Kathy Chow Hoi-mei (Chinese: 周海媚; pinyin: Zhōu Hǎimèi; Jyutping: Zaau1 Hoi2 Mei6; 6 December 1966 – 11 December 2023), or Kathy Chau Hoi-mei[note 1], was a Hong Kong actress and singer who was widely known for her leading roles in Hong Kong TVB series during the late 1980s to 1990s such as The Breaking Point and Time Before Time. Her popularity peaked in Asia following her portrayal of Zhou Zhiruo in the 1994 Taiwanese adaptation of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.[3]
Life and career
Kathy Chow was born in Hong Kong on 6 December 1966. She was an ethnic Manchu, descended from the Gūwalgiya clan of the Bordered White Banner.[4] Chow was a Miss Hong Kong pageant participant in 1985.[5] During the late 1980s and 1990s, she actively modeled and starred in Hong Kong TVB series.
Chow switched work to ATV in 1998. During this time she would occasionally be featured in Hong Kong films and appear in award shows. Kathy was only with ATV up to 2001 and later went to Beijing to follow new career prospects.
In later years, she starred occasionally in a few TVB series, but her focus was still on mainland China's productions.
On 11 December 2023, Kathy Chow died in Beijing from an illness at the age of 57.[6][7] After Chow's death announcement, her artist friend Tin Kai-man confirmed that she had been suffering from lupus for many years.[8][9] Chow was also rumoured to have suffered from lupus several times during her lifetime. However, she had denied all these rumours, claiming that she only had a condition of thrombocytopenia with unknown cause.[10][11][8][9]
On 27 December, 2023, Kathy's sister issued a statement which revealed that the actual cause of death was sudden heart attack. This had been confirmed with coroners. The statement also mentioned that all her pets had already been adopted to animal lovers around Beijing. The funeral procession and the burial site would be kept private, but her bone ash and burial site would both be in Hong Kong.[12]
