SAMMO HUNG

'Sammo Hung' (; Cantonese: Hung4 Gam1 Bou2) (born January 7, 1952) is a Chinese actor, producer and director known for his work in many Kung fu films and Hong Kong action cinema. He has choreographed fight scenes for, amongst others, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, King Hu, Stephen Chow and John Woo.
Hung was among the pivotal figures who, spearheading the Hong Kong New Wave movement of the 1980s, helped reinvent the martial arts genre and started the Jiang Shi (hopping vampire) genre.
In East Asia, it is common for people to address their elders or influential people with familial nouns as a sign of familiarity and respect. Jackie Chan, for example, is often addressed as "Dai Goh", meaning Big Brother. Hung as the eldest of the kung fu "brothers" is known by the nickname "Dai Goh Dai", meaning Biggest Big Brother.

Contents

The early years

1960s and 1970s

Late 1970s - 1980s

1990s

2000s

Personal life

Filmography

Trivia

See also

References

External links

The early years

Born Hong Jin-bao in Hong Kong, both of his parents worked as wardrobe artists in the local film industry and guardianship was thrust upon his grandparents.
Hung joined the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim Yuen, in 1959, after his grandparents heard about the school from their friends. Hung, who was known as ''Yuen Lung'' in the Seven Little Fortunes (七小福) performing group, would establish a school rivalry with one of the younger students, ''Yuen Lo''. Yuen Lo would go on to become international superstar Jackie Chan. Hung left the Academy after an injury left him bedridden for an extended time, during which his weight ballooned. After finding work in the film industry as a stuntman, he was given a nickname after a well-known Chinese cartoon character, Sam-mo (三毛; Three Hairs).
In 1988, Hung starred in Alex Law's ''Painted Faces'', a dramatic retelling of his experiences at the ''China Drama Academy''. Among the exercises featured in the movie 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 movie a toned-down version of their own experiences.

1960s and 1970s

Hung appeared in several children's movies in the 1960s. In the 1962 movie ''The Birth of Yue Fei'',^[1] he played a ten year old Yue Fei, a famous Chinese general and martyr from the Song Dynasty. The majority of his performance was alongside another actor portraying Zhou Tong, Yue's elderly military arts tutor. It was not until the 1970s that his career began in earnest.
Hung began working for Raymond Chow and the Golden Harvest company and was initially hired to choreograph ''The Fast Sword'' (1970). His popularity soon began to grow, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to his work, he caught the eye of celebrated Taiwanese director, King Hu. Hung choreographed two of Hu's movies, ''A Touch of Zen'' (1971) and ''The Fate of Lee Khan'' (1973).
Also in 1973, he was seen in the Bruce Lee classic, ''Enter the Dragon''. Hung was the Shaolin student Bruce faces in the opening sequence.
In 1977, Hung made his directorial debut with ''The Iron Fisted Monk''.
After Jackie Chan's success with ''Drunken Master'' (1978), Hung was scheduled to make a similar movie featuring that film's "Beggar So" character played by Yuen Siu Tien (aka Simon Yuen). As Jackie's elder, Sammo was expected to be able to surpass him in popularity. The movie was called ''Magnificent Butcher'' and was released in 1979. However, during filming Yuen Siu Tien died of a heart attack. He was replaced by Fan Mei Sheng and Yuen's absence may have led to low ticket sales.

Late 1970s - 1980s

Toward the late 1970s, Hong Kong cinema began to shift away from the Mandarin-language, epic martial arts movies popularized by directors such as Chang Cheh. In a series of movies, Hung, along with Jackie Chan, began reinterpreting the genre by making Cantonese comedy Kung Fu. While these movies still strongly featured Kung Fu, they also feature a liberal mixture of humour.
As Hung's fame grew, he used his newly-found influence to assist his former Opera classmates. Aside from regular collaborations with Chan, others such as Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah also began to make appearances in his films.
In 1978 and 1981, Hung made two movies that are considered to contain the finest examples of the Wing Chun style on film. The first, ''Warriors Two'' was the biggest role for South Korean super kicker Casanova Wong, who teams up with Hung in the final fight. The second film, ''The Prodigal Son'', shot fellow Opera schoolmate Yuen Biao to stardom, the Wing Chun fighting was performed by Lam Ching-Ying.
Hung's martial arts movies of the 1980s helped reconfigure how martial arts were presented on screen. While the martial arts movies of the 1970s generally featured highly-stylized fighting sequences in period or fantasy settings, Hung's choreography, set in modern urban areas, was more realistic and frenetic - featuring long one-on-one fight scenes. The fight sequences from several of these films, such as those in ''Winners and Sinners'' (1982) and ''Wheels on Meals'' (1985) came to define 1980s martial arts movies.
In 1983, the collaboration between the triumverate of Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao began with Chan's ''Project A''. Hung, Chan and Yuen were known as the 'Three Dragons'. Their alliance lasted 5 years, with ''Dragons Forever'' being their final film to date.
Hung also created the ''Jiang Shi'' ("hopping vampire" or "hopping corpse") genre with two landmark films, ''Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind'' (1981) and ''The Dead and the Deadly'' (1983). Both movies feature vampires who, as stiffened corpses, move by hopping, as well as Taoist priests with the ability to quell these vampires (and at times, each other) through magical spells and charms. These films meld Chinese folk beliefs with special effects and kung fu action to create a genre that is uniquely Chinese. Hung's films would later pave the way for movies such as the popular ''Mr. Vampire'' (1985), which he also produced.
In the mid-1980s Hung started Bo Ho, a film company that operated under Golden Harvest. The movies made by Bo Ho include the aforementioned ''Mr. Vampire'' (1985), and ''On the Run'' (1989) starring Yuen Biao.
Hung was also responsible for the ''Lucky Stars'' comedy film series in the 1980s. He directed and co-starred in the original trilogy, ''Winners and Sinners'', ''My Lucky Stars'' and ''Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars''. These first three films also featured Chan and Biao in supporting roles. Hung produced and played a supporting role in the fourth film, ''Lucky Stars Go Places'', and made a cameo appearance in the sixth and final film, ''How to Meet the Lucky Stars''.

1990s

In the late 1990s, Hung starred in an American television series by CBS called ''Martial Law'' (1998–2000), with Arsenio Hall as his co-star. Reportedly he recited his English dialogue phonetically.

2000s

During 2000-2001, Hung expressed interest in creating a film adaptation of the video game ''. The production agreement for the film was made around April 2001 with an estimated budget of $50 million. Hung had the idea of producing a martial arts epic with Jackie Chan in the lead role, but the movie was never made. Hung's plans were detailed on his website, but after a year the announcement was removed. The film rights have since been acquired by Warren Zide, producer of ''American Pie'' and ''Final Destination''.
Hung made something of a comeback to the Hong Kong film industry in the 2000s, most notably with ''The Legend of Zu'', the long-awaited sequel to ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'', and '' (aka ''Kill Zone''), in which he played a villain for the first time in over 25 years, and fought for the first time against Donnie Yen. One of the key relationships in ''SPL'' had been Hung's role as the adoptive father of Wu Jing's character. However, these scenes were dropped from the final film as the director, Wilson Yip, couldn't find a way to fit them into the film. In response to this, a prequel film is planned.
Hung also continues to provide martial arts and action choreography in films and television. His most recent works include ''Kung Fu Hustle'' and ''Dragon Squad''. Though Yuen Woo-ping was credited for the martial arts choreography on ''Kung Fu Hustle'', Hung actually did the preliminary work but left the movie and Yuen subsequently filled in to complete it. Because of his departure from the film, there was tabloid speculation that he and Stephen Chow had strong differences over the film, resulting in their separation. However, Chow has since responded that Hung left for personal reasons and not because of speculated tensions.
In between films and special appearances, Hung has appeared in several Taiwanese TV series. In 2003 he was in ''Undercover Cop'' with Fan Bing-Bing and more recently, he played a master con-artist in ''Coming Lies''.
Hung and Wu Jing also appeared in 2007's ''Twins Mission'' alongside stars, the Twins.
Hung will next star and perform action choreography for Daniel Lee's ''Resurrection of the Dragon'', with Andy Lau and Maggie Q. The film, which is currently in production, is based on the book ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms''.
Thereafter, Hung will direct and star in another martial arts epic entitled ''Howling Arrow''. According to Hung's official website, the film is expected to co-star Aaron Kwok, Wu Jing, and Zhou Xun and will be filmed for Tsui Siu-ming’s Sundream Productions.
Additionally, Hung has recently finished filming the TV series ''Wing Chun'' alongside Yuen Biao, Nicholas Tse and his youngest son, Sammy Hung.^[2]

Personal life

★ Hung is known for his distinctive large frame. Despite this, he is a surprisingly agile and formidable martial artist.

★ He is a grandchild of archetypal martial-arts actress Zhi-Gong Chen.^[3]

★ Hung is one of the celebrities honoured on the Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong.

★ He has 3 sons and 1 daughter, Timmy Hung Tin Ming, Jimmy Hung Tin Cheung, Sammy Hung Tin Chiu and Stephanie Hung with Jo Yun Ok, whom he grew up with in martial arts training school. He divorced Yun Ok in 1994 and married model and actress Joyce Godenzi in 1995.^[4] Godenzi appeared in several of his films including ''The Haunted Island'' ''Eastern Condors'' (both 1986), and ''Paper Marriage'' (1988) prior to the pair becoming a couple. She also appeared in ''Mr. Nice Guy'' (1997).

★ Timmy Hung works as an actor with TVB, appearing opposite Yuen Biao in the 2005 series ''Real Kung Fu'' (aka ''Mr Chan of Fu Shan''). He has also appeared in several films including ''Osaka Wrestling Restaurant'', ''Wo Hu'', ''New Police Story'', ''Angels of Mission'' and alongside his father in '' and ''Legend of the Dragon''.

★ Jimmy Hung is in an R&B group called "Tension".

★ 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.^[2]

Filmography

''For more information, see Sammo Hung filmography.''
Hung has worked on 150 films, beginning as a child actor whilst still attending the ''China Drama Academy''. Upon leaving he worked as a stuntman and progressed through other roles including stunt co-ordinator / action coreographer, actor, writer, producer and director.

Trivia

★ A pop band from Wales named themselves ''Sammo Hung'' after the actor.^[6]

★ Master Elehung Kimpō, from ''Juken Sentai Gekiranger'', is named after him.

See also

★ Cinema of Hong Kong

★ Hong Kong action cinema

References

1. Yue Fei Chu Shi
2. Sammo Hung's official website

3. IMDb
4. Film Reference website

5. Sammo Hung's official website

6. BBC Wales - Music

External links

★ Official website

★

★ Magnificent Sammo Hung a Fansite from Hungary

★ Sammo Hung Forum from Hungary

★ Sammo Hung Kam Bo at Hong Kong Cinemagic

★ Jade Screen: The Hong Kong Movie Magazine