Coco Lee

Ferren Lee-Kelly , popularly known as Coco Lee, is a singer, songwriter, record producer and actress.. She is the first and only Asian artist to have multiple top-three singles in the MTV Asia Hitlist. "Do You Want My Love" also entered the music charts in and the entire album, "Just No Other Way" gave Coco a break in the English market.

Coco had first gained recognition when she won first runner-up in the 1993 New Talent Singing Awards with her own rendition of "Run to You". A local record company noticed that Coco's voice stood out aside from being the only contestant to sing in English. The following day, Capital Artists asked her to sign a contract with their label.

Coco is the first to perform in the Oscars, singing the Academy Award nominee for Best Original Song, A Love Before Time from the movie ''Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon'' in the 73rd Academy Awards.
Coco also provided the voice of Mulan in the version of Disney's animated feature of the same name.

Coco's music has been influenced by genres ranging from , hip-hop, R'n'B, adult contemporary and soul. While her releases have often received mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her East-meets-West music and sultry vocals. She has also been nicknamed the "Asian Pop Diva" and "Asia's Mariah Carey" by the and due to her worldwide success, critics called Coco the "Best-selling Female Artist" of the continent.

In 2001, ''Asia Weekly'' magazine named Coco as one of the most powerful people in Asia on their Power 50 list.

Early life and discovery

Born in Hong Kong with ancestry from Harbin, China, Coco is the youngest of three children. She has two elder sisters, Nancy, who was her manager before, and Carol. Her father died when she was young, and Coco moved at the age of ten with her mother and sisters to San Francisco, California. She went through school while experimenting with her singing voice, and followed her elder sisters in entering several local singing contests. She attended Raoul Wallenberg Traditional High School in San Francisco. Later on, Coco had a brief enrollment at the University of California Irvine. Coco is close to her mother, who managed her career before.

After Coco's high school graduation in 1992, she took a vacation in Hong Kong, to see her two sisters' participation in the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, and while there, she came first runner-up in the 12th Annual New Talent Singing Awards. The following day, she was approached by the record label, Capital Artists.

Record companies

After winning in the 1993 New Talent Singing Awards, Coco was approached by Capital Artists and asked her to sign a contract with them. She made her debut on June 15, 1993, with her compilation album, "火熱動感 LaLaLa" . A year later, she worked with Fancy Pie Records. In 1995, Coco signed a contract with Sony Music Entertainment. Rumors came out that her mother paid $350,00 to end Coco's contract with Fancy Pie Records and transfer to Sony; however, Coco stated in an interview that Sony had bought out her contract. It has also been rumored that Sony hired top lawyers to ensure that Coco's move to Sony was seemless. In 1998, 550 Music represented Coco with her stateside debut album, Just No Other Way and in 2005, released her second English album, ''''. Since then, Sony Music Entertainment continue in handling her career.

Wolrdwide fame

CoCo sang the song "A Love Before Time" for the movie ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon''. She received worldwide exposure when she performed the song live at the 73rd Academy Awards ceremony. Critics commented that she hit the high C6s right on, and delivered solid vocals.

In 2002, CoCo was the featured performer at a Houston Rockets game. She became the first Chinese singer to ever perform the at a major global sporting event.

In addition to her status in the music market, Lee's English-language performance has also received recognition. Her love song ''Before I Fall In Love'' was included in the soundtrack of the movie ''''.

She was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber to perform ''Phantom of the Opera'' in China.

Also, Walt Disney Pictures hired her to sing the theme song and be the voice of the heroine Fa Mulan in the Mandarin version of ''Mulan''. She recorded the song "Reflections", which she also sang in the 2005 opening of the Hong Kong Disneyland. A "Reflections" Mandarin music video was also filmed. While the Lea Salonga English version is widely known, Coco also sang the English version, including one which she performed together with Lea.

The success of her concert in Taiwan in 1998, second to Michael Jackson in terms of audience, with more than 30,000 people who watched, caught the attention of Sony Music United States and Tommy Mottola.


Coco has also been getting into acting. She co-starred in the Chinese comedy movie, ''Master of Everything'' with John Lone, which won the Best Foreign Film award in the 2005 Beverly Hills Film Festival. While in character within the movie, she sings one of her own songs, "Di-Da-Di", which was the cover of Maria Montell's "And So The Story Goes."

In the world of fashion and commerce, CoCo was an Global Ambassador in 2004, and fashion house Chanel named CoCo its first "Asian-Pacific Celebrity Ambassadress". This brought Ferren's story full circle somewhat, as she got her nickname from being an admirer of the firm's products. CoCo, as the YouthAIDS ambassador had been to Bangkok, Thailand for the global AIDS conference in 2004. She attended the conference as the representative of the Asian artists to meet various youth groups discussing what she can do to educate them about AIDS.

In early 2005, CoCo visited countries all over Asia to promote her latest album "Exposed". During her visit in the Philippines, she guested in SOP and performed the songs Do You Want My Love and I Will Survive with Asia's Songbird, Regine Velasquez. It was remembered that CoCo humbly introduced Velasquez as the "Diva of all Divas" during the MTV Asia Awards back in 2003. CoCo, together with pop singer Shaggy hosted the show while Velasquez won the trophy for the second time in a row as the Philippine's favorite artist.

In June 2005 CoCo's engagement with Canadian businessman Bruce Rockowitz was made public, apparently having taken place some months earlier. Despite their 18 years gap, Coco's mother approved the marriage. Before her relationship with Bruce Rockowitz, Coco has been rumored with the Taiwanese singer Wang Leehom.

Current career

As of 2007, CoCo Lee has yet to break the U.S. market with a big smash hit single. Although both her English albums have sold modestly, regular airplay and recurrent airplay by radio programmers is still lacking. This is the main reason she has not been as successful with her English language output. Her moderate hit single, "Do You Want My Love", remains popular at discotheques and various internet radio stations. Her most recent English single aimed at the North American market is titled "No Doubt", the lead single from the album ''''. Once again because of lax programming on radio station playlists, this single was ignored by radio. The singles have become chart and video television hits in Hong Kong and Taiwan among other places. The second single from "Exposed" is the song "So Good" whose music video is increasingly run on Hong Kong and Taiwanese MTV.
Coco's follow up album to her C-Pop hit album "Promise", titled "Just Want You", features the hit single "Hip-Hop Tonight" with Vanness Wu, which follows in the same vein as "No Doubt." The album "Just Want You" was released on September 22, 2006. The second single from the album was "The Ninth Night", followed by the third single "Love You At 85°C" and the final single, "Dangerous Lover".

Coco Lee returned to San Francisco bay area for a live concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre on September 22, 2007 with special guest Alex To. It was her first live performance in her hometown in several years.

Quotations

"I really idolize everything my sisters do, so I went into singing contests and won also. That's how I really got into singing."

"People liked my voice so much, it was so different. I also combined the R&B feel with the pop music of Taiwan. Everyone there used to sing really conservatively-they sing to the melody and that's it. The music just sounded so dead. I wanted to bring the R&B flavor and other Westernized sounds to my music, because that's the type of music I grew up listening to."

"When I work, I work. I don't think about anything else. I just wanna get the work done. And I'm a perfectionist."

"They cannot imagine what I'll sound like. But always when I'm done singing, people are very surprised."

Discography

Studio albums

;Fancy Pie Records releases
*June 1994: Love From Now On
*December 1994:
*June 1995: Brave Enough To Love
*September 1995:
;Sony Music releases
*March 1996: CoCo 李玟
*November 1996: CoCo's Party
*June 1997: Everytime I Think of You
*November 1997:
*January 1998: DiDaDi
*July 1998: Sunny Day
*May 1999: Today Until Forever
;550 Music release
*November 1999: Just No Other Way
;Sony Music releases
*August 2000: True Lover, You and Me
*October 2001:
; release
*March 2005:
;Sony BMG release
*September 2006: Just Want You

Chart-topping hits and singles

* "Di Da Di"
* "Take A Chance On Love"
* "Do You Want My Love" Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #49
* "Before I Fall In Love"
* "Can't Get Over" feat. Kelly Price
* "Wherever You Go"
* "A Love Before Time"
* ""
* "No Doubt" feat. Blaaze
* "Love At 85°C"
* "All Around The World"
* "So Good"
* "Hip-Hop Tonight"
* "Brave Enough To Love"
* "Another Sad Love Song"
* "The Ninth Night"
* "Dangerous Lover"
* "A Love Before Time"
* "I Have a Dream"

Other albums

*The Best Of My Love
*D. IS CoCo
*1994-2008 Best Compilation

Clifton Ko

Clifton Ko is a Hong Kong film director, actor, producer and scriptwriter.

Filmography as director

* ''Forever Yours''
* ''In-Laws, Out-Laws''
* ''Funny Business''
* ''Love Paradox''
* ''''
* ''Ninth Happiness''
* ''Hong Kong Adventure''
* ''Legend of Mad Phoenix''
* ''The Umbrella Story''
* ''Paradise Hotel''
* ''One of the Lucky Ones''
* ''''
* ''I Will Wait for You''
* ''I Have a Date with Spring''
* ''All's Well, Ends Well Too''
* ''Laughter of the Water Margins''
* ''Summer Lovers''
* ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World Too''
* ''All's Well, Ends Well''
* ''''
* ''Gambling Ghost''
* ''Daddy, Father and Papa''
* ''Mr. Coconut''
* ''How to Be a Billionaire''
* ''Happy Ghost 4''
* ''City Squeeze''
* ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World 2''
* ''Chicken and Duck Talk''
* ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World''
* ''''
* ''Porky's Meatballs''
* ''The Happy Ghost II''
* ''Happy Ghost''
* ''''

Cindy Au

Cindy Au Sin Yee, born December 16th, 1979 in Hong Kong with family roots in Shunde, Guangdong, China, is an for . She plays major supporting roles in drama serials.

She began her entertainment career as a singer, and was famous for the theme song to the Cantonese version of the cartoon Chibi Maruko-chan.

On July 22 2006, Cindy Au married her boyfriend Roger Kwok at Disneyland, Hong Kong. She gave birth to their son, Brad, on March 23 2008.

Filmography

*
*Aiming High
*Journey to the West II
*The Vigilante in the Mask
*Back to Square One
*Lady Fan
*Misleading Track
*The Gentle Crackdown
*La Femme Desperado

Album

*Get It Right

Collin Chou

Collin Chou Siu-Lun , sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a actor and martial artist known in the United States for his portrayal of in ''The Matrix Reloaded'' and ''The Matrix Revolutions'' as well as the ''Enter the Matrix'' video game. In Asian cinema, he has worked in several films with Jet Li and Sammo Hung, including the 2006 martial-arts epic, ''''. He squared off against Donnie Yen in Flash Point, and starred alongside Jet Li and Jackie Chan together for the first time in ''The Forbidden Kingdom'' in which he played the Jade Warlord.

Filmography

*''Shy Spirit''
*''Into the Fire''
*''License to Steal''
*''Lover's Tear''
*''Slickers vs. Killers''
*''Blade of Fury''
*''Exorcist Master''
*''The Kung Fu Cult Master''
*''Ashes of Time''

*''Hail the Judge''
*''''
*''The Matrix Reloaded''
*''The Matrix Revolutions''
*''American Fusion''
*''''
*''''
*''''
*''The Forbidden Kingdom''

Cho Tat-wah

Cho Tat-wah aka. Tso Tat Wah was a Hong Kong based actor.

External link

*

Cho Tat Wah

Cho Tat Wah or Tso Tat-wah was a movie actor of Hong Kong, most famous for the roles he played in a number of wuxia films shot in the 1950s and 1960s.

The two names Cho Tat Wah and Shih Kien were synonymous to "good and evil" in the colloquial language of Hong Kong because of the roles the two actors played in those movies. Yu So Chow co-starred many of Cho's movies. The two names Cho Tat Wah and Yu So Chow symbolized a perfect couple. His well-known roles include Loong Kim-fei , Leung Fuen and Detective Inspector Wah .

A native of Taishan, Guangdong, Cho began his actor career at the age of 15, and eventually starred in more than 700 movies. He was a compulsive gambler. Legend has it that he lost the Wah Tat Studio, which produced most of his movies at the time, at the gambling table. However, it is not certain whether the studio was owned by him.

He emigrated to London, England, with his son in 1990, but returned to Hong Kong to join TVB in 1993. He went back to England in 1997 as his wife was then suffering kidney disease. When she died in 2000, he returned alone to Hong Kong. In August 2006, he was hospitalised for a month after falling down stairs at his home. He returned to England in November of that same year, and died of haemorrhage of stomach two months later in a hospital. He is survived by a son in England, and a daughter in the United States. One of his goddaughters is Connie Chan Po-chu.

Chiu Chi Ling

Chiu Chi Ling is an actor that appears mostly in Kung Fu style produced in Hong Kong. He also teaches at Chiu Chi Ling Hung Gar Kung Fu Association, a -based martial arts school he founded, and at the old Chiu Family Kwoon in Hong Kong. Every year he visits his students and grand students around the world and organizes worldwide Kung Fu tournaments. The Kung Fu lineage he is part of was passed down directly from southern shaolin temple and carries names like Hung Hei Gung and Wong Fei Hung.

He has appeared in over 70 movies, both as an actor and stunt man. His abilities as an actor and martial arts practitioner has allowed him to work with most of the top Hong Kong film makers including Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and Stephen Chow.

He started practising Hung Gar Kung Fu when he was six years old under the tutelage of his father Chiu Kau and mother Shiu Ying, who were renowned for their solid Hung Gar. They where also both well known doctors and Chiu Chi Ling learned from his father beside the art of Kung Fu the art of bone setting.

In the early 1970s, he opened a school which attracted many celebrities, athletes and performers. This exposure to the entertainment industry gave him his start in acting. He has appeared in such well-known Kung Fu style movies as ''Snake in the Eagle's Shadow'', ''Duel of the Seven Tigers'' and most recently in the Kung Fu smash hit ''Kung Fu Hustle''.

He currently resides in Alameda, California

Sources

*

Chin Tsi-Ang

Chin Tsi-Ang , also Chin Tsi-Ang and Chi Chi-Ang, was one among the earliest martial-arts actors of the Chinese film industry, and its first female star. She debuted in ''Dream of South China'' in 1925 at the age of 16, and played a leading role in ''The Lady Swordfighter of Jiang-Nan in 1930.

Biography

Chin was born in Shanghai in 1909. When she was an infant, her parents were told by a fortune-teller that in order to avoid an early death, she would have to be brought up like a boy. She was therefore permitted to engage in activities usually reserved for males, although her gender sometimes had to be disguised. She began martial arts training at the age of 8, later going on to perform all of her own stunts as well as choreograph scenes.

She married director Hung Chung-Ho, with whom she had seven children , and having become a star in Shanghai, they moved to Hong Kong, where they formed the Sanxing Film Company, which specialized in wuxia and produced the first Fong Sai-Yuk film in 1938. It existed until 1963, when the Chinese government requisitioned its properties. Her husband died not long afterwards. She largely retired from filmmaking at this time, although she has since appeared in cameo roles, one of the most recent being in Kar Wai Wong's ''In the Mood for Love'' at age 90.

Chin died in Hong Kong on October 15, 2007.

Chin Kar Lok

Chin Kar Lok aka ''Chin Ka Lok'' is an actor, .

Chin was born in Hong Kong, the younger brother of actor and stunt performer Chin Siu Ho. He is a former member of Sammo Hung's Stuntman Team. Chin began working as a stuntman at the age of 16.

In 1985, he made his film debut in Sammo Hung's ''Heart of the Dragon'' as one of Jackie Chan's SWAT Team buddies. He even did some doubling for superstar Chan. In 1988's ''Dragons Forever'', Chin is seen performing the high tornado kick to Benny Urquidez in the finale. That same year, Chin replaced his brother Siu Ho in the 4th installment of ''Mr. Vampire''. Chin has proven to be an amazing superkicker with films like ''Bury Me High'' and ''Operation Scorpio''. After starring in '''' and ''Drunken Master II'' in 1994, he began doing non-action roles alongside action. In 1997, he directed his only film, ''Aces Go Places 97''.

Aside from films, he is the co-host of , a Hong Kong variety show, along with Jerry Lamb and Eric Tsang.

Chin once dated Lee San San, winner of the 1996 Miss Hong Kong Pageant, but they broke up. As a fan of cars and racing, he starred in a comedic short as a street racer/drifter, whether he did the driving himself, that has yet to be confirmed. However, when he took part in a 2005 TVB telethon, he performed donuts in the same 350Z as seen in the film with Lee San San standing in the center as a cone.

As of July/August 2008, the rumor is that he and Angela Tong are dating.

Cheung Siu-Fai

Eddie Cheung Siu-Fai is a Hong Kong actor.

Filmography

* ''The Closet''
* ''Wise Guys Never Die''
* ''''
* ''Exiled''
* ''Dog Bite Dog''
* ''Election 2''
* ''McDull, The Alumni''
* ''Wise Guys Never Die''
* ''''
* ''The House''
* ''''
* ''Throw Down''
* ''Running on Karma''
* ''Spicy Aces''
* ''The Bare-Footed Kid''
* ''Soldier of Fortune''

Cheung Ka-Fai (film editor)

Cheung Ka-Fai is a Hong Kong film editor and actor.

Filmography

Film Editor

* ''A Better Tomorrow 2''
* ''Thunder Cops II''
* ''The First Time is the Last Time''
* ''Mortuary Blues''
* ''Super Lady Cop''
*''Police Story 3''
* ''Centre Stage''
* ''The Black Panther Warriors''
* ''Once a Cop''
* ''''
* ''In the Heat of Summer''
* ''Twenty Something''
* ''The Third Full Moon''
* ''Touch of Evil''
* ''Happy Hour''
* ''Lost Boys in Wonderland''
* ''Power Connection''
* ''''
* ''The Christ of Nanjing''
* ''Trilogy of Lust''
* ''Yes Madam 5''
* ''What a Wonderful World''
* ''Big Bullet''
* ''The God of Cookery''
* ''''
* ''On Fire''
* ''Thunder Cop''
* ''Downtown Torpedoes''
* ''Lawyer Lawyer''
* ''Task Force''
* ''Killing Me Tenderly''
* ''L - O - V - E ..... LOVE''
* ''Techno Warriors''
* ''God.com''
* ''The Lucky Guy''
* ''Tricky King
* ''Raped by An Angel 3: Sexual Fantasy of the Chief Executive''
* ''Extreme Crisis''
* ''Nude Fear''
* ''Sex & Zen III''
* ''''
* ''Raped by An Angel 2: The Uniform Fan''
* ''Bio Zombie''
* ''The Love and Sex of the Eastern Hollywood''
* ''PR Girls''
* ''Hong Kong Spice Gals''
* ''Sunshine Cops''
* ''X Imp''
* ''Afraid of Nothing, the Jobless King''
* ''The Lord of Amusement''
* ''The King of Debt Collecting Agent''
* ''''
* ''Bullets Over Summer''
* ''The Mistress''
* ''Wan Chai Empress''
* ''Gen-X Cops''
* ''X'Mas Rave Fever''
* ''The Kingdom of Mob''
* ''Eternal Love''
* ''Skyline Cruisers''
* ''A War Named Desire''
* ''Gen-Y Cops''
* ''True Love''
* ''Twilight Garden''
* ''Roaring Wheels''
* ''Juliet in Love''
* ''When I Fall in Love... with Both''
* ''Wishful Milenio''
* ''Bruce Law Stunts''
* ''Life''
* ''The Legend of the Flying Swordsman''
* ''Chinese Heroes'' (2001
* ''Fighting for Love''
* ''Dead End''
* ''Bakery Amour''
* ''''
* ''Stolen Love''
* ''Funeral March''
* ''Midnight Fly''
* ''Final Romance
* ''Feel 100% II''
* ''Extreme Challenge''
* ''Thou Shall Not Commit''
* ''Visible Secret II''
* ''Dry Wood Fierce Fire''
* ''Demi-Haunted''
* ''Golden Chicken''
* ''So Close''
* ''Summer Breeze of Love''
* ''Love Undercover''
* ''The Mummy, Aged 19''
* ''Anna in Kungfuland''
* ''Naked Ambition''
* ''Love Undercover 2: Love Mission''
* ''Lost in Time''
* ''Golden Chicken 2''
* ''Heroic Duo''
* ''Good Times, Bed Times''
* ''The Miracle Box''
* ''The Twins Effect II''
* ''Heat Team''
* ''Explosive City''
* ''The White Dragon''
* ''A-1''
* ''Leaving Me, Loving You''
* ''One Nite in Mongkok''
* ''Love On the Rocks
* ''''
* ''House of Fury''
* ''We Are Family''
* ''Dragon Tiger Gate''
* ''Men Suddenly in Black 2''
* ''''
* ''Mr. 3 Minutes''
* ''Ming Ming''
* ''Simply Actors''
* ''''
* ''Anna & Anna''
* ''Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon''

Actor

* ''The Inspector Wears Skirts IV''
* ''PR Girls''

Chen Sing

Chen Sing is a Thai-born actor whose film career centered around the Hong Kong movie industry.

Biography

Sing moved to Hong Kong at some point of time, possibly as early as the late 1950s, and began working in films. Chen's first screen appearance was as an uncredited extra for '''', released in 1959.; this contrasts the number of films that IMDB lists, 88. Pictures from his son's birthday celebrations show that his hairline receded somewhat, but even in retirement he still looks very fit and strong.

Personal life

In 1996, Chen married Indonesian-Chinese Elizabeth , who owned a nightclub. They have a son, George Chan .

Cheang Pou-Soi

Soi Cheang Pou-Soi is a Hong Kong film director, assistant director, screenwriter, script supervisor, and actor.

Filmography as director

* ''''
* ''''
* ''Dog Bite Dog''
* ''''
* ''Hidden Heroes''
* ''Love Battlefield''
* ''The Death Curse''
* ''New Blood''
* ''Horror Hotline... Big Head Monster''
* ''Diamond Hill''

Charles Heung

Charles Heung Wah-Keung is a Hong Kong actor-turned-film producer and presenter. He is one of Hong Kong's most successful presenters/producers, and one of the most controversial due to his family's background.

Biography

Heung is widely suspected of ties to one of Hong Kong's largest and most powerful organized crime groups, the Sun Yee On Triad. Heung's father, Heung Chin, founded the Sun Yee On in 1919. Charles is the tenth of the Sun Yee On 's thirteen children.

Heung Chin's eldest son, Heung Wah-Yim, was convicted in 1988 of being the triad's boss, although his conviction in Hong Kong was overturned on a technicality. The Senate Subcommittee on Investigations also identified him as the triad's leader in a 1992 report on Asian organized crime.

In the 1970s, Charles subsequently married Betty Ting, the actress, who is remembered today primarily because of the "mysterious" death of Bruce Lee in her apartment. The marriage, however did not last, and Charles later married Tiffany Chen, in the early 1980s.

Charles is the older brother of Jimmy Heung, who later became his partner in the formation of Win's Entertainment, Ltd.. The partnership between the two ended in 1992 as Charles felt that Jimmy's style of negotiating business too closely resembled that of a triad member.

Heung became a producer and a presenter for films, but he had also gotten fame from acting, with his best known role being as Lung Wu, the God of Gamblers' bodyguard in ''God of Gamblers'' and its sequel, ''God of Gamblers Returns''. Some other films included the ''God of Gamblers'' spin-offs, ''God of Gamblers II'', and ''God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai'', including other films such as ''Arrest the Restless'', ''The Prince of Temple Street'' and ''Casino Raiders'', which was co-directed by his brother, Jimmy.

In 1992, Heung formed China Star Entertainment Group and became the studio's chairman and CEO, with his wife, Tiffany Chen, serving as vice chairman and administrative producer.

Heung, as a presenter, has highlighted a majority of Hong Kong's biggest cinematic icons, including Jet Li, Andy Lau, Sammi Cheng, Cecilia Cheung, Simon Yam, Lau Ching-Wan, Gigi Leung, Charlene Choi, and Louis Koo. This includes some of HK's biggest filmmakers, such as Johnnie To, Wai Ka-Fai, Wong Jing, Herman Yau and . Actress Cherrie Ying even caught the attention of Heung's wife, Tiffany Chen, after making her film debut with ''Fulltime Killer''.

In 1999, alongside Johnnie To, Heung established One Hundred Years of Film Co. Ltd., one of the few companies dedicated to developing a huge library of content for China Star. Heung's initial plan was to make 100 films within three years.

Heung plans to continuing producing and presenting films, now aiming for big-budgeted projects. Following the partnership split between himself and Jimmy, Heung closed down the Win's Entertainment Ltd. studio in 2000, and continued to produce and distribute films under China Star, which is now one of the most powerful film companies in Hong Kong.

Chan Wai-Man

Chan Wai-Man is a Hong Kong actor.

Cecilia Cheung

Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a actress and cantopop singer based in Hong Kong. She is the wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and . She and Nicholas have a son, Lucas.

Biography

Cheung was born in Hong Kong to a father and a half Chinese-half mother. Her parents divorced when she was just a child after which she was sent to Australia to live with her aunt at the age of fourteen. Cheung has an elder half-sister Dai Pek-Chi, two younger brothers and also a younger half-brother from her father's side.

Career

Her career began in 1998, when she was offered to appear in a TV commercial advertising . She caught the attention of Stephen Chow after shooting the ad. The latter role earned her the award for Best Newcomer at the Hong Kong Film Awards. In the same year, Cheung launched her singing career with her first Cantopop album ''Any Weather'' . For Derek Yee's romantic drama '''' , Cheung won the award for Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards. She played a young woman who lost her fiancé to a traffic accident which left her as a grieving single mother struggling to make ends meet.

Personal

Cheung has been linked to Hong Kong male singers such as Daniel Chan and Jordan Chan. She then dated Nicholas Tse in early 2002, but was then dumped by Tse late that year when Tse got back with his ex-girlfriend, singer Faye Wong. Later she was rumored to have dated a younger Lu Siyuan before the relationship ended in 2003. Cheung suffered serious depression and eating disorders after the break-up with Tse.

Cheung and Tse were first reported to be "getting back together" in early 2006 and on July 31, 2006, Tse officially admitted dating Cheung in an interview with Commercial Radio Hong Kong 881/903.

In September 2006, Tse showed off his wedding ring at the Hong Kong International Airport, announcing he and Cheung had been married in a secret wedding ceremony in the Philippines.

On the January 8, 2007 episode of 's ''Entertainment Scoop'' , Cheung was publicly confirmed by Nicholas' father, Patrick Tse, to be approximately three months pregnant with the couple's first child.

Around March 2007 on the episode of TVB's ''Entertainment Scoop'' it is said that their child is due in August. It is confirmed by Cheung's husband Nicholas Tse that she is expecting a baby boy.

On August 2, 2007, it was reported that Cecilia Cheung and her husband were both in the maternity ward awaiting for their child to be born. Cecilia gave birth to a baby boy named Lucas.

Filmography

* ''The 601st Phone Call''
* ''My Kung-Fu Sweetheart''
* ''The Shopaholics''
* ''''
* ''Himalaya Singh''
* ''''
* ''One Nite in Mongkok''
* ''Papa Loves You''
* ''Sex and the Beauties''
* ''''
* ''''
* ''Running on Karma''
* ''''
* ''''
* ''''
* ''''
* ''The Lion Roars''
* ''The Legend of Zu''
* ''Para Para Sakura''
* ''Shaolin Soccer''
* ''Failan''
* ''Everyday Is Valentine''
* ''Master Q 2001''
* ''Wu Yen''
* ''Twelve Nights''
* ''Tokyo Raiders''
* ''Help!!!''
* ''The Legend of Speed''
* ''Fly Me to Polaris''
* ''''

Discography

* ''C1''
* ''Colour of Lip''
* ''Shaolin Soccer''
* ''Party All the Time''
* ''New and Best Collection''
* ''Party All the Time''
* ''Cecilia Cheung''
* ''A Brand New Me''
* ''903 California Red Concert''
* ''Destination''
* ''Any Weather''

Carmen Lee

Carmen Lee Yeuk Tung, Hong Kong Actress
appeared in films such as "Loving You" , "The Odd One Lives" and the North American "Knock Off" with Jean-Claude Van Damme. She has gained critical acclaim for her roles and a fanbase that is quickly growing worldwide.

Carina Lau

Carina Lau Kar-ling is a Hong Kong . She was especially notable in the 1980s for her type roles in films.

Biography

Lau was born in Suzhou, China in 1965. She emigrated to Hong Kong at the age of fifteen, and joined TVB acting classes.

She has been in a relationship with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai since 1989. The couple married on 21 July, 2008 at the Uma Paro resort in Bhutan in front of about 100 guests. According to Ming Pao Daily News, Faye Wong took the couple to India to visit the , together with her husband, actor Li Yapeng. They had an audience with the Karmapa, who suggested Bhutan as a wedding venue. The wedding itself cost more than HK$30 million and Lau's 12 carat Cartier wedding ring is worth over HK$10 million. They have been a celebrity couple for 19 years. Guests included singer Faye Wong who performed for them on their special day. Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai also directed the ceremony. Other guests include Stanley Kwan and Brigitte Lin. The hotel was also heavily guarded to keep the paparazzi away.

The wedding created a media frenzy in Hong Kong, with companies spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to pursue the wedding party.

TVMART

She is currently the CEO of Hong Kong's TVMART channel. Since being appointed as executive president, she is not expected to continue as CEO for longer than seven months, due to a loss of 40 million .

As for the reasons of the company's downward operation, Hong Kong residents are not used to shopping via television and also, the shopping channel invited hosts from the serious news channel, two of which made it a failure. It was believed that the man behind the kidnapping is a show business entrepreneur with whom Lau was having a financial dispute. Leung has said that Lau never wanted to talk about what happened in those missing hours with anyone, including him.

Lau revealed in 2008 that she was abducted by four men working for a boss, as "punishment" for having refused a film offer.

2002 East Week magazine photo incident

In October 2002 naked pictures of Carina Lau were published in East Week magazine. Lau's kidnapping supposedly took place roughly 12 years earlier.

The nude photos revealed the actress in distress. Massive protests and petitions were held by fellow Hong Kong entertainers, and media ethics by Hong Kong tabloids and gossip magazines were questioned.

Filmography, as actress, includes

* ''''
* ''Throw Down''
* ''''
* ''Itchy Heart''
* ''Sex and the Beauties''
* ''Infernal Affairs III''
* ''Infernal Affairs II''
* ''Mighty Baby''
* ''La Brassiere''
* ''Cop Shop Babes''
* ''Love Generation Hong Kong''
* ''Flowers of Shanghai''
* ''Intimates''
* ''Who's the Woman, Who's the Man''
* ''Forbidden City Cop''
* ''He's a Woman, She's a Man''
* ''Gigolo and Whore''
* ''Ashes of Time''
* ''C'est la vie, mon chéri''
* ''Crazy Hong Kong''
* ''Deadful Melody''
* ''Rose, Rose, I Love You''
* ''Lady Super Cop''
* ''Lover of the Swindler''
* ''The Eagle Shooting Heroes''
* ''Shadow Cop''
* ''Legend of Prince''
* ''''
* ''Love on the Rooftops''
* ''Lord of East China Sea 2''
* ''The Night Rider''
* ''Lord of East China Sea''
* ''Girls Without Tomorrow 1992''
* ''''
* ''Saviour of Souls''
* ''Centre Stage''
* ''City Warriors''
* ''''
* ''Days of Being Wild''
* ''Queen's Bench III''
* ''She Shoots Straight''
* ''Dragon Versus Phoenix''
* ''My American Grandson''
* ''Looking Back In Anger''
* ''Return of the Lucky Star''
* ''''
* ''Four Loves''
* ''Her Beautiful Life Lies''
* ''The Romancing Star II''
* ''Four Lovers''
* ''Profile of Pleasure''
* ''Jackie Chan's Project A2''
* ''Rich and Famous 2''
* ''Rich and Famous''
* ''''
* ''Armour of God''
* ''Naughty Boys''
* ''The Duke of Mount Deer''

Filmography, as crew, includes

* ''Forbidden City Cop'' Costume Designer

Discography, as singer, includes

* ''My Real Love 真情流露 ''
* ''Believe in Love 相信愛情''
* ''Cooling Love 情冷卻''
* ''Sadly & the Rose 《無免怨嗟》—電視劇《多桑與紅玫瑰》主題歌 ''

Awards, as actress, include

* ''Best Actress : Golden Bauhinia Awards ''

Bruce Li

Bruce Li is one of the stage names of Ho Chung Tao , a Taiwanese and Bruce Lee imitator who starred in martial arts movies from the Bruceploitation movement.

Life and movie career

Born in 1950, Ho Chung Tao has spent his youth studying martial arts. He went to play a stuntman in Taiwan and Hong Kong under the name of James Ho.

At the death of Bruce Lee, Ho Chung Tao's real career began. Hong Kong studios noticed that Ho looked a lot like the kung fu star. They first employed him in ''Conspiracy'' before the producers of ''Game of Death'' asked him to finish their movie in Lee's role. Ho declined the offer.

After this, Ho was employed by producer-actor Jimmy Shaw who gave him the name of Bruce ''Li''.

"The producer gave me the name Bruce Li, L-I. But, I don't like it, because I can act like him, but I can't be him."

While Ho was finishing his military service, he appeared in ''Good Bye Bruce Lee''. He would star in other in 1976 with ''The Young Bruce Lee'' and ''Bruce Lee: The Man, the Myth''.

As Li, his career improved dramatically. Some Taiwanese and Hong Kong producers decided to directly credit him as "Bruce Lee", even going so far as to use the real Bruce Lee's picture on posters. Li even appeared in ''Bruce Lee vs Supermen'' where he stars as , assistant of the Green Hornet, just like the real Bruce.

The producers really wanted to show Li as the "official" successor of Bruce Lee. In the 1976 movie ''Exit the Dragon Enter the Tiger'', Li meets Lee who points to him as the one who shall replace him. Li was dubbed the "Tiger" to Lee's "Dragon". This movie is considered to be one of Li's best. Li returns in ''Return of the Tiger'', starring Angela Mao. In it, Bruce Li fights .

Bruce carried on by playing in two unofficial sequels to Bruce Lee's classic ''Fist of Fury''.

In 1978, Li reprised his role as Bruce Lee in ''Bruce Lee the True Story'' , a biography film. Li choreographed the combat sequences himself. Being very successful, fans recognize it as one of the best biopics of Bruce Lee.

Li kept shooting martial arts movies until the 1980s. He also directed movies, including ''The Chinese Stuntman'' .

Bruceploitation was jumping the shark and Li knew it. He had trouble separating himself from his Bruce Lee roles and had many rivals in the genre. In 1985, Ho ended his career after his wife's death. He returned to Taiwan to become a physical education instructor at Taipei's Ping Chung University. He also has taught martial arts for comedian apprentices. Since then he has appeared only very briefly in martial arts cinema or Bruce Lee documentaries.

Li is considered one of the best Bruce Lee imitators, along with Bruce Le of Hong Kong and Dragon Lee of South Korea.

Filmography as an actor includes

* ''Bruce Against Iron Hand''
* ''Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story''
* ''''
* ''Goodbye, Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death''
* ''Bruce Lee Against Supermen''
* ''Fist of Fury II''
* ''Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger''
* ''Enter the Panther''
* ''Bruce Lee's Secret''
* ''The Real Bruce Lee''
* ''The Ming Patriots''
* ''Bruce Li in New Guinea''
* ''Bruce Lee the Invincible''
* ''The Dragon Lives''
* ''Bruce Lee, We Miss You''
* ''Soul Brothers of Kung Fu''
* ''The Image of Bruce Lee''
* ''Fists of Bruce Lee''
* ''Edge of Fury''
* ''''
* ''Deadly Strike''
* ''Bruce Li's Magnum Fist''
* ''Bruce Lee vs. the Iron Dragon''
* ''Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth''
* ''Return of the Tiger''
* ''The Lama Avenger''
* ''Blind Fist of Bruce''
* ''The Iron Dragon Strikes Back''
* ''Fist of Fury II''
* ''The Chinese Stuntman''
* ''Powerforce''

IMDB also lists Bruce Li as appearing in ''Golden Sun'' , ''Master of Jeet Kun Do'' , and ''Superdragon vs. Superman''

Bruce Le

Bruce Le , is a martial artist and actor who is known for the martial arts films he made in the 1970s and 80s. Most of these were cheaply-produced and were made to capitalize on the martial arts phenomenon started by Bruce Lee, whose death left a large box office void .

Bruce Le was a contract player for the Shaw Brothers, where he appeared in the fondly-remembered sci-fi opus ''Infra-Man''. He didn't spend much time with the Shaws, however, and quickly went on to making Bruce Lee inspired "tribute" films .

After the Bruceploitation craze ended, Le directed the fairly well-regarded Category III film ''''

Filmography as an actor

* ''Infra-Man''
* ''Bruce's Deadly Fingers''
* ''''
* ''Return of Bruce''
* ''The Clones of Bruce Lee''
* ''Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu''
* ''Super Gang''
* ''My Name Called Bruce''
* ''Bruce Le's Greatest Revenge''
* ''Bruce and Shaolin Kung Fu 2''
* ''Re-enter the Dragon''
* ''Bruce the Super Hero''
* ''Treasure of Bruce Le''
* ''Bruce, King of Kung Fu''
* ''Return of Red Tiger''
* ''Enter the Game of Death''
* ''Cold Blooded Murder''
* ''Challenge of the Tiger''
* ''Bruce vs. Bill''
* ''Bruce and the Dragon Fist''
* ''Bruce Le Strikes Back''
* ''Bruce Le vs. Ninja''
* ''Bruce and the Shaolin Bronzemen''
* ''Cameroon Connection''
* ''Bruce's Fist of Vengeance''
* ''Future Hunters''
* ''Return of the Kickfighter''
* ''Ninja Over the Great Wall''
* ''''
* ''''

Bruce Le has been credited by some video companies as appearing in the films ''Cobra'', ''Return of Fist of Fury'', and ''Bruce is Loose'', but this is untrue.

Filmography as director includes

* ''''
* ''''
* ''Ninja Over the Great Wall''
* ''Challenge of the Tiger''
* ''Bruce, King of Kung Fu''
* ''Bruce the Super Hero''

Brigitte Lin

Brigitte Lin or Brigitte Lin Ching Hsia is a Taiwanese actress.

Biography

She was born in Taipei, and was "discovered" in 1972 by a film producer, and first appeared in many Taiwanese romance films based on the novels of Qiong Yao, also known as Chiung Yao. She later switched over to making movies in Hong Kong. At the height of her popularity she was arguably one of the most sought after actresses in the Chinese film industry. She starred in more than 100 movies.

In Taiwan movies, Lin was almost always cast as the female protagonist in the Qiong Yao based movies she appeared in. Her film roles were often that of the ideal girl next door who everyone liked and all men wanted to be with. Her characters often will find love and then - when about to get married - or having just married - tragedy will strike. Often the tragedy is either her fiance's or husband's mother disapproves of her, her fiance or husband contracts some serious disease, her fiance or husband falls from a high place at his construction site job and is left in a coma, or similar plotlines. Usually the tragedy is overcome by the end of the movie and things end on a happy note. But, sometimes, not.

In Hong Kong movies, Lin made a career of playing transgender roles: in ''Peking Opera Blues'' she plays a tomboy who dresses in male Western clothes; in ''New Dragon Gate Inn'' she is a woman who dresses as a man, and in ''Swordsman II'' and '''' she plays a castrated male fighter slowly turning into a woman.

She married businessman Michael Ying in 1994 and left the film industry, and now lives in Hong Kong. She has two daughters, born in 1997 and 2001.

Partial filmography

* ''Fantasy Mission Force''
* ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain''
* ''''
* ''Peking Opera Blues''
* ''''
* ''Swordsman II''
* ''New Dragon Gate Inn''
* ''Royal Tramp''
* ''Royal Tramp II''
* ''Swordsman II''
* ''Deadful Melody''
* ''The Bride with White Hair''
* ''Ashes of Time''
* ''Chungking Express''
* ''Semi-Gods and Semi-Devils''
* ''The Three Swordsmen''
* ''''

Bondy Chiu

Bondy Hermie Chiu, also known as Chiu Hok Yee (born March 31, 1971 is a actress and singer with in Hong Kong. She is best known for her role as Lam Yuk Lo the long-running TVB series, Virtues of Harmony.

Biography

Birthplace: Hong Kong

Location: Hong Kong

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 46 kg

Hobbies: Bowling, Swimming, Badminton

Languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, French, English

Favorite Singer: Black Sabbath

Occupation: Actress & Singer

Country: Japan

Fav. Colors: Black, White, Blue, Green, Pink

Fav. Animal: Puppy

Albums

*Slower Is Better
*Be Right Back - Best Selection
*Slower Is Better
*Inside
*I Said I Will Make You Happy
*Finding A Person
*Every Two Seconds

Filmography

Films

*Rumble Ages
*You Light Up My Life

Television series

*Dragon Hall Series
*Virtues of Harmony II
*Virtues of Harmony
*On the Track or Off
*The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils
*The Criminal Investigator II
*The Criminal Investigator

Trivia

*Chinese Zodiac: Metal Pig
*Horoscope: Aries
*Spoken languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, English

Sources

Bobby Yip

Bobby Yip Kin-Sang is a Hong Kong actor. He is famous for and doing stupid things as a cameo in comedy films. He is also known to wear large amount of gold all the time.

Bobby Au-Yeung

Au Yeung Chun Wah, Bobby is an Emmy Award-nominated actor from Hong Kong. He works under TVB.

Filmography

*The Fallen Family
*The Grand Canal
*The Breaking Point
*Hard Boiled
*Money and Fame
*Wong Fei Hung Returns
*The File of Justice I
*The File of Justice I
*The File of Justice I
*The File of Justice IV
*Money Just Can't Buy
*The File of Justice V
*Armed Reaction
*A Recipe for the Heart
*Taming of the Princess
*Happy Ever After
*A Witness to a Prosecution
*
*Anti-Crime Squad
*The Legendary Four Aces
*Web of Love
*Screen Play
*
*
*Take My Word for It
*
*Hidden Treasures
*Shine on You
*A Pillow Case of Mystery
*Forensic Heroes
*Dicey Business
*
*Marriage of Inconvenience
*D.I.E.
*
*Your Class or Mine
*A Pillow Case of Mystery II

Awards & titles

*TVB Anniversary Awards 1997 Most Comedic On-Screen Duo ~ ''Taming of the Princess''
*TVB Anniversary Awards 2000 My Favourite Actor in a Leading Role ~ ''Witness to a Prosecution''
*TVB Anniversary Awards 2000 My Top 10 Favourite Television Characters ~ ''Witness to a Prosecution''
*TVB Anniversary Awards 2001 My Top 13 Favourite Television Characters ~ ''Armed Reaction III''
*TVB Anniversary Awards 2003 My Top 12 Favourite Television Characters ~ ''A Witness to a Prosecution II''
*TVB Anniversary Awards 2004 My Top 12 Favourite Television Characters ~ ''Shine on You''
*International Emmy 2007 Nominee for Best Performance by an Actor ~ ''Dicey Business''

Bill Chan

Shek Sau , also know as Bill Chan is a Hong Kong actor.

Filmography

* "''War and Destiny''" TV Series - Takeshi Matsuda
* ''Twins Mission'' - Mr. Mok
* "''Glittering Days''" TV Series - Seung Sing
* "''Love Guaranteed''" TV Series - Yim Ho-king
* "''Bar Bender''" TV Series - Ngai Sing-kwan
* "''Wars of In-Laws''" TV Series - Ning Fung-tak
* "''Angels of Mission''" TV Series - Lin Hok-man
* "''Triumph in the Skies''" TV Series - Phillip
* ''So Close'' - Chow Lui
* ''''
* ''Hidden Enforcers''
* ''Pavilion of Women'' - Mr. Wu
* ''''
* "''Criss-Cross Over Four Seas''" TV Series - Ma Sau-nam
* "''Six-Fingered Demon of Lyre''" TV Series - Dongfong Bak
* "''The Battlefield''" TV Series - Hong Yu
* ''Fascinating Affairs''
* "''The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils''" TV Series - Moyun Fuk
* "''The Fate''" TV Series - Yan Hao-man
* "''Ying hung chut siu nin''" TV Series - Hung Hei Goon
* "''Yang Female Warriors''" TV Series - Kong Sheung-fung
* "''The Lonely Hunter''" TV Series
* "''The Couples''" TV Series - Chiu Dai-chi
* ''The Hong Kong Tycoon''
* "''''" TV Series - Fa Mo-kue
* "''A House Is Not a Home''" TV Series
* ''Modern Secretaries''
* ''Don't Call Me Uncle''
* ''Fun, Hong Kong Style''
* ''Wise Wives and Foolish Husbands''
* ''The Joys and Sorrows of Youth''
* ''The Seven Kids''
* ''A Sketch of Humanity''

Lily Li

Lily Li is a Hong Kong actress.

Leung Siu-Lung

Leung Siu-Lung, born in 1948 in Hong Kong, is an actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung," "Bruce Liang," "Bruce Leong," or "Bruce Leung Siu-Lung," and is thus generally grouped among the Bruce Lee clones that sprang up after Lee's death in the odd subgenre known as Bruceploitation. He is a skilled martial artist - he learned martial arts from his father at the Cantonese Opera.His major style is Goju Ryu Karate, he also is a Wing Chun Kung Fu prationer.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he appeared in a large number of martial arts films. Most familiar to Western audiences may be Jim Kelley's ''The Tattoo Connection'' and Jackie Chan's ''Magnificent Bodyguards'', which was the first Hong Kong film shot in 3D. He is also known for playing Bruce Lee in the notorious Bruceploitation classic, ''The Dragon Lives Again''.

In addition, Leung appeared in his own star vehicles, including ''My Kung-Fu 12 Kicks'', ''Kung Fu: The Invisible Fist'', and ''Black Belt Karate''.

Leung retired from acting after 1988's ''Ghost Hospital''. However, in 2004, he made a triumphant return to the screen as The Beast in Stephen Chow's ''Kung Fu Hustle'' .

Supposedly, Leung defeated 13 armed attackers all by himself, although the validity of this statement is questionable.

Filmgraphy as actor includes

* ''Kung Fu Hustle''
* ''Ghost Hospital''
* ''Rich and Famous 2''
* ''Vampires Live Again''
* ''Eight-Diagram Cudgel''
* ''Showdown at the Equator''
* ''Gang Master''
* ''Legend of a Fighter''
* ''Ruthless Revenge''
* ''Return of the Deadly Blade''
* ''The Fighter Dragon vs. Deadly Tiger''
* ''Shaolin Kid''
* ''Be the First''
* ''The Incredible Kung Fu Master''
* ''Enter Three Dragons''
* ''Ten Tigers of Shaolin''
* ''The Fists, the Kicks and the Evil''
* ''Black Belt Karate''
* ''My Kung-Fu 12 Kicks''
* ''Magnificent Bodyguards''
* ''The Tattoo Connection''
* ''The Dragon Lives Again''
* ''The Four Shaolin Challengers''
* ''Broken Oath''
* ''Million Dollar Snatch''
* ''Bruce Against Iron Hand''
* ''Bruce Lee, D-Day at Macao''
* ''Hong Kong Superman''
* ''Call Me Dragon''
* ''Hong Kong Godfather''
* ''Rage of Wind''
* ''Kung Fu Powerhouse''
* ''Blade of Fury''
* ''The Yellow Killer''
* ''Lady Kung Fu''
* ''Kung Fu, the Invincible Fist''
* ''Deep Thrust''
* ''The Invincible Eight''

Leung Kar Yan

Leung Kar Yan , also known as Bryan Leung, is a Hong Kong film actor and director who has played roles in numerous acclaimed martial arts films. He is affectionately known as "Beardy" due to his trademark facial hair. He also has characteristic hyper-extendable fingers, which can be observed when he his has palms open and his fingers outstretched. Despite being one of the most well-known faces in Hong Kong action cinema, he had no formal martial arts training, relying on his talents at mimickry to imitate the moves shown to him by the action directors.

His action film career begain in 1969, his good looks and natural athleticism taking him to Shaw Brothers, where he appeared in several renowned period kung fu films, although he was rarely offered leading roles. His big-break came under the direction of Sammo Hung, with whom he fought in ''Enter the Fat Dragon'' , and co-starred in the seminal ''Warriors Two'' . His performance in ''Warriors Two'', as , a real-life historical doctor and master of Wing Chun, is described as "the best performance of his career" by Mark Pollard of ''Kung Fu Cinema'', who goes on to write:
:Leung Kar-yan is brilliant in his role as the teacher. He adds just the right amount of austerity and presence without overdoing it. Its also obvious why he was chosen for this role over an older actor. To the layman, he really looks like a Wing Chun expert and his physical grace is undeniable.

Leung Kar Yan continued to work with Sammo Hung, achieving further success with a string of highly-rated kung-fu comedies, including ''Knockabout'' , where he and Yuen Biao played crooks being harassed by kung-fu beggar Sammo Hung.

In '''' , he played Wong Fei Hong's student. The film again featured Yuen Biao, as well as veteran kung-fu star Kwan Tak-Hing playing Wong Fei Hong. It also marked Leung Kar Yan's first collaboration with director Yuen Woo-ping, and he would go on to star in several acclaimed Yuen Woo-ping directed films, including ''Legend of a Fighter'' , in which he portrayed historical figure Fok Yun Gap, and ''Miracle Fighters'' .

Despite this acting success, his 1984 directorial debut, ''Profile in Anger'', was relatively unsuccessful. This marked a lowering of his star profile, as he began to take more supporting roles and less leading roles. He continues to act and direct into the 2000s, occasionally appearing in high-profile films like ''Last Hero in China'' , where he co-starred with Jet Li and reprised the role he had played in 1981's ''Dreadnaught'', and several Stephen Chow vehicles including '''' .

Selected filmography

* 1969 - ''Return of the One-Armed Swordsman''
* 1974 - ''Five Shaolin Masters''
* 1975 - ''''
* 1976 - ''Shaolin Avengers''
* 1977 - ''The Iron Monkey''
* 1977 - ''Eagle's Claw''
* 1978 - ''Enter the Fat Dragon''
* 1978 - ''Warriors Two''
* 1978 - ''Ways of Kung Fu''
* 1979 - ''Thundering Mantis''
* 1979 - ''''
* 1979 - ''''
* 1979 - ''His Name is Nobody''
* 1979 - ''Cantonen Iron Kung Fu''
* 1979 - ''Ten Brothers of Shaolin''
* 1980 - ''''
* 1981 - ''''
* 1981 - ''Eagle's Claw and Butterfly Palm''
* 1982 - ''Legend of a Fighter''
* 1982 - ''The Postman Strikes Back''
* 1982 - ''The Miracle Fighters''
* 1984 - ''Secret Service of the Imperial Court''
* 1984 - ''New Tales of the Flying Fox''
* 1990 - ''''
* 1993 - ''Last Hero in China''
* 1993 - ''Fight Back to School III''
* 1994 - ''Kung Fu Cult Master''
* 1995 - ''Don't Give a Damn''
* 2005 - ''Seven Swords''

Leon Lai

Leon Lai is a Hong Kong-based actor and Cantopop singer. The media refer to Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop .

Biography

Born in Beijing, China as Lai Chit, Lai was an only child. His family were originally from Meixian . His parents divorced when he was four. He migrated with his Malaysian father, Lai Xinsheng to Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution in China. At the age of fifteen, he attended and returned back to Hong Kong at the age of seventeen. Before he became a singer in Hong Kong, he worked as a salesperson for a mobile phone company. He uses the stage name "Li Ming" or "Lai Ming" which literally means "dawn".

After getting the second-runner-up in the 5th New Talent Singing Awards, held by the TVB in 1986, Lai went to be taught singing by Dai Si Zong and in the same year, he also obtained an artist contract from Capital Artist. However he didn't get to release any albums for four years. As a result, his teacher, Dai, arranged to have him signed a contract with Polygram and then got the contract with Capital Artist annulled after some negotiation.

In Polygram, he released his first album "Leon" and subsequent album "Meet In The Rain" which propelled Lai into instant stardom. His debut album went gold. After several years at Polygram, he then signed a new contract with Sony Music on March 23, 1998.

Lai has been associated with many female celebrities since he began his career. One of his most famous rumoured ex-girlfriends is Shu Qi. Apart from Shu Qi, he has been rumoured to have relationship with Dai Yun Hui, Wang Zu Xian, Vivian Chow, Kathy Chow, Seto Asaka, Michelle Reis , Sheila Chan , Kim Hee Sun, Lee Na Young, Mango Wang Xiu Lin. He is currently in a relationship with one of the famous models in Hong Kong named Gaile Lok.

Lai was ranked 8th among the top 10 of the celebrity power rankings released by the edition of the Forbes for the year 2003.

Lai's portrayal as ''Lai Xiao Jun'' in was represented in a wax figure at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

Lai is known for his statements with deep meanings. His words, "I don't eat breakfast on an empty stomach", was voted the best "Golden Words" by netizens. He is subsequently considered the "King Of Golden Words".

Career

Singer

Together with Jacky Cheung, Andy Lau and Aaron Kwok, Lai was among the four most popular male singers during the 1990s, when the media referred to them as the "" . On June 29th, in the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, Leon, along with Aaron Kwok and Jacky Cheung had their hands imprinted to be added along the Avenue.

In the early stages of his career, he mainly sang cantopop, but due to the influence of producer Mark Lui, he expanded his repertoire to include popular electronic songs with compelling music videos. In 2002, he was selected to sing "Charged up", the theme song for the Greater China Region.

In 1996, he collaborates with composer-producer Steve Barakatt on his album "Feel".
In 1998, Leon's Korean song "After loving you" managed to reach the Top 10 in a Korean pop chart. He was the first Hong Kong singer to achieve this.

He won numerous singing awards before announcing in 1999 that he would no longer accept any awards in Hong Kong. He won the "Most Popular Male Singer" award in 1993 and 1995 for TVB Jade Solid Gold. He has also won the "Song of the Year" award four times. In the 1996 year of awards, Leon Lai won a personal record 16 awards in the Hong Kong music scene. A tie with fellow singers Sky King and Jacky Cheung. This gives both artists one more award. The 4 stage Joint Award of Best Musicians. Awarded to the musician with the most awards won in the year ending award shows. Lai's music career gradually declined from the late 1990s. While he is still releasing new albums from time to time, his record sales are now less than impressive and his position has been overtaken by the newer generation of cantopop singers.

His song "All Day Love" released in 2000 got into trouble with the Chinese authorities for drawing passages from the China National Anthem, "March of the Volunteers". The starting tune also sounds similar to the Anthem tune. He was warned against using the song for commercial purposes.

In 2004, Leon Lai formed a new record production company, "A Music", East Asia Record Production Company Limited, with Peter Lam. The first album produced by the company, "Dawn" was released in September of that year. The album, "Dawn", was released with minimum promotion as Lai went to the Mainland for a movie shoot on the day of the album's release.

In order to bring in new excitements for his music, Leon invited a famous music producer Jonathan Lee Tsung Sheng from Taiwan in 2005 to produce his new mandarin album "A Story". However, by doing so he had to give up the opportunity for a lead role in a big budget Taiwan movie "Gui Si" due to conflicts in his schedules.

Lai returned to the Hong Kong Coliseum on April 13, 2007 to perform in his one night only ''Leon 4 in Love Concert'' where he performed not only his own hits but also hits of the other three heavenly kings namely Aaron, Andy and Jacky. He performed a total of 18 songs, all of which are newly arranged by Mark Lui. He subsequently released an album titled "4 In Love" on May 3, 2007, comprising 16 of the 18 songs he had performed in the concert.
He released his new single on October 30, 2007 for his fans to listen and download on MOOV. The song titled, ''Think of you'' written by Lin Xi, composed by Lee Sang Jun, arranged by Mark Lui, Chen Yi and produced by Lee Han Wen.

Duet

Apart from being a solo artist, Lai has co-operated with other artist in a duet. Some of his better known collaborations are "Love Until the End" and "A Happy Family" with Vivian Chow, "Really Wish to Be Like This Forever" and "It's Still You" with Priscilla Chan, "Song of the Star" with Alan Tam, "Never Give Up" with Jacky Cheung, "Why did I let you go?" with Janice Vidal.

Actor

In the period before Lai participated in the New Talent Singing Awards, he enrolled in the ATV actor training class, however he didn't complete the training with no apparent reason. Then, he applied for admission to the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts but his application was rejected.

After the New Talent Singing Awards, he had some opportunities to star in a few TV series. On one occasion, he went for filming of a romantic serials titled, ''Fengyun era'', in Taiwan. There was a stark contrast in height between Leon and the popular lead actress who is only 1.60 cm in height. The actress then demanded that Leon squatted while filming so as to make up for the height differences. Leon had to act through all the scenes with the actress while squatting but he had to endure it as he was not popular at the time. However not long afterwards his new TV series, ''The Breaking Point'' which turned out to be a resounding success and propel him to widespread fame in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

In , Lai was nominated for the ''Best Actor'' award at the 16th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film ''''.However, he did not win.

The next year in , he managed to win the award for ''Best Original Song'' for the film ''Eighteen Springs'' both at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Awards.

He was again nominated for the ''Best Actor'' and ''Best Original Film Song'' award for the film '''' in at the Hong Kong Film Awards but he only managed to win the award for ''Best Original Film Song'' which he shared with Lin Xi and Dick Lee.

Lai was considered by Lee Ang to act as ''Li Mu Bai'' in the film ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', however he had to turn down the offer as he had advertising contract and live concert about to start which would not match his shaven head as was required for the role.

He collaborated with Cecilia Cheung in for the first time in the Wong Jing directed romantic comedy film, ''Everyday Is Valentine''. In the film, Leon played a serial liar.

In , Lai took the spotlight at the Golden Horse Awards, the Chinese-language version of the Oscars in Taiwan. He won ''Best Actor'' for ''''. Leon played a minor role as ''Superintendent Yeung Kam Wing'' in ''Infernal Affairs III'' in . In , Lai starred with Faye Wong in the romantic movie ''Leaving Me, Loving You'', the story of which he co-wrote with Wilson Yip and he was also the creative/production controller of the movie. However, the movie was a flop. The movie raked in HK$ 10,529,501 in the box office.

In , Lai acted as one of the seven warriors, ''Yang Yun Chong'', in the Tsui Hark directed Wuxia film, ''Seven Swords''.
In the same year in the film ''Moonlight In Tokyo'', Leon unexpectedly acted as a Chinese retard who pretend to be a Korean gigolo in Japan and thus shedding his idol image. He won the ''Golden Deer Best Actor Award'' from Changchun China Film Festival for his portrayal in ''Leaving me Loving you'' in .

In , Lai starred alongside Fan Bingbing and Rene Liu in a love and horror, thriller film titled ''The Matrimony'' where he played a cinematographer ''Shen Junchu'', the love interest of ''Manli'' and ''Sansan''. ''JunChu'' was pressurised into marrying ''Sansan'' after the untimely demise of his true love ''Manli'' in an accident. The film was released on Valentine's Day on February 8, . In the same year, Leon wrote and directed a musical film titled ''A Melody Looking'' which was shot in New York. It features Leon and the rest of the Amusic family of singers namely Janice, Jill, Emily, Charles and Chapman. This film marks his debut as a director.

In , Lai starred alongside Kelly Chen ,Donnie Yen and Guo Xiaodong in the Cheng Xiaodong directed action and romantic movie ''Jiangshan Meiren'' which means ''An Empress and the Warriors''. He acted as a woodland medicine man whom have a romantic relationship with a princess. The action will be choreographed by the director himself who had previously choreographed for movies such as, ''Curse of the Golden Flower'', ''House of Flying Daggers'', and ''''. The movie will be released on 1st March, 2008. Lai and Kelly will be singing the movie theme song, "''Fly With Your Dreams''" which is written by Lin Xi and composed by Mark Lui.

He underwent training in Peking Opera for playing the lead role as ''Méi Lánfāng'' in the biographical film Méi Lánfāng which was directed by Chen Kaige. The shooting of the film has completed in the year 2008 and it also starred actresses Zhang Ziyi and Gillian Chung. He is directing the music video of the film where he and Zhang Ziyi will sing the film theme song, "You Understand My Love".

Societal contributions

Apart from being an actor and singer, Lai took time off to participate in a number of social events related to charities ,public awareness, and community welfare. He is actively involved in the and helped in the production of advertisement for "Dress Casual Day". He is a member of The Community Chest Campaign Committee.

Lai tryst with serious charity work started when his father had carcinoma of the rectum at an advanced stage. The doctors said he was incurable. But when his father went through an operation, he prayed to the to let the operation be successful and he will do a lot of good things to thank heaven. The operation was successful and his father got cured. So when the cancer foundation and the U.N. organization approached him for help, he started getting involved in charity work actively.

Lai first work with UNICEF was in a China polio eradication project in 1993. He managed to raise substantial funds accruing from his supporters, fans and concert ticket sales. In July 1994, he was appointed the International UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and thus becoming the first Hong Kong citizen to be given this position. Since the year 1994, he has been involved in various fund raising activities of The Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF . These activities include seven charity concerts, three charity chocolate sales and charity walkathon. Leon along with HKCU representatives visited Rwanda, Gansu of China and Brazil to study the works of the UNICEF and to hlep promote public awareness of UNICEF messages of "Help UNICEF Help Children".

In December 1995, he was appointed as UNICEF Special Representative to Youth at UNICEF Headquarters in New York recognizing his contributions for the welfare of the children.

Lai has been elected as one of The Ten Outstanding Young Persons in 1997, giving him a formal recognition of his professional endeavours and commitment to the community.

Lai bought the first donation ticket, numbered 000001 at a "Children's Education Fund Raising Campaign" launch event at Tsuen Wan PARKnSHOP's Skyline Superstore in 2001 to encourage people to contribute to a meaningful social cause. The funds raised will be donated to the Community Chest.

He was awarded the Medal of Honour on 12 October 2003 by Tung Chee-Hwa, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR.

Ever since his decision not to receive any music award in , he has not appeared on the TVB Jade Gold Solid Awards Ceremony even as a guest, but in order to secure more funds for charity, he agreed to perform in the ceremony as a guest performer on Jan 8, 2005.
On 13th May of the same year, Leon co-operated with Mark Lui to compose the song . The song will be used as the promotional song of the . The title of song means "Help me " and the number "8858" represent the SMS number people can use to donate the money.
In a surprising move in Dec 2005, Leon appeared in a Hong Kong government television advertisement requesting the public to support a gradual political reform package tabled by the ruling government rather than asked for rapid political reform. This marks the first time he got himself involved in a politically motivated advertisement.

Lai was selected to be the ambassador of the 6th Winter Asian Games to be held Changchun in 2007 and will also sing the Games' theme song and take part in the torch relay.

He appeared at a recent ceremony in Beijing in which Sunrider International presented UNICEF with a generous donation. He also occasionally helps other non-profit organisations to raise funds.

Filmography

Films

Television series

Source:

Discography

Concert

At Hong Kong Coliseum :





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Advertisement

Music Pop Chart

Awards

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References and notes

Leo Ku

Leo Ku Kui-Kei is a Hong Kong Cantopop and Mandopop singer and actor. He was an entertainment news programme presenter at TVB as well as host of the music show Jade Solid Gold in 1992 before releasing his first album in 1994 to become a Cantopop singer. He is one of the few Cantopop artists who makes use of falsetto - Because of this, many people, including David Tao, have praised this unique talent. He is the first singer to have won all four newcomer gold awards from Hong Kong's radio/television stations. Early in his career he was nicknamed 古怪基 by the media, a pun on his name's pronunciation, literally meaning ''Strange Kei'' due to his strange appearance on stage.

Leo Ku's most well known songs include "''Love Coming Home''" , "''Never too late''" , "''Shower''" , "''The Genius and the Idiot''" , "''Monica''", "''Love and Honesty''" , "''Sorrow Hits Man''" , "''Nobita''" , "''Killing Move''" , "''Let Heaven Shed Its Tears''" , "''Holiday in Rome''" , "''Enjoy Yourself Tonight''" , "''Friendship''" , "''Second Most Loved''" and "''Blue Skies and White Clouds''" - A cover of Keisuke Kuwata's song 悲しい気持ち .

On May 2, 2008, Leo Ku was the eighth runner of the Olympic Torch Relay in Hong Kong.

Leo Ku held his Magic Moments performance in Toronto, Canada at Rogers Centre to a crowd of 10,000 on May 30, 2008.

Musical career

One of his songs "''Enjoy Yourself Tonight''" released on 1997 earned him various musical awards most notably the Silver Male pop singer by Commercial Radio. However, his singing career was stalled in the next few years but he regained popularity in 2003, because of efforts of his current manager Paco Wong , with the release of new albums "''Games''" and "''Nobita''" - A reference to the Doraemon character of the same name. He has been referred to as one of the 'New Four Big Heavenly Kings' by veteran singer Alan Tam along with Hacken Lee, Andy Hui and Edmond Leung.

Leo Ku's recent albums have revolved around a specific theme. The album "''Games''" was based on video games, "''Nobita''" was based on the comic books, while "''Jade Solid Gold''" is named after a popular music show of the same name. "''Nobita''" is one of Leo Ku's most successful albums ever, with 64,152 copies sold in 2004. It was the eighth best selling Cantopop album of 2004 in Hong Kong. In 2003 and 2004 has also achieved his dream of releasing his own comic book. "The Story of Kubi" is a set of two comic books hand drawn by Leo. With the continuous amount of work he has today, he is unable to release another book of the series yet.

In April 9 2005, his greatest hits album, "''Jade Solid Gold''" , reached double Platinum . In March, 2005, he held his first major concert . Further tours were held across Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada and , following the success of the Hong Kong concerts, featuring guest performances by Kary Ng and Justin Lo. A total of seventeen concerts were held. Leo Ku's "''Jade Solid Gold''" was one of Hong Kong's top ten albums sold from December 30, 2004 to December 21, 2005.

In October, 2005, Leo was declared one of "Ten Outstanding Young Persons " whekre his hard work on his music and film career, and his excellence in commitment to the community was recognized. He contributed tremendously to the society, and even founded a ''Leo Ku Children Medical Fund'' . A month later, in November, he released his first Mandarin album under Gold Label, nown as "''Final Fantasy''" , it featured Mandarin versions of his well known Cantonese songs as well as original songs, targeting the Mandarin speaking community. Its main song was "''Sleeping Beauty''" .

In December 23, 2005, Leo Ku, and his management company Gold Label announced that he has sold 300,000 copies of the four albums which came out this year, with eight hit songs, including "''The Genius and the Idiot''" which stayed in first place at the karaoke charts for a total of nine weeks in a row.

Leo Ku's 2006 album "''Human''" received mostly positive reviews, as over 25,000 copies of the album were sold within the first three days of release. The concept of the CD was innovative as its theme deviates from romantic love and relationships, a practice most Cantopop albums adhere to. Included in the album is a 60 minute music video directed by Leo Ku himself. This would be his directing debut. The album "Human" is the champion of the play back in Hong Kong at 2006. Expect that, the song "Never to late" is also the Golden song in 903 at 2006. This album had won many prizes.

In July 31, 2007, it was confirmed he filmed a music video called "''Love Coming Home''" featuring Katie Leung as the main actress, who is best known for playing as Cho Chang in the films.

In August 24, 2007, he released his album "''Moments''", all the lyrics were written by Lin Xi , with music composed by Mark Lui, Ivana Wong, Justin Lo and others. Also included with the album was a 60 minute DVD featuring footage shot from , London, Paris, Venice, Vienna and Beijing. Weeks after the album's release, he held his second major concert in Hong Kong Coliseum, known as "''The Magic Moments 2007''" concert, from September 9 to September 12, 2007. Guests which performed in the concert include , Justin Lo, Terence Siufay , Vivian Chow and Ekin Cheng. The Magic Moments X'mas Concert was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 23, 2007.

Discography

Films

*October 1993: ''Love on Delivery''
*June 1995: ''Romantic Dream''
*July 1997: ''Cause We Are So Young''
*November 1997: ''Task Force''
*March 1998: ''Anna Magdalena''
*December 1998: ''When I Look Upon The Stars''
*September 2002: ''So Close''
*July 2005: ''''
*February 2006: ''My Kung-Fu Sweetheart''
*April 2007: ''Super Fans''

Voice-overs

*June 1997: ''''
*June 2000: ''''
*November 2002: ''Stuart Little 2''
*July 2005: ''''

Television drama

*November 1994: ''Instinct''
*January 1995: ''The Trail of Love''
*August 1995: ''Stepping Stone''
*April 1997: ''Weapons of Power''
*January 1996: ''Justice Bao''
*January 1997: ''Corner the Con Man''
*May 3, 2002: ''Romance in the Rain''
*September, 2003: ''''
* 2006: Twist Love

Awards

*2008: MTV Asia Awards for Favorite Artist Hong Kong