
(1996–2001)
Catchy Entertainment Ltd. (2002–2004)
Focus Music
(2005–present)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
WebsiteAndy Lau Official Website
Signature

Andrew Lau Tak-wah BBS MH JP[3] (Chinese: 劉德華; Jyutping: Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, appearing in more than 160 films. He has also maintained a successful singing career and is one of the best-selling artists in Taiwan.[4][5] He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB during the 1980s while in the 1990s, Lau was branded by Chinese media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop.[6]

By April 2000, Lau won an unprecedented total of 292 awards.[7] He also holds numerous film acting awards, having won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times and the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor twice. In 2005, Lau received the "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" award of Hong Kong,[8] yielding a box office total of HK$ 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years.[7][9] Forbes magazine has ranked Lau as one of the world's highest-paid actors.[10] In 2018, Lau was invited to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[11][12] In 2023, he was lauded by the South China Morning Post as 'Hong Kong's most popular entertainer'.[13]

Early life

Lau was born in Tai Po, British Hong Kong to fireman Lau Lai (1934-2023). He is the fourth of six siblings and has three elder sisters, one younger sister, and a younger brother named Lau Tak-sing. Although his family was considered wealthy due to his grandfather being a landowner with farmland and villages, his father moved them to the slums of Diamond Hill when he was six years old so he could receive a bilingual education to improve his English. The area was full of wooden houses, which unfortunately burnt down when he was eleven. During his childhood, Lau had to fetch water for his family up to eight times a day as their house lacked plumbing.[7] He graduated from a Band One secondary school, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon.[14] He was named as Lau Fook-wing during his academic years. He also practices Chinese calligraphy and hair styling.[9] He was raised in a nominally Buddhist household and is a follower of the Lingyan Mountain Temple in Taiwan.[15]

Career

Acting

In 1981, Lau enrolled in the artist training program offered by TVB, marking the beginning of his acting career.[1] It was his portrayal of the lead role in the 1982 TVB series The Emissary that initially propelled him to fame. Lau's popularity further soared in 1983 with his role as Yang Guo in the TVB wuxia series The Return of the Condor Heroes. Following this breakthrough, he went on to assume numerous lead roles in various TVB series.

In September 1983, TVB aimed to improve their variety show ratings in competition with Korea and Japan by producing the show TVB All-star challenge (星光熠熠勁爭輝). The program featured almost the entire lineup of the most popular actors and singers at that time.[16] Lau, alongside Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong became known as the "Five Tiger Generals of TVB" due to their popularity on the show.[16]

In the late '80s, Lau departed from TVB due to contract disputes. TVB insisted on a binding five-year exclusive contract, which Lau declined to sign, leading to his blacklisting by the network. Consequently, Lau shifted his focus towards his film career.[7]

In 1981, Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music videos and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin, who gave Lau a minor role in the film, Once Upon a Rainbow.[17] This was the first step in Lau's film acting career.[17] He landed a role in Ann Hui's 1982 film, Boat People.[1] Later in 1983, he had his first leading role in the Shaw Brothers-produced action film, On the Wrong Track.[18]

One of his early leading roles included the more serious 1988 film, The Truth. However, Lau is best known in films for his (often) recurring roles as a "Heroic Gangster", such as Wong Kar-wai's 1988 film As Tears Go By and Benny Chan's 1990 film A Moment of Romance.

Although now a respected actor, Lau was initially known more for his handsome features. Some people he has worked with have called him a matinee idol, but he has claimed to be an artist.[4] Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his films. His first major acting prize came with A Fighter's Blues, which was his first Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor.[19] He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running Out of Time.[20] In 2004, he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance in Infernal Affairs III, the second sequel to the popular Infernal Affairs.[21]

Lau being interviewed at the 2005 Hong Kong International Film Festival

In 2005, Lau received the "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" award of Hong Kong, yielding a box office total of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years.[7][9] The aforementioned figure is as compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow's (HKD 1,317,452,311) and second runner-up Jackie Chan's (HKD 894,090,962). For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on 1 June 2005 at the Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.[22] In 2007, Lau also received the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" award by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen).[3]

In May 2014, he starred in China's first anti-trafficking film Lost and Love, playing a stubborn and kind-hearted farmer Lei Zekuan, which was released on 20 March 2015.[23]

In April 2017, he starred in the Hong Kong police action film Shock Wave,[24] which earned him another Best Actor Award at the 37th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2018.[25]

In February 2021, Lau reunited with Tony Leung since the Infernal Affairs series in the big-budget action film The Goldfinger, backed by Emperor Motion Pictures and mainland Chinese partners, with a reported budget of around $30.8 million (RMB200 million).[26]

Film producer

In 1991, Lau set up his own film production company, Teamwork Motion Pictures, which in 2002 was renamed to Focus Group Holdings Limited. His contributions in the film industry as well as his involvement in nurturing new talent in the Asian film industry led him to winning the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" award in the Pusan International Film Festival in 2006.[3] Some of the films Lau has produced include award-winning films, Made in Hong Kong and A Simple Life, his 100th film, A Fighter's Blues, the Chinese digital film Crazy Stone, and big budget action blockbusters, Firestorm and Shock Wave.

Music

Andy Lau in concert 2011

Lau released his first album Just Know I Only Love You (1985) under the record label Capital Artists to minimal commercial success.[7] However, he achieved mainstream success in 1990 with the release of the album Would It Be Possible which won Lau his first RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Award.[27] The following year, he released the single "The Days We Spent Together" which topped Hong Kong's music charts and was an international hit across Asia. The song was lauded by Time Out which described its popularity as 'practically a national anthem' and 'one of the most notable hits' in Lau's career.[28] His subsequent albums brought him further recognition spawning hit singles such as "Ice Rain" (1993), "Forget Love Potion" (1994), and "Stupid Fellow" (1998). His popularity as a music artist was such that Lau was dubbed as one of the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings along with Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, and Leon Lai.[6] His album Love Notes Written in Bone Upon My Heart (1997) is certified 2x Platinum in Taiwan and is one of the best-selling albums with 640,305 copies sold. His other albums Because of Love (1996) and Love is Mysterious (1997) also reached 2x Platinum status there.[5]

At the Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, he won the "Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist" award 7 times and the "Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist" award 15 times.[7] By April 2000, he had already won an unprecedented total of 292 awards.[7] That same year, he entered the Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist" and again in 2021 for "Most Douyin Followers Gained in 24 hours" and "Fastest Time to Reach Ten Million Followers on Douyin".[29][30][31]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lau sang "Please Stay, Guests From Afar" alongside Jackie Chan and Emil Chau during its closing ceremony. In addition, Lau, who has been supporting disabled athletes in Hong Kong for more than a decade, was appointed as the Goodwill ambassador for the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[32] He led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No.1" at the Beijing National Stadium before the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremony began.[33] He also sang the theme song "Flying with the Dream" with Han Hong during the Paralympics opening ceremony on 6 September 2008.[32]

In 2022, Lau set records when an online concert he held via Douyin attracted more than 350 million viewers.[34]

In addition to singing in Cantonese and Mandarin, Lau has also sung in other languages such as English, Japanese and Taiwanese Hokkien. He has held concerts in Asia, North America, Europe, and Oceania, and continues to tour with an upcoming Mainland China leg set for Summer 2024.[35]

Books written

To date, Lau has written and published two books. They include his 1995 autobiography, This Is How I Grew Up (我是這樣長大的) written in prose,[36] and his 2012 book, My 30 Work Days (我的30個工作天), which is a collection of his 30 personal diaries he wrote while working on the 2011 film, A Simple Life.[37]

Art exhibition

In 2023, Lau opened his debut art show titled the 1/X Andy Lau X Art Exhibition, which ran on 25 August at the Freespace venue located in the West Kowloon Cultural District. The exhibit includes a sculpture which Lau designed, a projection of images from his films and concerts, paintings made by him and his daughter, and works where he collaborated with other artists, such as collaborating with Hong Kong artists Sticky Line on a statue of his character from Running on Karma, collaborating with Beijing artist Xu Zhuoer in glass covered film props from A Moment of Romance, and a collaboration with ink painter where Lau showcases his calligraphy.[38][39]

Philanthropy

In 1994, Lau established the Andy Lau Charity Foundation which helps people in need and promotes a wide range of youth education services.[3] In 1999, he received the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World award, being the third person from Hong Kong at that time to receive this distinguished honour.[3] In 2008, Lau took a main role in putting together the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for relief toward the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[40]

Personal life

In 2008, Lau married his wife Carol Chu after 24 years of speculation over their relationship. Both are vegetarian and devout Buddhists.[41] The couple were married in America.[41] On 9 May 2012, Chu gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Hanna.[42]

In January 2017, Lau sustained a serious pelvic injury after being thrown off and stomped on by a horse during a commercial shoot in Thailand.[43][44] He made a full recovery by the end of the year.[45][46]

Awards and nominations

Lau's hand print and autograph at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1983Hong Kong Film AwardsBest New PerformerBoat PeopleNominated
1989Best ActorAs Tears Go ByNominated
1990Golden Horse Film FestivalBest Supporting ActorKawashima YoshikoNominated
1992Hong Kong Film AwardsBest ActorLee RockNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer)Casino Raiders IINominated
1995Tian DiNominated
1996Best ActorFull ThrottleNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer/Lyricist)Nominated
1998Best Film (Producer)Made in Hong KongWon
Best Original Film Song (Singer)Island of GreedNominated
1999The Longest SummerNominated
A True Mob StoryNominated
Best Film (Producer)The Longest SummerNominated
2000Best ActorRunning Out of TimeWon
Golden Bauhinia AwardsNominated
2001Hong Kong Film AwardsA Fighter's BluesNominated
Golden Bauhinia AwardsA Fighter's BluesWon
Golden Horse Film FestivalLove on a DietNominated
2002Hong Kong Film AwardsNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer/Lyricist)Shaolin SoccerNominated
2003Best ActorInfernal AffairsNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer with Tony Leung)Won
Golden Horse Film FestivalBest ActorNominated
Golden Bauhinia AwardsNominated
2004Hong Kong Film AwardsRunning on KarmaWon
Golden Horse Film FestivalInfernal Affairs IIIWon
Golden Bauhinia AwardsNominated
Running on KarmaNominated
2005A World Without ThievesNominated
2006Hong Kong Film AwardsWait 'Til You're OlderNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer/Lyricist)Nominated
Golden Bauhinia AwardsBest ActorNominated
2007Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Asian Film (Producer)Crazy StoneNominated
Golden Bauhinia AwardsBest ActorBattle of WitsNominated
2007Asian Film AwardsBattle of WitsNominated
2008Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Supporting ActorProtégéWon
Best ActorThe WarlordsNominated
Best Original Film Song (Singer with Eason Chan/Lyricist)BrothersNominated
2011Best Film (Producer)GallantsWon
Golden Horse Film FestivalBest ActorA Simple LifeWon
2012Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Film (Producer)Won
Best ActorWon
Best Original Film Song (Singer/Lyricist)ShaolinNominated
Asian Film AwardsBest ActorA Simple LifeNominated
2014Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Original Film Song (Singer with Sammi Cheng)Blind DetectiveNominated
2015Golden Rooster AwardsBest ActorLost and LoveNominated
2016Hong Kong Film AwardsNominated
Huabiao AwardsWon
2018Hong Kong Film AwardsBest Film (Producer)Chasing the DragonNominated
Shock WaveNominated
Best ActorNominated
2021Huading AwardsShock Wave 2Won

Honors

Lau was noted for his highly positive energy, his hard work and active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years in showbiz and honoured as a "Justice of Peace" by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008.[47] In May 2010, he received the "World Outstanding Chinese" award and an "honorary doctorate" from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.[48] On 14 December 2017, Lau was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree from the Hong Kong Shue Yan University, with the citation highlighting his popularity among locals which stated: "His low-key, modest, friendly and approachable personality has endeared him to millions of fans and ordinary folks alike, who also consider him to be a 'heartthrob' and the 'unofficial Chief Executive of Hong Kong'".[49]

In 2018, asteroid 55381 Lautakwah, discovered by Bill Yeung at the Desert Eagle Observatory in 2001, was named for Lau. The asteroid measures approximately 8.5 kilometers (5.3 miles) in diameter and is located in the outermost region of the asteroid belt, just inside the Hecuba gap. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 11 July 2018.[50]

In 2023, Lau was presented with a Special Tribute award at 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.[51]

Awards and achievements

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Andy Lau – The Face of Hong Kong". Yesasia.com. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. "Andy Lau news". Sina.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Andy Lau profile". focusgroup.cc. Focus Film. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  4. 1 2 "The rule of Lau". Time.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Best-selling albums in Taiwan". BestSellingAlbums.
  6. 1 2 "四大天王 蓦然回首十五年". Xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Andy Lau: From tiger to heavenly king". Radio86.co.uk. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  8. Parkes, Douglas (23 September 2019). "From Infernal Affairs to God of Gamblers: 10 of Andy Lau's top movies". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 "Andy Lau". Madametussauds.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  10. Robehmed, Natalie (4 August 2015). "The World's Highest-Paid Actors 2015". Forbes.
  11. "Andy Lau among Motion Picture Academy invitees". Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  12. "Motion picture academy invites largest class ever in continued push for diversity". Los Angeles Times. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  13. Havis, Richard James (5 February 2023). "Andy Lau, Hong Kong actor and singer, on his 'good enough' career, being a 'very lucky guy', and why Hollywood didn't tempt him". South China Morning Post.
  14. "五虎"恩怨:李家乘和劉德華的終極PK". Sina.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  15. "组图:娱乐圈明星信佛知多少". QQ News. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  16. 1 2 "[Unknown]". Big5.china.com.." 第二章 影視新星 無線電視臺的五虎將. Korea referred as Goryeo (高麗). Retrieved on 31 January 2010.
  17. 1 2 "劉德華 一張老臉 還擄少女心". Sina.com. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  18. "Film review". Lovehkfilm.com. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  19. Dianying.com. "Dianying.com." 第 6 屆金紫荊獎頒獎. Retrieved on 31 January 2010.
  20. "19th Hong Kong Film Awards" (in Chinese). Official website of Hong Kong Film Awards. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  21. "第41屆金馬獎 劉德華稱帝楊貴媚封后". Dajiyuan.com. 4 December 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  22. "Wax figure of Andy Lau unveiled". Xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  23. "《失孤》三天1.1亿 三月华语片首周纪录". ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
  24. "刘德华加盟《拆弹专家2》《扫毒2》古天乐应采儿回归--文旅·体育--人民网". ent.people.com.cn. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  25. "第37届香港金像奖曝入围名单 《明月几时有》领跑". ent.ifeng.com. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  26. "Tony Leung and Andy Lau to Team Up in New Action Film 'Goldfinger'". 19 February 2021. Variety. 2021-02-19
  27. "1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs". RTHK Memory.
  28. Soh, Elaine (2 August 2023). "10 Famous Cantopop songs that evoke a sense of nostalgia". Time Out.
  29. "Most awards - Canto-pop male". Guinness World Records.
  30. "Most Douyin followers gained in 24 hours". Guinness World Records. 28 January 2021.
  31. "Fastest time to reach ten million followers on Douyin". Guinness World Records. 28 January 2021.
  32. 1 2 "Beijing Paralympic theme song shows love for life". Sina.com. 6 September 2008.
  33. "Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games". peopledaily.com.cn.
  34. Cao, Ann (4 September 2022). "Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau's online concert on Douyin sets record 350 million viewers on a wave of Canto-pop nostalgia". South China Morning Post.
  35. "声明函 - 刘德华2024年中国内地巡回演唱会". AWC. 14 November 2023.
  36. "劉德華--我是這樣長大的".
  37. "My 30 Working Days: Diary of Shooting A Simple Life". 22 April 2012.
  38. "Meet Andy Lau, artist. Actor and Cantopop star shows off a new string to his bow in an exhibition in Hong Kong of collaborations with other artists". 29 August 2023.
  39. "Hong Kong icon Andy Lau unveils his first art show, that looks at his career, life as a dad and more, in new West Kowloon exhibition".
  40. "Artistes 512 preparation pictures". Sina.com. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  41. 1 2 "Andy Lau admits to marrying Carol Chu last year". Channel News Asia. MediaCorp. 30 August 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  42. "Andy Lau is now a dad". Xin MSN Entertainment. 11 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  43. "Andy Lau injured after being thrown off a horse". scmp.com. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  44. "Hong Kong star Andy Lau's recovery to take up to nine months after being thrown from horse on shoot". SCMP/News/Hong Kong/Education. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  45. "Andy Lau says he has recovered 95 per cent from his horse-riding accident". The Straits Times. 23 August 2017.
  46. "Andy Lau speaks out about his recovery process". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018.
  47. "[Unknown]". Xinhuanet.com. 2 July 2008.
  48. "Ta Kung Pao." Retrieved on 6 May 2010.
  49. "Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau receives honorary doctorate, hopes to be role model for young people". 15 December 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  50. "(55381) Lautakwah = 2001 SX264 = 1978 WY3 = 1992 EP35 = 1998 FA86 – IAU Minor Planet Center".
  51. Kay, Jeremy (22 August 2023). "TIFF adds Carolina Markowicz, Lukasz Zal, Andy Lau to tribute line-up". ScreenDaily. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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