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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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Other names : |
关海山 關海山 Guan Hai Shan Gwaan Hoi Saan Kuan Hai Shan Kuan Hoi San Kwan Hoi Shang Kwan Ling
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Birthdate : |
23/10/1925 |
Date of death : |
11/9/2006 |
Nationality : |
Hong Kong |
Workplace : |
Hong Kong |
Activities : |
Singer (1), Actor (131), Brief appearance (4), Cameo (1) |
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Biography |
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Nicknamed Ha Suk/Uncle Shrimp (蝦叔), probably due to his small size, Kwan Hoi San’s (關海山) name was in fact Kwan Ling (關寧). Following the example of his father Kwan Yiu Fai (關耀輝), he studied Cantonese opera in his youth. At 11, he started playing in public. At the time, Cantonese opera was mainly street theatre: actors were acting on a stage built in front of a temple or a market. Later, Kwan Hoi San will join the greatest troupes of that time, such as the Saan Sing/New voice (新聲劇團) of the legendary Yam Kim and Pak Suet Sin.
From the stage, Kwan Hoi San passes truly to the big screen in the 1950s - in the 1940s, he was already singing for the first Hong-Kongese sound films soundtracks. Cantonese cinema was then in a real booming period. All the stars from the Cantonese opera were moving to the silver screen. The films were often adaptations from the Cantonese opera repertoire. Another genre was also very appreciated by the public: Movies inspired by Chinese martial arts legends and novels. Kwan Hoi San, a chameleon-like actor, was comfortable with all kinds of genres, but he was really excelling in Wu Xia Pian and filmed operas. His first movie is Huet Chai Huet Seung (血债血偿). His fame as a cinema actor quickly goes beyond the one he had built as a theatre actor. His name finds itself quickly on top of the posters, often close to the names of other Cantonese stars of the time, such as Walter Tso Tat Wah, Cheung Ying (1), Lau Hak Suen or also Sek Kin. The public often remembers him in movies such as Buddha’s Palm (Part 1), A Drop Of Chivalrous Blood by Ling Yun (1), a serial of movies on the Monkey-King by Wong Hok Sing or also The Azure Blood and The Golden Pin by Chan Lit Ban. When a Cantonese movie was successful, a series of sequels was then quickly shot. Kwan Hoi San, just as many other stars from that period, was playing the same part from one movie to another, and shooting several movies at the same time. This beautiful era wherein he was the young lead last until the end of the 1960s, when the arrival of the Mandarin language productions from the Shaw Brothers will impose juvenile faces to the public, such as Jimmy Wang Yu, David Chiang Da Wei or Yueh Hua. Kwan Hoi San and his friends had then to accept this change. Some retured to theatre, others continued to do movies in Cantonese while participating in productions shot then in Mandarin in big studios such as Shaw Brothers or Cathay Asia Films. Other also will integrate television, then still on its early stage, where they will meet again some filmmakers that have also turned toward TV.
Kwan Hoi San cinema career went downhill until the mid-1970s. In 1976, he joined T.V.B., which he didn't leave up until the early 2000s. During his television period, he quickly becomes a great and must-have supporting part in the soaps. Not unlike in cinema, Kwan Hoi San was able to perform all kinds of characters in the small screen without troubling his audience. He was, from one series to another, a good family man, a Kung-fu master, a machiavellian godfather,a minister of the emperor, a Taoist magician, a firm manager, a historical character or also a traitor to the country. The part he was the most often attributed was the one of the patriarch of a rich family in decay, in the long emblematic series of the channel. Other stars from T.V.B. have confronted him more than once in the long series of the channel: Chow Yun Fat, Carol Cheng Yu Ling and Simon Yam Tat Wah in Brothers/Tsan Ching (亲情), Adam Cheng Siu Chow in Clan of Intrigues/Chor Lau Heung (楚留香), Andy Lau Tak Wah and Tony Leung Chiu Wai in The Duke of Mount Deer/Luk Ding Kei (鹿鼎记), Felix Wong Yat Wah and Ray Lui Leung Wai in Kung Fu Master of Fat Shan/Fat San Chan Sin Sang (佛山赞先生), Stephen Chow Sing Chi in The Justice of Life/Ta Loi Chi Kong Woo (他來自江湖) or also Lau Ching Wan in The Battle Among The Clans/Dai Heung Kong (大香港). In 1982, in The Demi-Gods and Demi-Devils/Tin Lung Pa Po (天龙八部), he crossed the path of Leung Kar Yan, but also Kwan Chung (关聪), one of his sons.
In the meantime, Kwan Hoi San kept on working in the cinema industry with more or less outstanding parts. In the 1980s, just like a Bill Tung Biu, Kwan Hoi San found a second fame within cinema thanks to his successful television career. Young filmmakers, including thos who knew him from TV sets, rediscovered him, and offered him interesting supporting parts. When he was well directed, the result was, for an example, Brothers From Walled City, or Hong Kong, Hong Kong. In the latter, he acts an old violent single man who ends up marrying Cherie Chung Chor Hung, an illegal immigrant coming from China and in love with Alex Man Chi Leung. His performance “without a safety net” had at the time triggered debates and admiration: The scenes where he bullies the poor Cherie Chung Chor Hung are kept in all memories…
An Immense actor, Kwan Hoi San had the reputation to be serious at work, whatever the part he was doing. As he was appreciating playing and disguising, he never hesitated to appear weirdly dressed, in Wu Xia Pian as well as in comedies. Despite his fame, he was not afraid to ridiculize himself on screen or to play amoral guys, and this at a very late age. In the 1990s, he did one more step toward auto-mockery (probably also because of financial needs): He was regularly seen in category 3 movies! Which by the way was not keeping him from playing exemplary patriarchs. Respected in the profession, Kwan Hai San was also enjoying teaching young comedians. He was giving them advices on the sets. Great stars of today, who worked with him at their beginnings, all consider him as their master. Kwan Hoi San had also the honour of presiding over the association of Cantonese opera companies of Hong Kong.
In 1991, he won the Hong Kong Film Award and the Taiwanese Golden Horse in the best male supporting role category for his part in Lee Rock by Lawrence Ah Mon. Western viewers can remember his part in Project A and Project A II by Jackie Chan, where he was playing the superior of the star, hunched up in his third rate uniform. Let’s remind that at this time, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung Kam Bo were enjoying paying tribute to past Cantonese cinema stars by reuniting them in their great productions. John Woo’s fans don’t forget Kwan Hoi San in Hard Boiled where he was that old godfather for who things where far too much complicated because of the young generation of gangsters, led by Anthony Wong Chau Sang, and he was “betrayed” by Tony Leung Chiu Wai.
Kwan Hoi San was enjoying life. He was drinking and smoking much; some habits he had since his rebel youth. He was a great collector of paintings and Chinese calligraphies, but also of pipes. Great womanizer in his youth, he was the father of 3 sons and 3 daughters, from 4 successive weddings. His first wife (who left him without leaving any child) was also an actress who came from Guangdong like him. He had met his second spouse during a tour in the south of Vietnam; He had 4 children with her, including the comedian Kwan Chung. His third wife was a Chinese woman from Malaysia. Together they had a Daughter. In 1969, according to his sayings, Kwon Hoi San fell in love at the first sight with the young Tsang Dai Yung (曾娣容). They never left each other until his death. Like in some series from the TVB, Kwan Hoi San was the patriarch of a dislocated clan. Except his last son, he was not really seeing his other children – some say it was because of his last spouse. In 2001, he suffered from an apoplexy attack. Paralysed and mute, he had to leave the profession. Apart from his last son, his children could not really see him during his recovery. Some conflicts for the legacy appeared at that time and will probably continue after his death, between his last wife and his children from other marriages. Let’s note that his last son Kwan Chung, exiled in Taiwan, has done some jail time there because of misappropriation of funds – according to certain sources he became a Buddhist monk since then.
In 2005, TVB (which dropped him after his accident) paid a tribute to Kwan Hoi San during a special show. A very popular actor, Kwan Hoi San had participated to more than 300 films and TV soaps. With his death, it is a whole part of the memory of theatre, cinema and television from Hong Kong that disappears forever.
VTL (September 2006) |
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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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貼錯門神 |
1979 |
Actor |
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All's Well Ends Well |
1992 |
Actor |
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Angel Delight |
1992 |
Brief appearance |
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Banquet, The |
1991 |
Brief appearance |
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Blood Sorcery |
1986 |
Actor |
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Brave Girl, The |
1967 |
Actor |
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Brothers From Walled City |
1982 |
Actor |
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Bruce Le's Greatest Revenge |
1978 |
Actor |
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Brutal Sorcery |
1983 |
Actor |
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Buddha's Palm (Part 1) |
1964 |
Actor |
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Buddha's Palm (Part 2) |
1964 |
Actor |
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Buddha's Palm (Part 3) |
1964 |
Actor |
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Buddha's Palm (Part 4) |
1964 |
Actor |
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By Hook And By Crook |
1978 |
Actor |
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Casino Raiders 2 |
1991 |
Actor |
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Casino Tycoon |
1992 |
Actor |
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Chor Lau Heung |
1979 |
Actor |
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Coolie Killer |
1982 |
Brief appearance |
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Crazy Boy And Pop-Eye |
1979 |
Actor |
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Crazy Horse, Intelligent Monkey |
1982 |
Actor |
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Criminal Hunter, The |
1988 |
Actor |
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Curse |
1985 |
Actor |
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Dark Heroine Mu Lanhua Shattered The Black Dragon Gang |
1966 |
Actor |
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Darkside Of Chinatown |
1989 |
Actor |
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Dead Curse |
1985 |
Actor |
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Demi Gods And Semi Devils I : Six Meridians Divine Sword |
1982 |
Actor |
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Demi-Gods And Semi-Devils II : The Legend Of Hui-Juk |
1982 |
Actor |
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Descendant Of Wing Chun |
1979 |
Actor |
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Devil Curse |
1988 |
Actor |
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Devil Of Rape |
1992 |
Actor |
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Devil Sorcery, The |
1988 |
Actor |
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Duke Of Mount Deer, The |
1984 |
Actor |
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Eight Diagram Cudgel |
1992 |
Actor |
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Energetic 21 |
1982 |
Actor |
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Executor, The |
1981 |
Actor |
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Exodus From Afar |
1998 |
Actor |
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Farewell 19 |
1983 |
Actor |
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Final Combat, The |
1989 |
Actor |
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Five Swordsmen |
1964 |
Actor |
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Flying Phoenix From Wudang (Part 1), The |
1964 |
Actor |
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Flying Phoenix From Wudang (Part 2), The |
1964 |
Actor |
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Foundation, The |
1984 |
Actor |
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Full Moon, The |
1967 |
Actor |
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Furious Buddha's Palm, The |
1965 |
Actor |
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Fury Of The Heaven |
1986 |
Actor |
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Ghost's Hospital |
1988 |
Actor |
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Giants, The |
1978 |
Actor |
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Golden Hairpin (Final Episode), The |
1964 |
Actor |
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Goodbye Mr Cool |
2001 |
Actor |
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Great Conqueror's Concubine 1 & 2 |
1994 |
Actor |
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Happy Go Lucky |
1987 |
Actor |
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Hard Boiled |
1992 |
Actor |
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Hardworking Wife |
1949 |
Actor |
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Head For Sale |
1963 |
Actor |
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Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre |
1978 |
Actor |
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Heir To The Throne |
1987 |
Actor |
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Heroes Among Heroes |
1993 |
Actor |
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Hong Kong, Hong Kong |
1983 |
Actor |
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House Of The Lute |
1979 |
Actor |
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Interpol |
1982 |
Actor |
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Iron Horse And The Magic Dragon, The |
1963 |
Actor |
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Iron Wild Goose (Part 1), The |
1963 |
Singer, Actor |
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Iron Wild Goose (Part 2), The |
1963 |
Actor |
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It Runs In The Family |
1990 |
Actor |
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Justice Of Life, The |
1989 |
Actor |
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Kid From Kwangtung |
1982 |
Actor |
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Kung Fu Warrior, The |
1979 |
Actor |
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Lady In Black Cracks The Gate Of Hell |
1967 |
Actor |
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Lee Rock |
1991 |
Actor |
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Legend Of The Book And the Sword, The |
1976 |
Actor |
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Legend Of The Book And the Sword, The |
1987 |
Actor |
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Legend Of The Condor Heroes, The |
1983 |
Actor |
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Legend Of Wong Tai Sin |
1992 |
Actor |
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Lonely Rider, The |
1970 |
Actor |
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Lost Generation |
1983 |
Actor |
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Lucky Breaks |
1981 |
Actor |
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Magic Curse, The |
1977 |
Actor |
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Mahjong Heroes |
1982 |
Actor |
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Man From Holland, The |
1986 |
Actor |
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Man Of The Times |
1993 |
Actor |
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Marked For Murder |
1994 |
Actor |
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Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung |
1992 |
Actor |
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Mighty Couple |
1971 |
Actor |
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Mission Of Condor |
1991 |
Actor |
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Moment Of Romance II, A |
1993 |
Actor |
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Monkey King And The Imps |
1966 |
Actor |
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Monkey Saint Versus Eight Fairies |
1965 |
Actor |
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Monkey Soldiers Come To The Rescue, The |
1963 |
Actor |
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My Heart Is That Eternal Rose |
1989 |
Actor |
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Mystery of the Condor Heroes, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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New Adventures Of Chor Lau Heung, The |
1984 |
Actor |
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New Heaven Sword And The Dragon Sabre, The |
1986 |
Actor |
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O.C.T.B. Case : The Floating Body |
1995 |
Actor |
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One Armed Swordsman, The |
1966 |
Actor |
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Over The Rainbow |
1979 |
Actor |
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Portland Street Blues |
1998 |
Actor |
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Price Of Growing Up, The |
1987 |
Actor |
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Project A |
1983 |
Actor |
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Project A II |
1987 |
Actor |
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Queen Of Kowloon |
2000 |
Actor |
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Queen Of Temple Street |
1990 |
Cameo |
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Radio Tycoon |
1983 |
Actor |
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Rainbow Pass, The |
1964 |
Actor |
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Recipe For The Heart, A |
1997 |
Actor |
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Red Lips |
1991 |
Actor |
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Reincarnation |
1987 |
Actor |
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Ring Of Spies, The |
1965 |
Actor |
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Roof With A View, A |
1993 |
Actor |
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Roving Swordsman, The |
1983 |
Actor |
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Running Mate |
1989 |
Actor |
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Scarlet Boy |
1962 |
Actor |
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Seven Fights With Nine Tail Fox |
1964 |
Actor |
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Shaolin Avengers |
1994 |
Actor |
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Shaolin Disciples |
1978 |
Actor |
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Shaolin Vs Wu Tang |
1983 |
Actor |
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Siamese Twins, The |
1984 |
Actor |
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Son Of Dragon |
1992 |
Actor |
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Sting 2, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Street Car Named Desire, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Struggle, The |
1980 |
Actor |
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Sword Of Swords |
1965 |
Actor |
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Tale Of A Heroine, The |
1993 |
Actor |
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Textiles At Heart |
2000 |
Actor |
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To Crack The Dragon Gate |
1970 |
Actor |
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Touch Of Evil, A |
1995 |
Actor |
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Transmigration Romance |
1991 |
Actor |
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Unmatchable Match, The |
1990 |
Actor |
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What Is A Good Teacher |
2000 |
Actor |
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Whore And Policewoman |
1993 |
Actor |
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Witchcraft Vs Curse |
1991 |
Brief appearance |
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Wonton Love |
1999 |
Actor |
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Working Class |
1985 |
Actor |
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Young And Dangerous 5 |
1998 |
Actor |
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Young Boss Of The Factory, The |
1963 |
Actor |
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Young Vagabond |
1985 |
Actor |
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Yu Pui Tsuen |
1986 |
Actor |
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Article
Review
Poster/Gallery
DVD Captures
Trailer
DVD Captures/Trailer
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Article Links (French only) (Show) |
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Interview Links |
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Secondary Interview Links (Show) |
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