Back in the 60's, he was one of Shaw Brothers main stars. Long before most fans ever heard of David Chiang and Ti Lung, he was compiling a resume of films, as his stardom rose. He had his choice of roles (and starlets) and was one of the most well-known and respected names in Asia. Though, most of his roles were Dramas, he excelled in them and with his rugged looks, he garnered a ton of fans. During the kung-fu craze of the 70's, he jumped right in, mixing it up with some of the genre's top names of that era (and to good effect).To his credit, he gave an excellent performance in the Shaw classic - Iron Buddha and director Joseph Kuo's swordplay film, The Mighty One.
His first [authentic] Kung-fu film was The Deadly Knives, where he had to fight off the Japanese, who were trying to steal his family's property. The film Heroes Of The Underground, showed that he had what it took, to be able to star in action films. He always appeared in the "Mysterious Stranger" kind of roles (like a Chinese Clint Eastwood), when it came to martial-arts films. Though, he didn't possess the flashiness that many stars did, if the storyline was pretty good, then [possibly] so was his role in the film. Some of my other favorite (Shaw) films from him would have to be - Death Duel, The Proud Youth, and The Swift Sword -- (the latter (2) starring funny-man Wong Yu in dramatic roles).
His first [authentic] Kung-fu film was The Deadly Knives, where he had to fight off the Japanese, who were trying to steal his family's property. The film Heroes Of The Underground, showed that he had what it took, to be able to star in action films. He always appeared in the "Mysterious Stranger" kind of roles (like a Chinese Clint Eastwood), when it came to martial-arts films. Though, he didn't possess the flashiness that many stars did, if the storyline was pretty good, then [possibly] so was his role in the film. Some of my other favorite (Shaw) films from him would have to be - Death Duel, The Proud Youth, and The Swift Sword -- (the latter (2) starring funny-man Wong Yu in dramatic roles).
Biography
He joined that elite group of actors, who made it from the 60's through the 70's and still found work, because of his excellent acting ability. In films like Marvelous Stunts Of Kung Fu and Proud Horse In Flying Sand, gave him a chance to show his acting-muscle against such stars as Wang Tao, Angela Mao, and Wang Kuan-Hsing. In later films like A Brotherhood Of Heroes and The Last Duel -- seemed to show him using more Camera-tricks, than real skill to pull off his roles. I never understood if this was due to directors, actors who weren't as skillful, or a bit of both. In his case, he was a consummate actor and didn't really need "Special-effects" to make his acting superior, to others he shared the screen with.