Kuo Chui
[Phillip Kwok |Kwok Fung]
[Phillip Kwok |Kwok Fung]
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Biography
Peking Opera trained, he didn't finish school, and so he worked at numerous jobs before making it big as an actor. Some of these jobs included - selling medicine and as a Tool Maker (where he actually lost a couple of fingers). He was also said to have started professional fighting at age (15), which was not unheard of those days. He stands out as the most versatile actor of the Venoms. He usually plays the Hero in the majority of their films and was an expert in weapons and acrobatics.
Liu Chia-Liang was instrumental in helping him secure a leading role in The 4 Assassins (1975) after commenting to director Chang Cheh, that he (Kuo) was extremely skillful from watching him on the set with the other actors. He appeared without his famous friends in Secret Of The Shaolin Poles (1977) and Tiger & Crane Fists (1976). In later years, he chose to stay behind the camera, helping out more with the choreography.
2 Champions Of Death (1980) and Ninja In The Deadly Trap (1982) are some of the best examples of his work behind the camera. He was one of the highest paid Action Directors in South East Asia, and is known to still appear in front of the camera, from time to time. He also played the villain "Mad Dog" in the John Woo classic, Hard-Boiled (1992). He is still one of the most in-demand choreographers working in Asian film today.