Kathy Chow, one of Hong Kong’s leading actresses of the 1990s, has died. She was 57.
The news was announced by Hong Kong’s public broadcaster RTHK and in a Weibo social media post by Chow’s mother. She died on Monday from lupus erythematosus.
Chow (also known as Chow Hoi Mei and Zhou Hai-mei) claimed to be of ethnic Manchu descent. Ashe was a contestant in the Miss Hong Kong pageant in 1985 and moved into the entertainment industry as a singer and actress.
In her early years, she was associated with Hong Kong’s leading broadcaster, Television Broadcasting (TVB), appearing in the popular series Time Before Time, Breaking Point and Looking Back in Anger.
She later switched allegiances to rival broadcaster ATV, where she stayed until 2001 before turning her attention to new opportunities in mainland China.
In 2008, however, she appeared in TVB’s sequel to The Academy and On the First Beat.
She is best known for portraying Zhou Zhiruo in the 1994 Taiwanese version of the martial arts TV series “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber”. The Louis Cha source material was also the basis for her penultimate TV series “Heaven Sword and Dragon Slaying Sword” in 2019, in which she played Abbess Mei Jue.
Chow’s last known film role is in the 2021 action comedy “Heroes Return”, directed by Yip Wing-kin. Chow starred in and produced the film.
In a Weibo post, Chow’s mother said she wished her daughter would “stay happy in another world”.She is not known to have married or had any children.
