Andy Lau

Lau is married to his long-time girlfriend Carol Chu, who is of a Malaysian-Chinese origin. They got married in Las Vegas, after a courtship of 24 years.

The couple welcomed their first bundle of joy, a daughter, on May 9, 2012 and named her Hanna.

Lau was born in Tai Po, in the New Territories of Hong-Kong, on September 27, 1961. He was named as Lau Fook-Wing at the time of his birth but later got it changed to Andy Lau Tak-Wah.

He lived in the slums of Diamond Hills with his family, where his father worked as a fireman. Lau had to struggle even for the basic needs like water, for which he had to walk several kilometres.

With all these daily life hardships and financial crisis, Lau still managed to attend school. He graduated from 'Ho Lap College' in San Po Kong, Hong Kong. This is a grant-aided school for children belonging to the lower financial class.

Lau practiced Chinese calligraphy during his school days. He later went to 'Lingyan Mountain Temple' in Taiwan and embraced Buddhism.

He gave up his academics only to become an actor when he was just 19. Lau then entered the acting academy of TVB, which is one of the most popular Hong Kong television channels, in 1980. After that, he appeared in some small roles in several TV series.

Lau got his first break in 1982 when he played the lead in the television series 'The Emissary’. The high ratings of the series worked well for the actor.

In the 1983 TV series ‘Return of the Condor Heroes’, Lau played the main character. The series recorded the highest television ratings and brought him into the limelight. The same year, Lau participated in the show ‘TVB All-star challenge’. His popularity on the show branded him as one of the ‘TVB's Five Tigers', of which Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong and Kent Tong were the other four.

Despite his growing celebrity status, Lau experienced a dark phase in his career. In 1986, TVB channel wanted him to sign for another five years which Lau declined. As a result, TVB boycotted him from the television for months. This is when Lau shifted his focus towards cinema.

In 1983, Lau appeared in the film ‘On the Wrong Track’, in which he played the lead. Lau shot two films with the director Chow Yun-Fat. In 1987, he appeared in 'Rich & Famous' and 'Tragic Hero'.

In 1988, he resolved his legal issues with TVB but remained focused on cinema. In 1991, he founded his own production company 'Teamwork Production' and 'Saviour of the Soul' was the first film made under it.

The Emissary: This was his first television series where he played the lead. He was seen playing an aspiring police officer, Kong Tai-wai, but ended up becoming an undercover agent. The series aired its first episode on December 27, 1982.

Rich and Famous: This is an action thriller film which was released on February 20, 1987. The film released its sequel ‘Tragic Hero’ in the same year and in both the films Lau played the lead. He played the character of Lam Ting-Kwok, who always protected his brother from getting into wrong ways of earning money.

Running Out of Time: Lau appeared as Cheung, a most wanted criminal, who is in his last stage of cancer. This action film released in 1999, and its released its sequel ‘Running Out of Time 2’ released in 2001.

A Fighter's Blues: Lau completed his century with this film. He produced the film and played the lead as Mong Fu. The film released on November 21, 2000, and was declared a hit.