Barbie Hsu

Barbie Hsu was born Hsu Hsi-yuan in Taipei on 6 October 1976, the second of three daughters of Hsu Chien and "May" Huang Chun-mei. Her elder sister is Hsu Shi-hsien and her younger sister is the entertainer Dee Hsu (Little S). Her paternal family ran a jewellery shop in Taipei for more than 60 years. Her parents separated when she was young, and her mother supported the three girls as a real estate broker. Her father, who struggled with gambling debts, later reconciled with his daughters and died of liver cancer in 2012.

At 11 she appeared as a film extra in The Sea Plan (1987). From about 14 she worked in television commercials, initially under director Wayne Peng, to help support the family, including a beverage advert with Takeshi Kaneshiro at 17.

In 1993 she enrolled at the National Kuo Kuang Academy of Arts but left after a year because of its military-style discipline. In 1994 she and Dee enrolled at Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, where she majored in drama and specialised in Chinese opera kung fu, the martial arts and acrobatics of traditional Chinese opera. There the sisters formed a close circle of friends known as the "Seven Fairies".

Signed by Famous Records, the sisters debuted in 1994 as S.O.S (Sisters of Shiu), a name that gave them their stage names Big S and Little S. Their bubblegum pop single "Ten-Minute Love" (1995) brought their first wave of popularity, and they briefly tried the Japanese market in 1995. They moved into hosting, and as ASOS (Adult Sisters of Shiu) co-hosted Guess Guess Guess (1998 to 2000) and 100% Entertainment (1998 to 2005).

Her breakthrough came as Shan Cai in Meteor Garden (2001), the first television adaptation of Hana Yori Dango, opposite F4. It earned her a Golden Bell Award nomination for Best Actress and is credited with creating the idol drama genre. She followed with Meteor Garden II (2002), Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story (2003), Mars (2004), Corner with Love (2007) and Summer's Desire (2010). In film she starred in Connected (2008), a Hong Kong remake of Cellular, which brought a Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress nomination, and in Future X-Cops, Reign of Assassins and Adventure of the King (all 2010).

After her 2010 marriage she gradually stepped back, appearing later on variety and reality shows such as Miss Beauty and Happiness Trio (2018), and co-producing Dee's web talk show Dee's Talk (2021 to 2022), which was nominated for a Golden Bell Award for Best Variety Show.

Hsu's relationships were followed intensely by the media. She dated Koo Jun-yup of the Korean duo Clon from late 1998 to 2000, and actor Lan Cheng-lung from 2001 to 2005. She registered her marriage to Beijing entrepreneur Wang Xiaofei on 16 November 2010 and held a widely publicised wedding in Sanya in March 2011. They had a daughter, Wang Hsi-yue (born April 2014), and a son, Wang Hsi-lin (born May 2016). The couple announced their divorce on 22 November 2021, followed by years of public disputes.

After the divorce she rekindled her relationship with Koo Jun-yup, and they registered their marriage in South Korea on 8 February 2022.

She spoke publicly about overcoming depression in 2000, one of the first Taiwanese celebrities to do so, and lived with mitral valve prolapse, epilepsy and asthma. She suffered two miscarriages and a near-fatal complication when her son was born.

Hsu supported women's and children's rights, LGBT rights and animal rights. With Dee she worked for years with World Vision Taiwan, through which the sisters sponsored more than 50 children worldwide, and with Lions Clubs International. She was one of the first major celebrities to collaborate with PETA, and some of her anonymous donations came to light only after her death.

Meteor Garden made Hsu one of the defining faces of early 2000s Asian pop culture and opened the door for a decade of Taiwanese idol dramas, with remakes in Japan, South Korea, China, the United States and India. Her Beauty Queen books popularised skincare brands and routines across the Chinese-speaking world. After her death, tributes came from co-stars including Vanness Wu and Michelle Yeoh and from fans across East and Southeast Asia, particularly in the Philippines, where Meteor Garden had been a phenomenon.

Nominated for Best Actress at the 36th Golden Bell Awards for Meteor Garden. Nominated for the Magnolia Award for Best Actress at the 14th Shanghai Television Festival for Corner with Love. Nominated for Best Actress at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards for Connected. Ranked on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 in 2010 (33rd), 2011 (16th) and 2012 (45th).

Television: Meteor Garden (2001), Meteor Garden II (2002), Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story (2003), Mars (2004), Corner with Love (2007), Summer's Desire (2010). Film: Connected (2008), Future X-Cops (2010), Reign of Assassins (2010), Adventure of the King (2010). Hosting: Guess Guess Guess (1998 to 2000), 100% Entertainment (1998 to 2005), Miss Beauty (2018). Books: Beauty Queen (2004) and its 2007 sequel. Music: albums with Dee Hsu as S.O.S, including Occupy Youth (1994).

Her marriage to Wang Xiaofei drew heavy criticism in Chinese media, which labelled her extravagant, and the Sanya wedding was criticised for its cost. Mars was banned in China in 2004, and Meteor Garden was suspended there in 2002. After the 2021 divorce she and her ex-husband's family were involved in prolonged public disputes, including allegations about the misuse of a prescription sedative that Wang later apologised for raising. In 2022 she and Dee won a civil defamation case against a commentator who had alleged drug use, with a Taipei court finding he lacked sufficient evidence.

Hsu contracted influenza in late January 2025 and travelled to Japan with her family on 29 January for their annual Lunar New Year trip. Her condition worsened over several days in Hakone. In the early hours of 2 February, on the way to the airport to return to Taiwan, she suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital, where resuscitation efforts lasted many hours. She died in Tokyo on 2 February 2025, aged 48, from influenza-related pneumonia. Dee confirmed the death on 3 February.

No public memorial was held, in line with her wishes. Her ashes were flown back to Taiwan on 5 February. On 8 February, her third wedding anniversary, family and friends gathered at her home with cake and champagne. She was buried at the Rose Garden of Chin Pao San Cemetery in New Taipei City on 15 March 2025, and a memorial sculpture designed by Koo Jun-yup was unveiled there on 2 February 2026.