Biography
Also known as "Ugly Yuen" (for the faces he made), his skills are probably the best of all the Yuen Brothers. He is usually cast as the villain in the films that they shot and he was such an amazing talent that the films that he appeared in (where he actually got to show off his skills) were excellent vehicles for his talent. Whatever his brother Yuen Woo-Ping could dream up, he could perform (flawlessly). In a family of Acrobats, he was possibly, the highest skilled performer of the group. Like his brothers, he has appeared in so many films, it's easy to forget how highly skilled, he was.
Outside of the insane comedy they'd be known for in later years, he could always, rise to the occasion to make the Hero look good -- by beating him up. Though he often appeared in many films some of his biggest standouts were Dreadnaught (playing the killer White Tiger) driven crazy by the death of his wife, this could have easily been called - Bells Of Death). In Dance Of The Drunken Mantis (originally written for Jackie Chan), this was the first time he was thrust into the spotlight and truly given the chance to show everyone what he could do --- he established himself as a Star-in-the-making.
Yet, the film, The Buddhist Fist, had many (including me) shaking their heads wondering, "Where the hell has this guy's been hiding?" His performance was so powerful that if you didn't take notice of his skills, you were either blind or dead (his forms were awesome and the fight-scenes were first-rate). Even Samo Hung would share the screen with him in the kung-fu comedy 2 Toothless Tigers featuring an electrifying finale with master-villain Wang Lung-Wei.
Outside of the insane comedy they'd be known for in later years, he could always, rise to the occasion to make the Hero look good -- by beating him up. Though he often appeared in many films some of his biggest standouts were Dreadnaught (playing the killer White Tiger) driven crazy by the death of his wife, this could have easily been called - Bells Of Death). In Dance Of The Drunken Mantis (originally written for Jackie Chan), this was the first time he was thrust into the spotlight and truly given the chance to show everyone what he could do --- he established himself as a Star-in-the-making.
Yet, the film, The Buddhist Fist, had many (including me) shaking their heads wondering, "Where the hell has this guy's been hiding?" His performance was so powerful that if you didn't take notice of his skills, you were either blind or dead (his forms were awesome and the fight-scenes were first-rate). Even Samo Hung would share the screen with him in the kung-fu comedy 2 Toothless Tigers featuring an electrifying finale with master-villain Wang Lung-Wei.
He also played the villain in Drunken Tai-Chi, opposite a young Donnie Yen (easily) stealing every scene they appeared in. A total package when using either fists or feet, he was an excellent performer. His talents also consisted of Choreography and Weaponry skills, both of which he was as proficient as they came. He may go down in history as one of the most underrated martial-arts actors in the kung-fu genre. As they say, "It's better to have loved and lost, than to not have loved at all", it's (definitely) better to, have seen what he could do, than to have never, witnessed this true professional in action, at all.