Nicky Wu

Nicky Wu
Chinese name	吳奇隆 (Traditional)
Chinese name	吴奇隆 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Wú Qílóng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	ng4 kei4 lung4 (Cantonese)
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	31 October 1970 (1970-10-31) (age 41) Taipei, Taiwan
Other name(s)	霹靂虎
Occupation	Actor, singer
Genre(s)	Mandopop
Instrument(s)	Guitar
Years active	1988-present
Associated acts	Little Tigers Team
Spouse(s)	Ma Yashu (2006-2009)

Nicky Wu (simplified Chinese: 吴奇隆; traditional Chinese: 吳奇隆; pinyin: Wú Qílóng; born 31 October 1970) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. Wu found fame in 1988, by joining the Taiwanese boy band, Little Tigers Team, performing alongside Alec Su and Julian Chen. Since then, his career has also expanded into film and television in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Career

Childhood

Nicky Wu is the second child of the Wu family, with one older and one younger brother. He has been described as being athletic in his childhood, having participated in Judo and Taekwondo. His efforts in these two disciplines earned him three black belts in Judo and five in Tae Kwon Do. Moreover, Nicky was the provincial Taiwanese Tae Kwon Do champion for three consecutive years.^{[citation needed]} Nicky also excelled academically during this time, consistently being placed amongst the top three in his class. Besides this, he earned awards in calligraphy, drawing and essay-writing.

Rise to stardom

In 1988, at the age of 17, Wu was spotted by an entertainment agent, while working part-time; the agent advised him to audition for Taiwanese boy band, Little Tigers Team. Initially Nicky refused, wishing to focus more on developing his career as an athlete, but he was eventually persuaded to go through with it. The audition was successful and he was chosen to be a part of the band, along with two others – Alec Su and Julian Chen. Nicky was given the name of "霹靂虎" for the band.

With the release of their albums Happy New Year and Leisurely Cruising, in 1988 and 1989 respectively, the Little Tigers Team achieved success and recognition, becoming pop idols in the region. The band's success is said to have inspired the next generation of Taiwanese pop acts, leading to the creation of other boy bands, such as F4.^{[citation needed]}

Going solo

After selling millions of copies, the band was forcibly put on hiatus due to Julian Chen's compulsory military service.^{[citation needed]} Nicky continued in the entertainment industry by himself, branching out into Mandarin and Cantonese albums, with hit singles such as "Best Wishes to You" and "Waiting Day by Day". Going solo proved to be successful, when Wu won the 1993 Best New Artist award in Hong Kong, accompanied by the box office success of the Tsui Hark movie, The Butterfly Lovers, the following year in which he starred as the male protagonist, Liang Shangbo, alongside Charlie Yeung.

Nicky continued starring in other films such as Love in the Time of Twilight (1995), Thunder Cops (1996) and Never Say Goodbye (2001), though none of these films were able to match the critical and commercial success of The Butterfly Lovers. His musical success, however, earned him the title of one of Taiwan's "four small heavenly kings" (given to the four most popular teen idols of the 1990s) along with Alec Su, Jimmy Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

Developing further

With the broadcast of the TVB series At the Threshold of an Era, ATV series Treasure Venture and Taiwanese series Treasure Raiders in mainland China, Nicky Wu achieved fame in the television industry. Since then, he has been working consistently in both film and television, recently starring in the high-budgeted A Battle of Wits, alongside Andy Lau. Wu currently provides the voice of Dexter, in the Chinese version of Dexter's Laboratory.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Throughout the years, Nicky has been linked to stars in the entertainment industry such as Taiwanese singer Vivian Hsu and Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung. In 1999, Nicky was in the public eye for his much-publicized relationship with actress Ada Choi. The couple broke up in 2002 and Nicky began dating mainland actress Ma Yashu, a few months later. This newly-formed relationship had drawn criticism from the media, for Ma Yashu was rumored as "the third woman", in connection with Ada Choi. Nonetheless, the couple got married in December 2006. However, Nicky and Ma Yashu filed for divorce in 2009.^[1]

Screen work

Film Year Title Role 2008 Ticket (车票) 2007 Change You (调包) The Valiant Ones New (忠烈圖) 2006 A Battle of Wits (墨攻) Zi Tuan (as Qi-Long Wu) 2001 First Story of Love (初戀的故事) Never Say Goodbye (有人說愛我) 2000 A Matter of Time (新賭國仇城) 1999 Deja-Vu (緣, 妙不可言) My Heart Will Go On (我心不死) Boy Girl (好孩子) 1997 Stand Behind the Yellow Line (生日多戀事) The Kid vs The Cop (天生絕配) Jail in Burning Island (火燒島之橫行霸道) 1996 Naughty Boys and Soldiers (狗蛋大兵) King of Comic (漫畫王) Thunder Cops (新喋血雙雄) Forever Friends (號角響起) 1995 Young Policemen in Love (新扎師兄追女仔) Remember M Remember E (那有一天不想你) Love in the Time of Twilight (花月佳期) 1994 The Lovers (梁祝) 1993 In-Between (新同居時代) 1992 To Miss With Love (逃學歪傳) 1990 Wandering Heroes (游俠兒)

Television Year Title Role 2011 "Startling by each step" (步步惊心) Si A Ge (Yong Zheng) 2006 Da Ma Tou (大碼頭) Legend of the Book's Tower (Feng Man Lou) (風滿樓) Ao Xietian 2005 Li Hou Zhu Yu Zhao Kuang Yin (李後主與趙匡胤) Jing Wei Tian Hai (精衛填海) (guest star) 2004 Iron Fisted Drifter (鐵拳浪子) Six-Fingered Demon Lute (六指琴魔) (guest star) Heroes on a Silk Road (絲路豪俠) 2003 Musketeers and Princess (名捕震關東) Wesley (冒險王衛斯理) 衛斯理 2002 Pursuing Dreams (追夢) Treasure Raiders (蕭十一郎) 蕭十一郎 2000 Treasure Venture (俠女闖天關) 1999 At the Threshold of an Era (創世紀) IT Files (IT檔案) 1990 Little Hero, Dragon Whirlwind (小俠龍旋風)

^[2][3]

Discography

Little Tigers Team albums 1988: Happy New Year 1989: Leisurely Cruising 1989: Boys Don't Cry 1990: Red Dragonfly 1990: Meeting of the Stars 1991: Love 1991: Goodbye 1992: Best Dance Remix 1993: The Stars Still Shine 1994: Happy Forever 1995: Feeling Helplessly Worried 1996: Little Tigers 1995 Concert (live)

Mandarin albums 1992: Youth Chasing Wind 1993: Pursuing Dreams 1993: Suddenly Looking Back 1994: Want to Find a Place 1994: Fly Together 1995: Insist 1995: Lonely Star 119 1996: Thundering Storm compilation 1996: Sing a Movie 1997: Hero

Cantonese albums 1993: Waiting Day by Day 1993: My Summer Dream 1994: Love for a Future 1994: Loving You 1994: Strange and Deep New Songs compilation 1996: Find Me 1999: Warner's I Love Classics collection

Notes

1. ^ "Taiwanese singer-actor Nicky Wu and wife divorce". Channel News Asia. August 04, 2009. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/446728/1/.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04. 
2. ^ "Nicky Wu". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0943149/. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 
3. ^ "Nicky Wu". chinesemov.com. http://chinesemov.com/actors/Nicky%20Wu.html. Retrieved March 3, 2010. 

References

• Nicky Wu at Sina (Chinese)
• HKfilm

External links

• Nicky Wu at the Internet Movie Database
• Snowblue's Site

Persondata
Name	Wu, Nicky
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 31, 1970
Place of birth	Taipei, Taiwan
Date of death
Place of death