Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent.
"Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
"I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to her and miss her," she added.
The exact date of her death has not yet been confirmed.
Rumors of Barbie Hsu's passing began circulating yesterday, after a Facebook fan page dedicated to travel and food in Japan posted: "A major star from Taiwan has passed away. An official statement will follow. 48 years old and contracted the flu in Japan."
Barbie Hsu is survived by her South Korean husband, singer and DJ Koo Jun-yup, as well as her 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son, whom she shared with her ex-husband and Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei (汪小菲).
She previously revealed during an interview that she had a history of mitral valve prolapse and epilepsy, and that she nearly died from a seizure during the birth of her son.
Barbie Hsu made her debut in 1994 as a singer alongside her sister Dee under the name S.O.S., later ASOS due to contractual issues.
They found success with the song Ten Minutes of Love (十分鐘的戀愛) and released their eighth and final album, Perverted Girls (變態少女), in 2001.
Barbie Hsu began hosting television programs in 1995 and acting in TV series in 1998, cementing her stardom as an actress in 2001 with the lead role of Shan Cai in the Taiwanese drama Meteor Garden (流星花園).
The series, which also featured the boy band F4, earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a TV Series at the Golden Bell Awards and is widely credited with ushering in the golden age of Taiwanese dramas in the 2000s.
During her acting career, Barbie Hsu starred in at least 11 TV series, including Corner with Love (轉角*遇到愛) and Summer's Desire (泡沫之夏), and appeared in 13 films, including Silk (詭絲), alongside Chang Chen (張震) and Yosuke Eguchi, and Connected (保持通話).
Off-screen, Barbie Hsu was a well-known celebrity in Asia. She married Chinese entrepreneur Wang in 2010 and had a daughter and a son in 2014 and 2016, before their divorce in 2021.
In 2022, she surprised the public by announcing her marriage to Koo, with whom she had shared a brief romance in the late 1990s before his management advised them to part ways.
This Saturday would have marked their third wedding anniversary.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
RSS