Josephine Siao

Siao worked across actor, psychologist, singer, film director and film actor and 1 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 1 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

Josephine Siao studied at Seton Hall University and Regis University. The recorded working language is Chinese. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Order of the British Empire, Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress, Silver Bear for Best Actress and Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress.

• Name — Josephine Siao • Native Name — zh-Hant • Birth Name — Siao Loeng (zh-Hant) • Born — 13 March 1947 • Birthplace — Shanghai, China • Education — Seton Hall University, Regis University • Occupation — * Actress • television personality • Years Active — 1954–1997 • Children — Two • Father — Xiao Naizhen • Mother — Cheng Fenghui

• Illustration — Hand prints of Siao on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong • Illustration — Siao in the 1960s Siao was born as Siao Liang in Shanghai, with her ancestral home in Luzhi, Suzhou, Jiangsu. At the age of two, she was brought to Hong Kong by her parents. Soon after her father died, at the age of six (1953), she began to become a child star to solve the family's financial problems. When she was seven years old, she took on the first film and art film Little Star Tears (1954). In 1956, she performed "Aunt Mei" for the Shaw Brothers Company. Her famous work is "The Wandering Children" (1960) and this made her became one of the biggest teen idols in Hong Kong during the late 1960s, along with frequent co-star Connie Chan Po-chu. The two were often cast in wuxia films as disciples of the same master and sometimes—when Connie played the male lead—as young heroes in love. Back in the 1960s, Josephine's and Connie's fans maintained a heated rivalry. News of their fans getting into catfights was not uncommon in those days. Unlike many child stars, Siao made a successful transition to adult stardom, remaining one of Hong Kong's most prolific and popular actresses. She was also one of the directors (co-directing with Leung Po-Chih, 梁普智) and writers of Jumping Ash (跳灰). This film is regarded as a prelude to the Hong Kong New Wave in the 1980s by film critics. Having largely missed out on formal education because of her acting career as a child, Siao pursued her studies in later years despite her increasing deafness and the demands of raising a family (she has two daughters by her second husband). During this time she made fewer films, but her output included highly praised work such as her award-winning performance in Summer Snow (1995) as a middle-aged widow trying to cope with her father-in-law's Alzheimer's Disease. Western fans of martial arts films will probably know her best from the Fong Sai-yuk films made in 1993, in which she played Jet Li's kung fu–fighting mother. (These films were released on Western DVD as The Legend and The Legend II.) Siao has been retired from show business since 1997 in favour of her work in child psychology. In particular, she is a noted campaigner against child abuse, and founded the End Child Sexual Abuse Foundation, which she now chairs, in 1999. She is also a published author. Some of the milestones in her life include: • 1970: Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and Asian Studies at Seton Hall University • 1974: won the best actress award at Spain Film Festival and Taiwan Film Festival • 1990: obtained a master's degree in child psychology from Regis University • 1995: won the best actress award at the Berlin Film Festival for Summer Snow • 1996: member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire • 2009: Life Achievement Award of the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards

Josephine Siao was born on 13 March 1947 in Shanghai. Siao held the nationality of British Hong Kong. Siao was educated at Seton Hall University and Regis University. Siao worked as actor, psychologist, singer and film director, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them film actor and screenwriter. Siao was active from 1954. Siao worked in Chinese.