Chinese name 歸亞蕾 (traditional) Pinyin Origin Taiwan Role Actress Grandchildren Skye, Justine | Chinese name 归亚蕾 (simplified) Ancestry Huzhou, Zhejiang Name Kuei Ya-lei Spouse Meng Kui Chang | |
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Jyutping Gwai Aa-leoi (Cantonese) Children Chang Chih I, Phoebe Chang Awards Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actress Movies 20 Once Again, Baby Steps, Eat Drink Man Woman, The Wedding Banquet, Joyful Reunion Similar People Yang Zishan, Leste Chen, Hsu Li Kong, Barney Cheng, Ang Lee | ||
Gua Ah-leh (born 2 June 1944), also known as Grace Gua, is a Chinese actress and singer who grew up in Taiwan. Gua has portrayed over 200 roles in film and television since 1965. She has won the Golden Horse Awards 4 times and the Golden Bell Awards twice.
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Biography
Gua Ah Leh is a well known award winning actress. Also known as Kuei Ya-lei and Grace Gua, she was born in China in 1944. She studied acting at the National Taiwan University of Arts. In 1965, she made her professional movie debut in The Rain of Sorrow, and received a Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actress. That award made her the youngest Leading Actress winner in the Golden Horse history. Next year, she was in the movie Home, Sweet Home. Her performance in that movie won the Best Leading Actress in the Asia Pacific Film Festival (Indonesia), and another Best Leading Actress Golden Horse award. In 1978, she won the Best Supporting Actress Golden Horse award for her role in "Didi's Diary".
In 1986, Gua Ah Leh was the producer for Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, and Happiness (福祿壽喜) a TV show that focused attention on senior care. In 1991, she won a Golden Bell Award leading actress for her role in the TV show "Her Growth (她的成長)". In 1997, she won a second Golden Bell Award leading actress for her role in the TV show "Marian". In 1993, she worked with director Ang Lee in the movie "The Wedding Banquet" and went on to receive the Best Supporting Actress Golden Horse award. She was also nominated in the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Supporting Female in USA. In 1994, she worked with Ang Lee again and was nominated as the Best Supporting Actress in the Golden Horse Awards for the movie "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman". In 1995, she won the Best Leading Actress award in Eastern Europe in the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for "Maiden Rose". In 1997, she won the Golden Bell Best Leading Actress award for the TV show "Virgin Mary". In 2006, she won the Best Supporting Actress in the Hundred Years Flower Award for the movie "The Knot" in China.
For the last five years, she has been working on movies in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan that support equal rights and same sex marriage. In 2015, she was the leading actress in the movie "Baby Steps", which was one of the most popular gay movies in Taiwan. This movie helped usher in a breakthrough in attitudes towards gay marriage in many countries. Her performance was nominated for Best Actress at Los Angeles Outfest 2015, and won the Best Actress award at the 2015 Winston-Salem Out at the Movies Festival.