Kathy Chow, a leading Hong Kong acting star of the 1990s, has died. She was 57.
The news was carried by Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK and in a Weibo social media posting by Chow mother. She died on Monday from Lupus Erythematosus.
Chow (aka Chow Hoi Mei and Zhou Hai-mei) claimed to be of ethnic Manchu descent. Ashe was Miss Hong Kong pageant participant in 1985 and moved into entertainment as both a singer and actress.
Her early years were attached to Hong Kong’s leading broadcaster Television Broadcasts (TVB), starring in popular series Time Before Time, Breaking Point and Looking Back in Anger.
Later she switched allegiance and joined rival broadcaster ATV staying with it until 2001, before focusing her attention more fully on new opportunities in mainland China.
In 2008, however, she appeared in TVB’s sequel to “The Academy” and “On the First Beat.”
She was best known for portraying Zhou Zhiruo in the 1994 Taiwanese version of the martial heroes TV series “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.” The Louis Cha source material was also the underpinning of her penultimate TV series “Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sword” in 2019, in which she played Abbess Mei Jue.
Chow’s last known film role is on 2021 action comedy, “Heroes Return,” directed by Yip Wing-kin. Chow was lead actor and producer.
In a Weibo post, Chow mother said she wishes her daughter will “stay happy in another world.”
She is not known to have married or borne any children.