Biography
A former Accounting Clerk for Chang's Film Company, he would eventually go on to become one of director Chang Cheh's most famous actors. He was the Muscleman of the group, who always seemed to get killed in almost all of the films he made. Brought to the forefront in Kid With The Golden Arm, he is usually the boastful braggart who doesn't back down for anything or anyone. In one of their most famous films, The 5 Deadly Venoms, most remember his scene, where they were trying to put him in the "Iron Maiden" (the device with all the Spikes), in order to find his weak-point.
He had tremendous versatility, but it was never really brought out in any of the Venoms' films they shot. The closet they came to showing this quality was in such films as Invincible Shaolin, 2 Champions Of Shaolin, and The Destroyers. In films away from his Venom persona, he would still excel; yet, no one would seem to acknowledge it by giving him the leading roles he deserved. With excellent work in The Chinatown Kid and Kung Fu Avengers, he showed that he could handle working with a variety of kung-fu stars.
He had tremendous versatility, but it was never really brought out in any of the Venoms' films they shot. The closet they came to showing this quality was in such films as Invincible Shaolin, 2 Champions Of Shaolin, and The Destroyers. In films away from his Venom persona, he would still excel; yet, no one would seem to acknowledge it by giving him the leading roles he deserved. With excellent work in The Chinatown Kid and Kung Fu Avengers, he showed that he could handle working with a variety of kung-fu stars.
He would also show that his range wasn't as shortsighted as some of the characters he'd played throughout most of his career at Shaw studios. He did some fine work, in such swordplay films as Human Skin Lanterns and Clan Feuds - both starring his former Venoms' co-star Sun Chien. One of his finest hours came when he appeared in the film Roar Of The Lion. Here fans saw him like never before and got a taste of his true martial-arts abilities. Working with co-stars Wong Yu and Wang Lung-Wei, he gave his legion of fans a look at a “New-and-improved" fighter.
In his earlier films, he fell into the more "Brawn-than-Brains" category, (which was probably why, he got killed so much). He was the last of the group to stay on and film the Shaw hit Super Ninjas, after the rest of the Venoms disbanded to pursue other projects away from Shaw studios. Rumored to have studied "Mantis Fist" kung-fu, he actually studied some Choy Li-Fut and Tae Kwon Do. He later went thru the training courses set up for actors wanting to work at Chang's Films, before, eventually, joining Shaw studios. In his post-Venoms days, he's appeared in Modern films like Pursuit Of A Killer and Hard-Boiled, with ex-stablemate, Kuo Chui. He's starred in a music video and is (currently) still pursuing a career in films, this time, as a Comedic actor.