Godfrey Gao’s father has reportedly died at the age of 81, almost four years after the Taiwanese-Canadian model-actor’s death.
Charles Gao, Godfrey’s older brother, announced the news in an Instagram post on November 26, the eve of the star’s death anniversary.
“My dearest daddy, if fate exists, I hope it will let me be your son again!” The actor wrote alongside a photo in which his father and he are eating a donut. “I love you, daddy! I hope we see each other again.”
Condolences and congratulations poured in for Charles and his family.
“Oh Charles, I’m so sorry – lots of love to you and your mother,” wrote Shawn Yue’s wife Sarah Wang.
One netizen wrote: “Tomorrow is November 27th, Dad went to look for Godfrey. Charles, take care of your health and take good care of mom.”
Godfrey was the youngest of his father’s three sons, a Taiwanese of Shanghai descent who worked as an executive at Michelin Taiwan, and a Malaysian Peranakan mother who won the 1970 Miss Penang beauty pageant.
The family moved to Canada when Godfrey and his brothers were young, and he returned to Taiwan in 2004 to model.
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Godfrey was the first Asian male model to appear in a campaign for Louis Vuitton in 2011 and was often considered the continent’s first male supermodel.
He also starred in the Chinese drama Remembering Lichuan (2016) and the Hollywood film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013).
Godfrey died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of November 27, 2019, after collapsing while filming Chinese reality show Chase Me. The show’s producers were criticized for making contestants perform physically demanding challenges for hours late into the night.
Godfrey had reportedly filmed for 17 hours on the day of his death. He was 35.
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drimac@asiaone.com
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