Tak-Hing Kwan(1905-1996)
- Actor
- Stunts
- Producer
When he was 13 years old, he joined an entertainment troupe on tour of
Singapore. During these years he began to study performing. In 1932 he
debuted in the film "Gor Nui Ching Chiu" ("Sentimental Song of
Companions' Tide") playing a bit part, shot in San Francisco (USA).
Soon he came back to Hong Kong to participate in anti-Japanese
opposition movement. His first leading role was in 1935 with "Song of
the Yesterday", filmed the first version in Hong Kong and the second in
the USA in 1937. During World War II Kwan travelled through USA to
raise funds for China. In 1947 a Singaporean film company hired him to
play martial arts master Wong Fei-Hung in a movie trilogy directed by
Wu Peng. Kwan was hired because of his martial arts knowledge. The
success was so great that Wu and Kwan would collaborate on 79 films, 59
of which were about Wong. After almost 90 films about Wong Fei-Hung,
Kwan played the same character in his first TV series in 1976. In total
Kwan made more than 130 films.
