Popular Taiwanese actress, Barbie Hsu, best known for starring in the hit 2001 TV series Meteor Garden, has died from pneumonia at the age of 48.
One of the biggest stars in the Mandarin-speaking world, Hsu became a familiar face even in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand after Meteor Garden was dubbed in local languages.
She is believed to have fallen ill while visiting Japan.
Her sister, Dee Hsu, confirmed her death to Taiwan’s TVBS News on Monday.
“During the Lunar New Year, our family came to Japan for vacation. My dearest sister Barbie has unfortunately left us after getting pneumonia, triggered by influenza,” Dee Hsu said in a statement shared by her manager.
Hsu, who had a history of epilepsy and heart disease, was hospitalized previously due to seizures.
She and her ex-husband, Chinese businessman Wang Xiaofei, were married for 10 years, before an acrimonious divorce in 2021.
Hsu began her career at 17, as part of a pop duo with her sister Dee. They became famous as TV hosts, known for their animated style and sense of humour.
But it was Meteor Garden, a TV adaptation of a 1990s Japanese comic of the same name, that turned Hsu into a star whose fame stretched beyond Chinese entertainment.
In the drama, Hsu played Shancai, a teen from a middle-class family who attends an elite private school and finds herself entangled in a love web with the heirs of wealthy families.
Her four male co-stars in Meteor Garden would later form the Taiwanese boyband F4, one of the most popular Mandopop groups of the 2000s.
On Monday, F4 member Ken Chu shared a black, empty screen as well as a group photo with Hsu on Instagram. Then on Weibo, he wrote: “What a bolt from the blue.”
After Meteor Garden, Hsu starred in more than a dozen TV shows and movies, including popular romantic dramas like Corner With Love and Summer’s Desire.