Chinese name 陈宝莲 (simplified) Role Actress Name Pauline Bo-Lin | Years active 1990-2002 Occupation Actress TV shows Bangkok Hilton, Vietnam | |
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Pinyin Movies From Beijing with Love, Slave of the Sword, Queen of Underworld, Girls Without Tomorro, Millennium Mambo | ||
Pauline Chan Bo-Lin (simplified Chinese: 陈宝莲; traditional Chinese: 陳寶蓮; pinyin: Chén Bǎolián; May 23, 1973 – July 31, 2002) was a Chinese-Hong Kong actress who aroused significant attraction and controversies in the Greater China Area during her active years in the 1990s.
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Career
Born in Shanghai, Chan's parents divorced when she was very young and she immigrated to Hong Kong with her mother at the age of 12. She started to work as a part-time fashion model at the age of 15 and contested in the 1990 Miss Asia Pageant. Chan did not win any title in this contest but her buxom figure, 175-centimeter length and mature look drew the attention of local pornographic film industry. She entered this industry in 1991 at only 18-year-old, mainly for her mother's expectations to finance their family. Until 1997, Chan showed up in more than 25 Hong Kong Category III films and gained widespread attraction for her bold performance, becoming a prominent sex symbol in the Greater China Area at that time.
Downfall
In 1997 Chan began a relationship with the playboy Taiwanese investment tycoon and celebrity Huang Jen-chung (黃任中, also credited as Wong Yam-Chung in Cantonese) whom she met in 1993, and was 33 years older than she was. She moved to Taipei to cohabit with Huang until they broke up in early 1999. After her death, in a media interview Huang revealed that Chan had been involved in drug abuse and sorcery since 1998; Chan did so in anticipation to soothe herself and win his heart back during their emotional low tides.
Between 1998 and 2001 Chan was involved in a chain of negative news. She attempted suicide during a TV interview, repeatedly attacked people, undressed in public, tried to enter foreign countries without valid travel documents and was deported as a result, set fire to her residence, and was frequently hospitalized for drug abuse. In December 1999 she was briefly imprisoned in the United Kingdom for beating an unrelated person in public.
Death
Chan hit rock bottom and secluded herself in Shanghai. Her final stage appearance was a bit role in a Taiwanese TV series in March 2002. She gave birth to a baby boy in early July 2002 out of wedlock. On July 31, 2002, at approximately 5:30 PM, Chan tragically took her own life by leaping from the window of her 24th-floor apartment. In her suicide note, Chan attributed her decision to the debilitating effects of postpartum depression. She expressed profound regret and extended her blessings to Huang Jen-chung, while also requesting assistance in locating the father of her son, described as a Chinese American disc jockey based in Taipei. Chan's funeral, conducted on August 3, 2002, was marked by a significant Buddhist ceremony, after which her remains were cremated.
Chan was portrayed posthumously by Chinese actress Crystal Sun (孫亞莉), who ever played a bit role in the 1996 movie Comrades: Almost a Love Story, in the 2002 biopic Pauline's Life. Sun later also committed suicide in 2009 in part due to her debts.
