Sammo Hung
Sammo Hung | ||
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洪金寶 | ||
Born | Hung Kam-bo 7 January 1952 | |
Other names | Dai Goh Dai (大哥大) Yuen Lung (元龍) Chu Yuen Lung (朱元龍) | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1961–present | |
Spouses | ||
Children |
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Yue: Cantonese | ||
Jyutping | Hung4 Gam1-bou2 |
Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo (
Hung is one of the pivotal figures who spearheaded the Hong Kong New Wave movement of the 1980s, helped reinvent the martial arts genre and started the zombie-like jiangshi genre. He is widely credited with assisting many of his compatriots, giving them their starts in the Hong Kong film industry, by casting them in the films he produced, or giving them roles in the production crew.
Both Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were often addressed as "Dai Goh", meaning "Big Brother", until the filming of Project A, which featured both actors. As Hung was the eldest of the kung fu "brothers", and the first to make a mark on the industry, he was given the nickname "Dai Goh Dai", meaning "Big, Big Brother", or "Biggest Big Brother".[2]
Early years
Born in Hong Kong, both of his parents worked as wardrobe artists in the local film industry and guardianship was thrust upon his grandparents. His grandmother was archetypal martial art actress Chin Tsi-ang[3] and his grandfather was film director Hung Chung-ho.
Hung joined the
Many years later, in 1988, Hung starred in Alex Law's Painted Faces, a dramatic re-telling of his experiences at the China Drama Academy. Among the exercises featured in the film are numerous acrobatic backflips, and hours of handstands performed against a wall. Despite some of the more brutal exercises and physical punishments shown in Painted Faces, Hung and the rest of the Seven Little Fortunes consider the film a toned-down version of their actual experiences.
Film career
1960s and 1970s
Hung appeared as a child actor in several films for
In 1970, Hung began working for Raymond Chow and the Golden Harvest film company.[5] He was initially hired to choreograph the action scenes for the very first Golden Harvest film, The Angry River (1970).[8] His popularity soon began to grow, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to his work, he again caught the eye of celebrated Taiwanese director, King Hu. Hung choreographed Hu's The Fate of Lee Khan (1973).
In the same year, Hung went to South Korea to study hapkido under master Ji Han-jae.
Also in 1973, he was seen in the
In 1975, Hung appeared in The Man from Hong Kong, billed as the first Australian martial arts film.
Toward the late 1970s, Hong Kong cinema began to shift away from the
In 1977, Hung was given his first lead role in a Golden Harvest production, in the film Shaolin Plot. His next film, released the same year, was also his directorial debut, The Iron-Fisted Monk, one of the earliest martial art comedies.[5]
In 1978, Raymond Chow gave Hung the task of completing the fight co-ordination for the re-shoot of Game of Death, the film Bruce Lee was unable to complete before his death in 1973.
In 1978, Hung directed his second film, the comedy
After Jackie Chan's success with
1980s
As Hung's fame grew, he used his newly found influence to assist his former China Drama Academy classmates, as well as the former students of "rival" school, The Spring and Autumn Drama School. Aside from regular collaborations with Chan, others such as Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching-ying and Mang Hoi also began to make regular appearances in his films.
In 1978 and 1981, Hung made two films that contain fine examples of the Wing Chun style. The first, Warriors Two was the most significant role to date for South Korean super kicker Casanova Wong, who teamed up with Hung in the final fight. The second film was The Prodigal Son, in which the Wing Chun fighting was performed by Lam Ching-Ying. The release of The Prodigal Son, along with another film directed by and co-starring Hung, Knockabout (1979) also shot his fellow Opera schoolmate Yuen Biao to stardom.
Hung's martial arts films of the 1980s helped reconfigure how martial arts were presented on screen. While the martial arts films of the 1970s generally featured highly stylised fighting sequences in
In 1983, the collaboration between the triumvirate of Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao began with Chan's Project A. Hung, Chan and Yuen were known as the 'Three Dragons' and their alliance lasted for 5 years. Although Yuen continued to appear in the films of Hung and Chan, the final film to date starring all three was 1988's Dragons Forever.
Hung was also responsible for the
During the 1980s, Hung was instrumental in the creating the
1990s
Film
After some relatively poor performances at the domestic box-office, Hung had a dispute with studio head, Raymond Chow. Hung had produced the thriller Into the Fire (1989), but Hung felt Golden Harvest had withdrawn the film from cinemas too soon. The disagreement led to Hung parting company with Golden Harvest in 1991, after 21 years with the company.
Whilst continuing to produce films through his own company Bojon Films Company Ltd, Hung failed to equal his early successes. His fortunes improved somewhat as the helmer of Mr. Nice Guy (1997), a long-awaited reunion with Chan.
In 1994, Hung coordinated the fight sequences in Wong Kar-wai's wuxia epic, Ashes of Time.
Television
In 1998, US television network CBS began to broadcast Martial Law (1998–2000) on Saturday nights, an action-drama built around Hung. The hour-long shows were a surprise success and installed Hung as the only East Asian headlining a prime time network series. The television series was executive produced and occasionally directed by Stanley Tong, and co-starred Arsenio Hall. Hung reportedly recited some of his English dialogue phonetically.[citation needed]
2000s
Film
During 2000–2001, Hung expressed interest in creating a film adaptation of the video game
Hung found renewed success in the Hong Kong film industry in the 2000s, beginning with
In 2005, Hung was involved in
Antony Szeto's film, Wushu, which stars Hung premiered in Beijing in October 2008. The film was unveiled by Golden Network at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Jackie Chan was the film's executive producer, and worked on the film in an advisory capacity, assisting with marketing and casting.[10] Hung then worked again with director Wilson Yip and star Donnie Yen, as the action director for the 2008 film Ip Man.
In 2010, Hung was given a lifetime achievement award at the New York Asian Film Festival, where four of his films were shown.[11] That year Hung appeared in Ip Man 2, which he also choreographed. His role is that of a Hung Gar master who challenges Ip Man. In the same year, Hung appeared in the movie The Legend Is Born: Ip Man as well. He acts as Chan Wah-shun, the martial arts teacher of Ip Man.
The annual and highly anticipated Hong Kong International Film Festival was held for its 45th edition in April 2021. Hung is one of the six veteran Hong Kong filmmakers who directed renowned local director Johnnie To Kei-fung's highly anticipated anthology series : "Septet: The Story of Hong Kong" (2022). The other filmmakers include Ringo Lam, Ann Hui On-wah, Patrick Tam Kar Ming, Tsui Hark, Yuen Woo-ping and Johnnie To. The short files were shot entirely on 35mm film with each of them touches on a nostalgic and moving story set across different time periods, with every one acting as an ode to the city.[12]
Television
In between films and special appearances, Hung has appeared in several East Asian television series. In 2003 he was in two mainland Chinese series:
Hung appeared as a guest judge on the
In another mainland Chinese television series,
Filmography
Hung has starred in 75 films, and worked on over 230, beginning as a child actor whilst still attending the China Drama Academy. Upon leaving the opera school, he worked as an extra and stuntman, and progressed through other roles including fight choreographer, stunt co-ordinator, action director, actor, writer, producer and director.
Most recently, Hung has starred in the 2017 historic action film
Film production
Gar Bo Motion Picture Company
In 1978 Sammo Hung formed Gar Bo Motion Picture Company, a subsidiary of
Gar Bo released two films, both starring Hung and Lau:- Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog (1978)
- Odd Couple (1979)
Bo Ho Film Company Ltd.
1980 saw Raymond Chow pull one of Hung's films from local cinemas after just two weeks. Hung responded by starting his own production company, Bo Ho Film Company Ltd., allowing him to have greater control in producing Hong Kong films.[20][21] While Bo Ho produced, Golden Harvest still operated as distributors. In all, 44 films were released by Bo Ho, several of which starred Hung:
- Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980)
- Long Arm of the Law (1984)
- Pom Pom (1984)
- Hocus Pocus (1984)
- Mr. Vampire (1985)
- Heart of Dragon (1985)
- Those Merry Souls (1985)
- Goodbye Mammie (1986)
- Lucky Stars Go Places (1986)
- Millionaires Express (1986)
- Righting Wrongs (1986)
- Rosa (1986)
- The Strange Bedfellow (1986)
- Mr. Vampire II (1986)
- Eastern Condors (1987)
- Mr. Vampire III (1987)
- The Final Test (1987)
- The Happy Bigamist (1987)
- My Cousin, the Ghost (1987)
- Scared Stiff (1987)
- Sworn Brothers (1987)
- To Err is Humane (1987)
- In the Blood (1988)
- Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch (1988)
- Mr. Vampire IV (1988)
- On the Run (1988)
- Paper Marriage (1988)
- Picture of a Nymph (1988)
- One Husband Too Many (1988)
- Blonde Fury (1989)
- Burning Sensation (1989)
- In Between Loves (1989)
- A Fishy Story (1989)
- Doctor's Heart (1990)
- Her Fatal Ways (1990)
- Mortuary Blues (1990)
- Shanghai, Shanghai (1990)
- She Shoots Straight (1990)
- Queens Bench III (1990)
- Bury Me High (1991)
- The Top Bet (1991)
- You Bet Your Life (1991)
- Lover at Large (1991)
- The Scorpion King (1992)
D&B Films Company Ltd
In 1983, Hung co-founded another production company, D&B Films Company Ltd ("D&B" being short for "Duk-Bo"), with Dickson Poon and John Shum.[8] The company operated until 1992 and produced a total of 68 Hong Kong films:[22]
- Hong Kong 1941 (1984)
- The Owl vs Bombo (1984)
- The Return of Pom Pom (1984)
- The Island (1985)
- It's a Drink, It's a Bomb (1985)
- Mr. Boo Meets Pom Pom (1985)
- Yes, Madam (1985)
- Night Caller (1985)
- Dream Lovers (1986)
- Silent Love (1986)
- Passion (1986)
- Legacy of Rage (1986)
- My Family (1986)
- Pom Pom Strikes Back (1986)
- Conduct Zero (1986)
- Royal Warriors (1986)
- Brotherhood (1986)
- From Here to Prosperity (1986)
- The Lunatics (1986)
- Caper (1986)
- Devoted to You (1986)
- Where's Officer Tuba? (1986)
- Kiss Me Goodbye (1986)
- It's a Mad Mad World (1987)
- Porky's Meatballs (1987)
- The Wrong Couple (1987)
- Wonder Women (1987)
- Magnificent Warriors (1987)
- You're OK, I'm OK! (1987)
- The Final Victory (1987)
- Easy Money (1987)
- The Gang Don't Shoot Straight a.k.a. The Goofy Gang (1987)
- An Autumn's Tale (1987)
- Sapporo Story (1987)
- Heart To Hearts (1988)
- It's a Mad Mad World 2 (1988)
- Tiger Cage (1988)
- Fury (1988)
- Classmate Party a.k.a. Student Union (1988)
- Double Fattiness (1988)
- In the Line of Duty III (1988)
- Vengeance is Mine (1988)
- Keep on Dancing (1988)
- Bless This House (1988)
- Happy Together (1989)
- In the Line of Duty 4: Witness (1989)
- Mr. Fortune (1989)
- Unfaithfully Yours (1989)
- It's a Mad Mad World 3 (1989)
- The Nobles (1989)
- Funny Ghost (1989)
- A Bite of Love (1990)
- Love is Love (1990)
- Middle Man (1990)
- Tiger Cage 2 (1990)
- Heart into Hearts (1990)
- BB 30 (1990)
- Forbidden Arsenal(1991)
- The Perfect Match (1991)
- The Plot (1991)
- Sea Wolves (1991)
- Dreams of Glory, A Boxer's Story (1991)
- Tiger Cage 3 (1991)
- Black Cat (1991)
- His Fatal Ways (1991)
- Will of Iron (1991)
- Black Cat 2 (1992)
- Heart Against Hearts (1992)
Bojon Films Company Ltd
In 1980, Hung formed a production company, Bojon Films Company Ltd.[23] The company produced 12 films, 8 of which starred Hung:
- Two Toothless Tigers (1980)
- Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars (1985)
- Spooky, Spooky (1988)
- Pedicab Driver (1989)
- Into the Fire (1989)
- Encounters of the Spooky Kind II (1990)
- Pantyhose Hero (1990)
- License to Steal (1990)
- Slickers vs. Killers (1991)
- Banana Spirit (1992)
- Lover's Tear (1992)
- Don't Give a Damn (1995)
Personal life
- Hung's grandmother was martial-arts actress Chin Tsi-ang who starred in almost 80 films between 1941 and 2002. His grandfather, a film director and writer, Hung Chung Ho, directed over 40 films between 1937 and 1950.
- Hung's younger brother, Lee Chi-kit, has worked on almost 40 films, many of which Hung was also involved with. Lee also worked on Hung's Martial Law series. He works primarily as a supporting actor and action director.[24]
- In 1973, he married Jo Eun-ok (曹恩玉). Jo was his girlfriend whom he met during filming in Korea and later became his female assistant. They have three sons, Tin-Ming "Timmy" Hung (洪天明; born 1974), Tin Cheung "Jimmy" Hung (洪天祥; born 1977), Tin Chiu "Sammy" Hung (洪天照; born 1979), and a daughter, Chan Yu "Stephanie" Hung (洪煦榆; born 1983) with her. Hung divorced Jo in 1994. Hung admitted that the reason for this was that he often cheated on her and caused them to fight every day.[citation needed]
- He married model and actress Joyce Godenzi in 1995.[25] Godenzi appeared in several of his films including Eastern Condors (1986), Spooky, Spooky (1988), Paper Marriage (1988) and She Shoots Straight (1990) prior to the pair becoming a couple. She also appeared in Mr. Nice Guy (1997).
- Timmy Hung has appeared alongside his father in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Legend of the Dragon, and Kung Fu Chefs, as well as having a recurring role in Sammo's series, Martial Law.
- Sammy Hung appeared as the nemesis to Nicholas Tse's character in the 2007 television series Wing Chun, a remake of the original series broadcast in 1994, and the subsequent film Wing Chun. The series also starred Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. Sammy also appeared alongside his father in the film Choy Lee Fut.[13]
- Hung is one of the celebrities honoured on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong.
- Hung is known for his large frame. Despite this, he is a surprisingly agile and formidable martial artist.
- He has a circular scar on the right side of his face, just above his lip. In the early days of his film career, Hung was involved in a street fight outside a Kowloon nightclub, and was stabbed with a broken cola bottle.
- On 5 August 2009, Hung became ill during the filming of Ip Man 2 in the Guangdong province of Foshan. He was admitted to hospital and underwent a heart surgery operation. He was discharged and returned to work within days. He cited a combination of his weight, his love of cigars and long filming hours resulting in fatigue and irregular meals as the cause.[26]
In popular culture
- A pop band from Wales named themselves Sammo Hung after the actor.[27]
- Master Elehung Kinpo, from Juken Sentai Gekiranger, is named after him. Coincidentally, Yū Mizushima, the voice actor for Elehung Kinpo, did the dubbing for Sammo Hung.
- A martial artist named Samohan Kinpou is frequently referred to in the anime Negima?!
See also
References
- ^ "Sammo Hung Kam-Bo - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Martial Arts Movies and TV Series - Wu Jing". Big, Big Brother Sammo Hung. Wu Jing.org. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2008.
- ^ "IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
- ^ a b Eastern Condors, Sammo Hung interview (DVD featurette) (DVD). Hong Kong Legends, UK. 2001 [1987].
- ^ a b c d e "Sammo Hung". Biography. Yahoo.com Movies. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Attending Wushu Premiere, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan Reminisce Their Past and Reveal Future Projects". Wu-jing.org. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
- ^ "Yue Fei Chu Shi" (in Chinese). China Movie DataBase. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
- ^ a b c Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon, Sammo Hung: The Bruce Lee Connection (DVD featurette) (DVD). Hong Kong Legends, UK. 2004 [1990].
- ^ "Soul Calibur film rights snapped up". GameSpot. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ Frater, Patrick. "'Wushu' gets its wings". Variety. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2006.
- ^ Lau, Joyce Hor-Chung (2 July 2010). "A King of Kung Fu Films Savors Work and Honors". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2010.
- ^ "Must-watch Chinese film premieres at the 2021 Hong Kong International Film Festival". igafencu.com. 2021-04-07
- ^ a b "Sammo Hung's official website". Archived from the original on 16 April 2004. Retrieved 1 April 2006.
- ^ "Jackie Chan on the Reasons Behind Producing The Disciple". Wu-Jing.org. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
- ^ "The Shao Lin Warriors (Shaolin Temple: Monks and Marines)". Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 22 November 2006.
- ^ "God of War (2017)". IMDb. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Gar Bo Motion Picture Company". Hong Kong Cinemagic. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ Odd Couple, Bey Logan audio commentary (DVD). Hong Kong Legends, UK. 2005 [1979].
- ^ "Jongo Knows". Sammo Hung (洪金宝). Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ "Bo Ho Films Co., Ltd". Hong Kong Cinemagic. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "Sammo Hung 洪金寶". EasternLens.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 September 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
- ^ "D&B Films Co". Hong Kong Cinemagic. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
- ^ "Bojon Films Company". Hong Kong Cinemagic. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
- ^ "HK Cinemagic". Retrieved 22 August 2008.
- ^ "Film Reference website". Retrieved 3 May 2006.
- ^ "Entertainment News: HK actor Sammo Hung hospitalised for heart surgery". News story. Channel News Asia. 14 August 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
- ^ "Sammy Hung Biography". BBC Wales - Music. Archived from the original on 6 December 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
External links
- Sammo Hung Kam-Bo at IMDb
- Sammo Hung Kam-Bo at the Hong Kong Movie Database
- Sammo Hung Profile at subtitledonline.com (archive)
- Sammo Hung Kam Bo at Hong Kong Cinemagic
- 2012 interview with Empiremagazine
- Sammo Hung Interview at Best For Film