Yuen Kwei
(Ying Gang-Ming | Yuen Yan-Kwei | Cory Yuen)
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Biography
A classmate of Jackie Chan, Samo Hung, Yuen Biao and others. He was one of the "7 Little Fortunes" (7 of the most talented kids from Sifu Jim Yuen's Peking Opera class. He rose from a stunt player to bit part actor to choreographer to finally director. Has appeared in Dance Of The Drunken Mantis, "The 7 Grandmasters, Born Invincible, and 6 Directions Of Boxing, to name a few. He is also credited with bringing Jean-Claude Van Damme and Cynthia Rothrock to stardom.
With his directorial debut Ninja In The Dragon's Den for "Seasonal Films", he became another visionary whose work would always get noticed. At a time when females were lacking (again) in martial-arts cinema he made such films as Yes, Madame with Michele Yeoh and She Shoots Straight featuring Samo's future wife Joyce Godenzi in the role that would make her an action star. Some of his better work has been along side friend and former choreography buddy Meng Hoi.
He won "Best Choreography Award" (along with former classmate and choreography partner Yuen Te) for Jet Li's Fong Sai Yuk 1 & 2. He doubled for Billy Chong in The Crystal Fist, (the staff scenes), because of his excellent weaponry skills. He has showcased his talents in numerous films, as well as having made a number of films standout, because of his choreography. Films like Buddha Assassinators, Heroes Of Shaolin, and Hitman In The Hand Of Buddha have established him as a top-notched choreographer/fighter.
He has performed well in just about all genres for over (30) years in films from the 70's None But The Brave, Dragon's Never Die through the 90's Bodyguard From Beijing, Lethal Weapon-4 to films like - The Transporter and The One. His training has served him (and us) well, as he is definitely, a man of many talents. It seems that just about anyone who was a classmate of his, has gone on to bigger and better things and he is no exception. Those years of working with Yuen Woo-Ping, have definitely paid off, as he has his formula (for success) down and making his fortune in Hollywood, like his mentor.