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Statistics : 11630 Movies 19215 People 1448 Studios 29 Articles 73 Interviews 12 DVD Reviews 32452 Screenshots 3722 Videos
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Biography |
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Alan Tang was born on September 20, 1946, in Shunde in Guangdong province in southern China. He first appeared on screen at 16. It was a fluke, really. His good looks helped too. After some of his classmates shown his picture to a film crew shooting at his school The Student Prince, he was hired. Tang was nicknamed « Prince » ever since.
Yet, his professional actor career really began in 1967, after he graduated in Chinese history and started teaching in his old school. He first worked in Hong Kong as a lead in romantic films, but it was only after he left for Taiwan that he became a star. There, he was often the lead role of numerous drama/comedy romances, which were very popular in the seventies. He could be seen on screen opposite several young and promising actresses such as Jen Jen, Brigitte Lin, Joan Lin, Tanny Tien Niu or Sylvia Chang. These romantic films made him an Asian star.
In 1977, Tang founded his own production company in HK, The Wing Scope Film Production Ltd with his brother Rover Tang (the company would later become In-Gear Film Production Co.) and they specialised in more manly genres, namely film noir and heroic bloodshed. Alan Tang was behind and before the camera. Behind as a director (The Discharged, Law Don) but he was mostly producer (New York Chinatown, A Hearty Response and international acclaimed director Wong Kar Wai's first two films As Tear Go By and Days of Being Wild). Tang often teamed up with Stanley Siu Wing who co-directed with him or simply was the director of his own vehicles. Tang was still an actor (Don't Kill Me, Brother) even if his popularity had slowly faded away. He gave noticeable performances as a gangster with a noble heart in film such as Flaming Brothers with Chow Yun Fat or Gangland Odyssey.
Alan Tang is also the man who gave Wong Kar Wai to the HK audience, and subsequently to the world, with two films which were not too popular at the time but later gain a sort of cult status. Tang and Wong met in 1987 on the production of Flaming Brothers, a heroic-bloodshed movie directed by Joe Cheung produced by the Tang brothers and co-scripted by Wong. A year later, Tang produced Wong’s first directorial effort, As Tears Go By (1988), which enjoyed a great critical success. Two years later, Wong and Tang teamed up again for a new film, universally acknowledged as one of the most beautiful films from the former British colony, Days of Being Wild. Sadly, the local audience didn’t follow and the box office take was disappointing. But it gave Wong a solid reputation overseas. After one last job together, Return Engagement (1990), directed by Joe Cheung and co-scripted by Wong again, they took different paths. Wong founded his own film company while Tang kept producing and acting until 1994.
In the first half of the nineties, Alan Tang slowed down his output and gradually withdrew from the film industry. He invested in other businesses, such as restaurants or real estate, until he had finally no more connexions whatsoever with the cinema world.
His last public appearance was in 2008, for the funeral of his old friend actress Lydia Shum. Alan was angry with Lydia’s ex-husband Adam Cheng: he blamed him fiercely and publicly for his indifference toward Lydia’s misfortune and her daughter, singer-actress Joyce Cheng Yan-yee’s fate. Tang was also Joyce’s godfather and was against her decision to join the entertainment circle.
On March 29, 2011, Tang’s help found him lifeless in bed at his home of Kadoorie Hill, Hong Kong. When EMT arrived, it was already too late. The noble Prince of heroic bloodshed films, a man with a immense magnetism, a Hong Kong version of Alain Delon, no less, passed away peacefully at home and finally met again with his good friend Lydia Shum. May he rest in peace.
Translated from French by Emmanuel Paul, updated by Thomas Podvin, 29/03/2011 |
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Filmography |
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Alternate lists by alpha / genre / year |
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Title
( HK - All )
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Year |
Activity |
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Young Ones, The |
1973 |
Actor |
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Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow |
1976 |
Actor |
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Yellow Peril |
1984 |
Actor |
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Winner Takes All ? |
1984 |
Producer, Actor |
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Wild Horse |
1972 |
Actor |
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Wickedness In Poverty, The |
1979 |
Actor |
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Who Holds The Golden Key ? |
1978 |
Actor |
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Where The Seagull Flies |
1974 |
Actor |
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Where Does Love Come From |
1973 |
Actor |
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Vampire Buster |
1989 |
Producer |
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Unsubdued Furies, The |
1973 |
Actor |
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Twist, The |
1981 |
Actor |
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Too Young |
1974 |
Actor |
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To Love Or Not To Love |
1978 |
Actor |
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Time for Reunion, A |
1968 |
Actor |
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Three Minutes Past Nine |
1978 |
Actor |
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Student Prince, The |
1964 |
Actor |
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Stealing Love |
1972 |
Actor |
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Splendid Love In Winter, The |
1974 |
Actor |
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Songs And Romance Forever |
1972 |
Actor |
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Song Of Happy Life |
1971 |
Actor |
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Social Characters |
1969 |
Actor |
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Silver Band, The |
1974 |
Actor |
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Scoundrel, The |
1977 |
Actor |
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Run Lover Run |
1975 |
Actor |
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Return Engagement |
1990 |
Producer, Actor |
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Requital |
1992 |
Actor |
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Red Light, Green Light |
1969 |
Actor |
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Rats, The |
1973 |
Actor |
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Rascal Billionaire, The |
1978 |
Actor |
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Playboy, The |
1974 |
Actor |
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Peeper, The Model And The Hypnotist, The |
1972 |
Actor |
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Over The Rainbow |
1979 |
Actor |
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Orchid In The Rain |
1977 |
Actor |
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One Year's Fantasy |
1974 |
Actor |
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One In Yellow, The |
1969 |
Actor |
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Oh My Love |
1971 |
Actor |
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Notorious Ones, The |
1972 |
Actor |
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New York Chinatown |
1982 |
Producer, Actor |
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My Funny Intern |
1976 |
Actor |
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My Fair Lady |
1967 |
Actor |
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My Dear Son |
1989 |
Producer |
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Mr Sunshine |
1989 |
Producer |
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Morning Date, The |
1976 |
Actor |
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Money and I |
1971 |
Actor |
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Modern School Life |
1970 |
Actor |
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Mitra |
1977 |
Actor |
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Miss Not Home |
1970 |
Actor |
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Miss Hong Kong |
1987 |
Producer, Actor |
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Militarism Revival, The |
1983 |
Producer, Actor |
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Mighty Couple |
1971 |
Actor |
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Maria |
1971 |
Actor |
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Love Story Of Pian Pian |
1975 |
Actor |
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Love Is Like A Game |
1976 |
Actor |
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Love Is A Four Letter Word |
1973 |
Actor |
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Love In Hawaii |
1976 |
Actor |
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Love In A Cabin |
1972 |
Actor |
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Love By Post |
1976 |
Actor |
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Love And Blood |
1972 |
Actor |
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Little Ancestors, The |
1976 |
Actor |
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Let's Sing And Dance To Celebrate A Peaceful Year |
1969 |
Actor |
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Law Don |
1979 |
Director, Actor |
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Land Of The Undaunted |
1975 |
Actor |
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Lam Ah Chun |
1978 |
Brief appearance |
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Kung Fu Scholar |
1994 |
Producer |
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Kiss By The Wolves |
1975 |
Actor |
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Iron Fiddle |
1968 |
Actor |
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Iron Bull, The |
1973 |
Actor |
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Invincible Iron Palm, The |
1971 |
Actor |
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Impetuous Fire |
1972 |
Actor |
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If Tomorrow Comes |
1973 |
Actor |
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I Do ! |
1983 |
Actor |
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I Am Crazy About You |
1971 |
Actor |
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Hong Kong Nite Life |
1973 |
Actor |
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Hong Kong Godfather |
1991 |
Actor |
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Hong Kong Criminal Crimes |
1972 |
Actor |
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Hong Kong Black Street Lady |
1982 |
Actor |
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Holocaust, The |
1975 |
Actor |
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Hearty Response, A |
1986 |
Producer |
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Haunted Cop Shop, The |
1987 |
Producer |
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Haunted Cop Shop 2, The |
1988 |
Producer, Actor |
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Happy Times |
1970 |
Actor |
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Happy Angel, The |
1970 |
Actor |
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Gun N' Rose |
1992 |
Producer, Actor |
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Glamorous Christmas Night, A |
1967 |
Actor |
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Gangland Odyssey |
1990 |
Brief appearance |
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Game Of Love |
1976 |
Actor |
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Forever My Love |
1976 |
Actor |
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Forever And Ever |
1977 |
Actor |
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Floating Clouds, The |
1975 |
Actor |
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Flaming Brothers |
1987 |
Producer, Actor |
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First Come; First Love |
1974 |
Actor |
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Dynamite Brothers |
1974 |
Actor |
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Don't Kill Me, Brother |
1981 |
Writer, Actor |
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Discharged, The |
1977 |
Director, Actor |
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Death On The Docks |
1973 |
Actor |
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Death Comes In Three |
1973 |
Actor |
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Days Of Being Wild |
1991 |
Producer |
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Crazy Romance |
1985 |
Producer |
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Crazy Bar, The |
1970 |
Actor |
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Colorful Ripples, The |
1974 |
Actor |
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Cheating In Panorama |
1972 |
Actor |
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Chase, The |
1978 |
Actor |
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Changing Love |
1972 |
Actor |
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Bunny Girl |
1967 |
Actor |
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Brutal Boxer, The |
1972 |
Actor |
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Bride In Chains |
1968 |
Actor |
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Born Rich |
1976 |
Actor |
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Bloody Fight, The |
1972 |
Actor |
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Blood And Rose |
1975 |
Actor |
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Black Panther Warriors, The |
1993 |
Producer, Actor |
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Beauty With Two Faces, The |
1976 |
Actor |
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Back Street |
1973 |
Actor |
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As Tears Go By |
1988 |
Producer |
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Adultery Chinese Style |
1973 |
Actor |
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Absolute Monarch |
1980 |
Actor, Presenter |
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24 Hours Romance |
1975 |
Actor |
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Interview Links (French only) |
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Secondary Interview Links (French only) (Show) |
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