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Gigi Lai (born 1 October 1971) was a Hong Kong actress under contract to the Hong Kong TVB television channel who retired in October 2008.
[edit] Biography
She is the grand daughter of Lai Man-Wai, a key figure of the first generation filmmakers, who has been called the "Father of Hong Kong Cinema". Lai's father was born deaf and when her family went bankrupt, she entered the entertainment industry at the age of 14 to earn money to support the whole family, including her younger brother, Lai Ying's, dermatology education in England.
Lai is known for her beauty and her love of beauty; the Hong Kong media has given her the nickname "Goddess of Beauty" (愛美神). Early in her career she would turn down roles that she felt compromised her public persona. However, later in her career, Lai overcome what she called her "superficial and childish image" and began to embrace many critically acclaimed roles. She has since won a Best Actress award.
On entering the entertainment industry, Lai began as a singer, releasing many albums during the 1990s, in both Cantonese and Mandarin. She had several box office hits, especially for her role as the innocent and stuttering "Smartie" in the popular Young and Dangerous movie series.
Lai won the TVB 'Most Popular Actress Award' in 2004, defeating the hot favourite Sheren Tang. She portrayed a scheming and conniving concubine in the hit series "War and Beauty". She has since become very popular in Hong Kong and mainland China as well as overseas.
At the premiere of The Gem of Life, Lai made a surprise announcement that she would be retiring from showbiz to concentrate on looking after her brother's business after he was seriously injured in a car accident in 2007.
Gigi also recently wed her beau of six years, businessman Patrick Ma, and was rumoured to be expecting her first child with her husband. However, she later dispelled rumours of her pregnancy.[1]
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Awards
- 1993 Best Selling Single
- 1994 Top 10 Chinese Songs (Silver Medal)
- 1994 JSG Best New Talent Singer
- 2004 TVB 37th Anniversary – Best Actress Award, as Yuk Ying in War and Beauty
- 2004 TVB 37th Anniversary – Best Character Award, as Yuk Ying in War and Beauty
- 2004 Black and White Television Characters Awards, Favourite Actress Award
- 2004 Metro's Best Duet Collaboration Award for the Song “Poison” with Bowie Lam
- 2004 Metroshowbiz TV awards – Top 10 TV Actors and Actresses
- 2004 Watson's Annual Health & Beauty Awards – Artiste with Perfect Skin
- 2005 TVB Weekly Popularity Awards – Most Popular Magazine Cover Artiste
- 2005 TVB Weekly Popularity Awards – Most Popular Female Artiste
- 2005 TVB Weekly Popularity Awards – Most Popular Female in Ancient Drama
- 2005 TVB Weekly Popularity Awards – Most Popular of them all
- 2005 Next Magazine TV Awards Top 10 TV Artists
- 2005 Next Magazine Sponsorship Award - Best Style Actress
- 2005 Top Ten Best Dressed Personalities Awards
- 2005 Watson's Annual Health & Beauty Awards – Artiste with Perfect Skin
- 2005 Metroshowbiz TV awards – Top 10 TV Actors and Actresses
- 2006 Astro TV Drama Award – Favourite Female Character Award for War and Beauty
- 2006 Astro TV Drama Award – Favourite Lethal Beauty Award for War and Beauty
- 2006 TVB Weekly Popularity Awards – Top 10 TV Artists
- 2006 Watson's Annual Health & Beauty Awards – Artiste with Perfect Skin
- 2006 China Entertainment Awards – Most Popular Non-Mainland Actress
- 2006 Chinese TV 10 Years Awards – 10 Years Outstanding Achievement
- 2006 Moves China Award – Artiste of the Year
- 2006 China Hunan TV Station - Yuk Ying Won Favourite "War and Beauty" Actress
- 2006 Metroshowbiz TV awards – Top 10 TV Actors and Actresses
- 2006 Top Ten Best Dressed Personalities Awards
- 2006 Actress Most Men Want to be Watching World Cup with
- 2007 Astro TV Drama Award – Favorite Moment Award for Frances in Healing Hands 3
- 2007 Health Choice Award
- 2007 China/HK 10th Entertainment Awards - Most Popular Actress Award
- 2007 China/HK 10th Entertainment Awards - Best Couple Award with Bowie Lam
- 2007 Watson's HWB Awards - Top Diamond Award
- 2007 Singapore I-weekly Magazine - Top 10 Most Loved Hong Kong Actresses
- 2007 TVB 40th Anniversary - Mainland Audience's Fave TVB Actress Award
- 2008 Astro TV Drama Award – Favourite Actress Award for Dance of Passion
- 2008 Astro TV Drama Award – Favourite Character Award for Dance of Passion
- 2008 Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum - Top Six Most Popular Hong Kong TV Female Artistes
- 2008 HKFDA 20th Annual Best Dressed Personalities Awards
[edit] References
- ^ "Tearful Gigi Lai Announces Retirement". batgwa.com. 20 October 2008. http://batgwa.com/story.php?id=1286. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
[edit] External links