Chingmy Yau is a Hong Kong actress who started the entertainment industry by participating in beauty pageants. Winning the "Miss Photogenic" trophy at the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant in 1989 began to get her film offers. Most of her early work consisted of her appearing in romantic comedies until the notorious filmmaker Wong Jing took her under his wing and into his bed, even though he was married at the time. She became one of the queens of Category III (Hong Kong's version of the NC-17 rating) films. However, unlike most Cat III actresses, she never appeared fully nude.

Rumors abounded that Wong Jing (who either directed or produced almost every film she was in at the time) had strict control over what Yau could or could not show. Despite Wong's restrictions, she continued to heat up the screen in her roles. Almost from the beginning of her film career, she was hounded by reporters claiming that she had slept her way into the film industry, and critics were always quick to cut her down. By 1997, she publicly announced her and Wong Jing's breakup.

She later married a fashion designer and officially retired.

(Source: hkfilm.net) Edit Biography