Biography
First seen by Americans in the cult-classic Queen Boxer, with his good friend Chia Ling, he's been in Asian Cinema for a number of years. His association with director Li Han-Hsiang, garnered him praise (The Dawn, Lady In The Tower, The Adultress, and Golden Lotus) and heightened his acting talents. He would go on to win (2) Golden Horse Awards - for Yang-tze River (1969) and Li's Illicit Desire (1973). He didn't really display much in the way of kung-fu skills, but his acting was noticeably a step above most of his co-stars. Yet, it was the Cathay film From The Highway, that began to open doors for him. This film was the first '70s kung-fu film ever made released. It premiered a few months prior to Chang Cheh's film - Vengeance and Jimmy Wang-Yu's directorial debut, The Chinese Boxer.
His talents would take him to new heights as a studio owner (Fong Ming Film Company), with his wife - giving him the room and flexibility, that few had back then. He was also proficient behind the cameras well, where he found producing and directing to be more of his calling, than the fight-game. Though, he played in a few kung-fu films, he mostly produced dramas. One of the most popular films of the genre, that his company produced, was Samo Hung's Enter The Fat Dragon. This was one of the films, that was responsible for putting Samo back in favor with Raymond Chow, as the owner was trying to woo Chan to Golden Harvest. He appeared in Jackie Chan's 2nd effort in the USA, while trying to win over American audiences in the film, The Protector.