Taiwan-born Ricky Cheng Tien Chi spent 12 years of his life in the Peking Opera School, from 6 to 18. He worked in many companies such as Lo Wei Motion Pictures and Golden Harvest but he owes to Chang Cheh the majority of his filmography, working both in Chang’s Film Co/Chang Ho and Shaw Brothers. Great acrobat and juggler, he is very good with weapons too and quickly conquered Chang’s admiration, becoming one of his favorites actor/choreographers.
His beauty, charisma, kung fu abilities and versatility allowed him to land some good roles in Chang Cheh’s productions, such as the vindictive and sarcastic ghost in The Weird Man, the smart warrior in Five Element Ninjas, a ruthless killer in Shanghai 13, the well-intentioned and lonely guy in Dancing Warrior and many others. Some of his fellows in the screen were Jackie Chan, Ti Lung, Jimmy Wang Yu, Lo Lieh, Lau Kar Wing, Chen Kuan Tai, David Chiang Da Wei, Alexander Fu Sheng, Leung Kar Yan, John Liu Chung Liang, Simon Yuen Siu Tien and the Venoms crew. Ricky and Chiang Sheng were close friends and, sadly, the former was credited as the one who found the body of the latter in 1991, after being missing for 3 days.
Despite all its qualifications, Cheng worked more in small roles than leading ones and had a short career. He is also not well-recognized as a kung fu star and is rarely mentioned by kung fu film enthusiasts…a pity. His works as action director are equally memorable, with inventive and intricate choreographies, full of acrobatics. Ricky Cheng Tien Chi gave us all his best and his great talent and his lovely face will be always remembered by his few, but faithful fans.
Aline S.F. (Fan Lin) – November 2006 |