Cheng Lei
(Cheng Hong-Rong)
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Biography
This muscleman, started out with good friends Jimmy Wang-Yu, Yueh Hua, and Lo Lieh as some of the new faces at Shaw Brothers. In the early 60's, they appeared in what was said to be, the beginning of the Martial-arts genre (as fans know it) in the film, Tiger Boy. After leaving Shaw Brothers, he worked on many independent films, such as Kung Fu's Hero and The Chinese Mack. I remember him fighting with his tattooed friend, Chan Wei-Man in the The Chinese Godfather -- even tried to whip him with a Snake (in the films' finale). His work away from Shaw studios (though, few as they may have been), gave him a chance to dislay a bit more, in the way of acting -- other than that of the “Dumb" muscleman roles, he normally received.
He would play the hero's friend in earlier films, later graduating to the spot of main villain, himself. His muscularity, never stopped him from participating in his share of onscreen brawls. He's played in a number of films, that would give him a chance to use those muscles properly, but (unfortunately) at Shaw Brothers, most of his work was "supportive" to the films star. He appeared in the cult-classic, Godfathers From Hong Kong (and one of the most sought after movies of all time) and to very good effect. This was the first time, I remembered seeing him onscreen and he seemed to make a formidable foe to Korean martial-artist Chen Chin-Pai. Given the calibre of talent out during this time, he did a pretty decent job as a villain.