PROFILE
Name: Andy Lau
Mandarin: 刘德华 (Liú Déhuá)
Cantonese: 劉德華 (Lau4 Dak1waa4)
Birth Name: 劉福榮 (Lau Fook-Wing)
Profession: Singer, Actor, Producer and Presenter
Birthdate: 27-Sep-1961
Birthplace: Tai Po, Hong Kong
Height: 174cm
Weight: 65kg
Star sign: Libra
Chinese Zodiac: Ox
Blood type: AB
Family: Four sisters, one brother and Wife, Carol Choo

About : Lau has been one of Hong Kong’s most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop (四大天王) along with Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai.

As a young boy Lau had to fetch water for his family up to eight times a day because their house was not equipped with plumbing. He later graduated from a Band One Secondary School, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon. In 1981, Lau signed up for the artist training program offered by TVB, which is where his acting career began. In the late 80s, Lau left TVB due to contract problems. TVB wanted to bind him to an exclusive five-year contract which Lau refused to sign, so TVB blacklisted him. He then focused on his film career.

Though a respectable actor, Lau in the early days was known more for his good looks. The people he works with say he is an idol, but he has claimed to be an artist. Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his movies. His first major acting prize came with A Fighter’s Blues, which was his first Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Actor. He would win the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running out of Time. In 2004, he won the prestigious Golden Horse Award for his performance in Infernal Affairs III, the sequel to the popular Infernal Affairs. Western audiences may also be familiar with his performance in the House of Flying Daggers.

In 2005, Lau was awarded “No.1 Box Office Actor 1985-2005″ of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 over 108 films in the past 20 years. (By comparison, Stephen Chow earned HKD 1,317,452,311) while Jackie Chan pulled in only HKD 894,090,962). For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on June 1, 2005 at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong. In 2007, Lau was also awarded the “Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia” by the Nielsen Company (ACNielsen).

Lau released his first album “Only Know that I Still Love You” (只知道此刻愛你) under Capital Artists in 1985. However, his first album was not a big hit. Despite having a voice not traditionally associated with popular music, his hard work and perseverance resulted in him being one of the most successful singers. His singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled “Would It Be Possible” (可不可以), and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a marketable singer. For that song, he would win his first 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. He would then win at least one RTHK award category every year consecutively until the year 2007.

From Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards, he has won the “Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 7 times and the “Asia Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Male Artist” award 15 times. He also entered into Guinness World Records for “Most Awards Won By A Cantopop Male Artist”. By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.

Many of his songs quickly topped the music charts, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Taiwan, Mainland China, and in many different parts of Asia. Some of the most notable hits by Lau include “The Days We Spent Together” (一起走過的日子), “If You Are My Legend” (如果你是我的傳說), “The Tide” (潮水), “Forget Love Potion” (忘情水), “True Forever” (真永遠), “Chinese people” (中國人), “Love You Forever” (愛你一萬年), “You Are My Woman” (你是我的女人), “Secret Admiration” (暗裡著迷). Besides singing in Cantonese and Mandarin, he also sang in other languages, such as English, Japanese, Malay, and Taiwanese. One example of a Hokkien song was (世界第一等).

Lau has been noted for his active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years of showbiz career and was honored “Justice of Peace” by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008. In May 2010, he received the “World Outstanding Chinese” award and an “honorary doctorate” from the University of New Brunswick, Canada.

AWARDS
Best New Performer Nomination for Boat People
Best Actor Nomination for As Tears Go By
Best Actor Nomination for Lee Rock
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Casino Raiders II (Singer)
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Heaven and Earth (Singer)
Best Actor Nomination for Full Throttle
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Full Throttle (Singer/Lyricist)
Best Film for Made in Hong Kong (Producer)
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Island of Greed (Singer)
Best Film Nomination for The Longest Summer (Producer)
Best Original Film Song Nomiantion for The Longest Summer (Singer)
Best Original Film Song Nomination for A True Mob Story (Singer/Lyricist)
Best Actor for Running Out of Time
Best Actor Nomination for A Fighter’s Blues
Best Actor Nomination for Love on a Diet
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Shaolin Soccer (Singer/Lyricist)
Best Actor Nomination for Infernal Affairs
Best Original Film Song for Infernal Affairs (Singer with Tony Leung)
Best Actor for Running on Karma
Best Actor Nomination for Wait ‘Til You’re Older
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Wait ‘Til You’re Older (Singer/Lyricist)
Best Asian Film Nomination for Crazy Stone (Producer)
Best Actor Nomination for The Warlords
Best Supporting Actor for Protégé
Best Original Film Song Nomination for Brothers (Singer with Eason Chan/Lyricist)

LINKS
Official Website: andylau.com

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