Andy Lau: Encyclopedia - Andy Lau

Andy Lau

Andy Lau Tak-Wah (Traditional: 劉德華; Simplified: 刘德华; Hanyu Pinyin: Liú Déhuá; Jyutping: Lau4 Dak1 Waa4) (born September 27, 1961 in Hong Kong as 劉福榮) is a Hong Kong popstar and a movie actor.

The first lead role that made his initial popularity was the TVB series Hunting in 1982. In the same year, Andy started in his first movie in Boat People. Later in 1983, his role as Yang Guo in wuxia TV serial The Return of the Condor Heroes made him even more popular and landed him his first leading role in a Shaw Brothers' film called On the Wrong Track.

In 1999, after filming Century of the Dragon, due to increasing governmental controls on the arts after the handover of Hong Kong to mainland China in 1997, Andy attempted to relocate to Australia, but governmental pressure on his family forced him to return to Hong Kong.

Andy's most recent role was in All About Love (2005)

Andy Lau - Movie highlights

He has since appeared in more than 100 films, and has a huge fan base throughout Asia with the success of both his onscreen performance and his musical career. Andy Lau is best known for his (often) recurring roles in the King of Gamblers.

Lau is known to some more for his good looks than for his strengths of acting, though he has answered his critics since the turn of the century in a series of critically acclaimed movies, especially those directed by Johnnie To. His first major acting prizes came with A Fighter's Blue and Running Out of Time in 2000. In 2004 he won the prestigious Golden Horse Award for his performance in Infernal Affairs 3, a popular film which is to be remade in Hollywood as The Departed starring Matt Damon as the police mole Lau played. Americans may also be familiar with his performance in House of Flying Daggers.

Andy Lau was recently awarded "No.1 Box-office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years. It is compared to the first runner-up Stephen Chow Sing-Chi (HKD1,317,452,311) and second runner-up Jackie Chan (HKD894,090,962). "I've never imagined that would be as much as 1.7 billion!" He told the reporters. Image:Andylau.jpg

Andy Lau - Musical career highlights

He is also one of the most successful Chinese music celebrities, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit. His first music contract came in 1985, but his singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled "Would it be possible?", and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a highly marketable singer. Andy Lau along with Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok and Leon Lai also named as the Cantopop Four Great Heavenly Kings (四大天王 Cantonese: sêi daài tïn wong, Pinyin: sì dà tiān wáng).

Andy Lau - Credits

In addition, Andy Lau has demonstrated a proficient command of Chinese calligraphy during onstage performances.

At present, Lau is still single. His sexual orientation was the hottest topic in entertainment news. He swore openly: "If I were gay, take AIDS to me!" His prospective mate is the topic of great debate among fans.

In 2003, he started his own media company called Focus Group Holdings Limited.

Andy Lau - Filmography as actor

In chronological order

• Boat People (1982)
• Home At Hong Kong (1983)
• My Lucky Stars (1985)
• Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars
• Lucky Stars Go Places (1986)
• The Unwritten Law
• Rich And Famous (1987)
• Sworn Brothers
• As Tears Go By (1988)
• The Crazy Companies
• The Dragon Family
• Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch
• Three Against The World
• Bloody Brotherhood (1989)
• Casino Raiders
• City Kids
• Crocodile Hunter
• The First Time Is The Last Time
• The Fortune Code
• God of Gamblers
• Perfect Match
• The Romancing Star 3
• Stars And Roses
• Days of Being Wild (1991)
• Dragon in Jail
• God of Gamblers II
• Island of Fire
• Kawashima Yoshiko
• Kung Fu Vs Acrobatic
• A Moment Of Romance
• No Risk, No Gain: Casino Raiders The Sequel
• Return Engagement
• Casino Raiders 2 (1991)
• Dances With The Dragon
• Don't Fool Me
• The Last Blood
• Lee Rock
• Saviour Of The Soul
• The Tigers
• Tricky Brains
• Zodiac Killer
• Casino Tycoon (1992)
• Gameboy Kids
• Gun And Rose
• Handsome Siblings
• The Moon Warriors
• The Prince Of Temple Street
• Saviour Of The Soul 2
• What A Hero!
• Days Of Tomorrow (1993)
• Future Cops
• The Sting 2
• Drunken Master 2 (1994)
• Drunken Master 3
• A Taste Of Killing And Romance
• The Three Swordmen
• The Adventurers (1995)
• Full Throttle
• A Moment Of Romance 3 (1996)
• Shanghai Grand
• Thanks For Your Love
• What A Wonderful World
• Armageddon (1997)
• Island of Greed
• The Conman (1998)
• The Longest Summer
• A True Mob Story
• Century Of The Dragon (1999)
• The Conmen In Vegas
• Fascination Amour
• Prince Charming
• Running Out Of Time
• The Duel (2000)
• A Fighter's Blue
• Needing You
• Dance Of Dream (2001)
• Fulltime Killer
• Love On A Diet
• Fat Choi Spirit (2002)
• Golden Chicken
• Infernal Affairs
• The Wesley's Mysterious Story
• Magic Kitchen
• Cat And Mouse (2003)
• Infernal Affairs III
• Running on Karma
• Jiang Hu (movie) (2004)
• House of Flying Daggers
• Yesterday Once More
• A World Without Thieves
• Wait 'Til You're Older (2005)
• All About Love (2005)

Source: [1] Also: [2]

See also

• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Cantopop
• List of best-selling music artists

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Andy Lau", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki