Model and actor Godfrey Gao sadly died at the age 35 under mysterious circumstances. The Taiwanese-Canadian actor was rushed to the hospital in the early hours of Wednesday morning while filming a Chinese reality TV show called Chase Me, according to JetStar Entertainment. He died three hours later. “We are shocked and saddened” by the incident, JetStar said in a statement, adding that representatives were “always directly by his side, whilst his family is rushing to the scene.” The producers of the Zhejiang Television show, which pits celebs against regular contestants for a variety of physical challenges, revealed more about the accident in a separate statement. The statement detailed that Godfrey “suddenly fell down to the ground while running, medical staff treated him on the spot, he was then rushed to hospital for treatment.” The program team reported that Godfrey’s cause of death was sudden cardiac arrest. Here’s more to know about the late Godfrey Gao.
1. Godfrey Gao was born in Taipei, Taiwan on September 22, 1984.
Born Tsao Chih-Hsiang, Godfrey’s mother was Malaysian and his father was Taiwanese. During his childhood, the family moved to Vancouver and he later studied at Capilano University in North Vancouver.
2. Godfrey began his career as model in 2004 and was the first Asian model for Louis Vuitton.
Godfrey returned to Taiwan in 2004 to begin his modeling career, where he signed on with management JetStar Entertainment. In 2011, he became Louis Vuitton’s first Asian model and went on to star in several campaigns.
3. Godfrey starred alongside Lena Headey and Lily Collins in The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.
The Canadian-Taiwanese star had success beyond his Greater China audience. In 2013, he starred as Magnus Bane in the film adaptation of The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones, alongside Lena Headey and Lily Collins, marking his American film debut.
4. For Toy Story 3, Godfrey did the Mandarin voice-over of Ken for the Taiwan release.
In the 2010 release of Toy Story 3, Godfrey Gao did the Mandarin voice-over of the character of Ken, originally played by Michael Keaton.
5. He starred in 14 TV series, and was due to be in the upcoming series We Are All Alone in the new year.
Godfrey was a staple on television, starring in The Queen of SOP, a 2012 Chinese-Taiwanese series, and the 2016 TV drama Remembering Lichuan. In 2020, he was due to star in We Are All Alone, based on the novel by the same name. The series began to film in May 2019, and also starred actress Qin Lan from The Brightest Star in the Sky. Qin took to Instagram to mourn the loss of her co-star, writing in part, “You were such a gentleman.”
