Sammo Hung

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Sammo Hung
Sammo Hung promotional photograph
Birth name	Hong Jin Bao
Born	January 7, 1952 (age 55) Hong Kong, China
Other name(s)	Yuen Chu Big Brother
Years active	1961 – present
Spouse(s)	Joyce Godenzi (1995 – present) Jo Yuen Ok (divorced) 4 children

Sammo Hung (Traditional Chinese: 洪金寶; Simplified Chinese: 洪金宝; pinyin: Hóng Jīnbǎo; Cantonese: Hung4 Gam1 Bou2) (born January 7, 1952) is a Chinese actor, producer and director known for his work in many Kung fu films and Hong Kong action cinema. He has choreographed fight scenes for, amongst others, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, King Hu, Stephen Chow and John Woo.

Hung was among the pivotal figures who, spearheading the Hong Kong New Wave movement of the 1980s, helped reinvent the martial arts genre and started the hopping corpse genre.

Contents 1 The early years 2 1960s and 1970s 3 The New Wave 4 1990s 5 Personal life 6 Partial filmography 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] The early years

Born Hong Jin-bao in Hong Kong, both of his parents worked in the local film industry and guardianship was thrust upon his grandparents.

Hung joined the Master Yu Jim Yuen Opera Academy in 1959, after his grandparents heard about the school from their friends. Hung, who was known as Yuen Lung in the Seven Little Fortunes (七小福) performing group, would establish a school rivalry with one of the younger students, Yuen Lo. Yuen Lo would go on to become none other than international superstar Jackie Chan. Hung left the Academy after an injury left him bedridden for an extended time, during which his weight ballooned. After finding work in the film industry as a stuntman, he was given a nickname after a well-known Chinese cartoon character, Sam-mo (三毛; Three Hairs).

In 1988, Hung starred in Alex Law's Painted Faces, a dramatic retelling of his experiences at the Peking Opera School. Among the exercises featured in the movie are numerous acrobatic backflips, and hours of handstands performed against a wall. Despite some of the more brutal exercises and physical punishments shown in Painted Faces, Hung and the rest of the Seven Little Fortunes consider the movie a toned-down version of their own experiences.

[edit] 1960s and 1970s

Hung appeared in several children's movies in the 1960s, but it was not until the 1970s that his career began in earnest. Hung began working for Raymond Chow and the Golden Harvest company and was initially hired to choreograph The Fast Sword (1970). Hung's popularity soon began to increase, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to his work, he caught the eye of celebrated Taiwanese director King Hu. Hung choreographed two of Hu's movies: A Touch Of Zen (1971) and The Fate Of Lee Khan (1973).

Also in 1973, he was seen in the ultimate Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon. Hung was the Shaolin student Bruce faces in the opening sequence.

In 1977, Hung made his directorial debut with The Iron Fisted Monk.

After Jackie Chan's success with Drunken Master (1978), Hung was scheduled to make a similar movie featuring Yuen Siu Tien (aka Simon Yuen) from Drunken Master. As Jackie's elder, Sammo was supposed to be able to surpass him in popularity. The movie was called Magnificent Butcher (1979) and during filming Yuen Siu Tien died of a heart attack. He was replaced by Fan Mei Sheng and it is likely that his absence is what led to the low ticket sales.

[edit] The New Wave

Toward the late 1970s, Hong Kong cinema began to shift away from the Mandarin-language, epic martial arts movies popularized by directors such as Chang Cheh. In a series of movies, Hung, along with Jackie Chan, began reinterpreting the genre by making Cantonese comedy Kung Fu. While these movies still strongly featured Kung Fu, they also feature a liberal mixture of humour.

As Hung's star began to rise, he used his newly-found influence to assist his former Opera classmates. Aside from regular collaborations with Chan, others such as Yuen Biao and Yuen Wah also began to make appearances in his films.

In 1978 and 1981, Hung made two movies that are considered to contain the best examples of wing chun. The first, Warriors Two was the biggest role for Korean superkicker Casanova Wong, who teams with Hung in the final fight.

The second film, The Prodigal Son, shot fellow Opera schoolmate Yuen Biao to stardom. It also featured what is considered to be some of the best wing chun caught on film, performed by Lam Ching-Ying.

Hung's martial arts movies of the 1980s helped reconfigure how martial arts were presented on screen. While the martial arts movies of the 1970s generally featured highly-stylized fighting sequences in fantasy settings, Hung's choreography, set in urban areas, was more realistic and frenetic - featuring long one-on-one fight scenes. The fight sequences from several of these movies, such as Winners And Sinners (1982) and Wheels On Meals (1985) came to define 1980s martial arts movies.

In 1983, the collaboration between Hung, Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao began with Jackie Chan's Project A. Hung, Chan and Yuen were known as the 'Three Dragons'. Their alliance lasted 5 years, with Dragons Forever being their final film to date.

Hung also created the hopping vampire genre with two landmark movies - Close Encounters Of The Spooky Kind (1981) and The Dead And The Deadly (1983). Both movies feature vampires who, as stiffened corpses, move by hopping, and Taoist priests who are able to quell these vampires (and at times, each other) through magical spells and charms. These films meld Chinese folk beliefs with special effects and breathtaking kung fu to create a genre that is uniquely Chinese. Hung's movie would later pave the way for movies such as the highly popular Mr. Vampire (1985).

In the mid-1980s Hung started Bo Ho, a film company that operated under Golden Harvest. The movies made by Bo Ho include the aforementioned Mr. Vampire (1985), and also On The Run (1989).

Hung was also part of the popular Lucky Stars, a group who made a series of comedy kung fu movies.

[edit] 1990s

In the late 1990s, Hung starred in an American television series by CBS called Martial Law (1998–2000), with Arsenio Hall as his costar. Reportedly he recited his English dialogue phonetically.

[edit] Personal life

Hung is one of the celebrities honoured on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.

Hung is known for his distinctive (large) frame. Despite this, he is a surprisingly agile and formidable martial artist.

He has 3 sons and 1 daughter, Timmy Hung Tin Ming, Jimmy Hung Hung Tin Cheung, Sammy Hung Tin Chiu and Stephanie Hung with Jo Yuen Ok, whom he grew up with in martial arts training school. He later divorced Ok to marry actress Joyce Godenzi

Timmy Hung also works as an actor with TVB. He has also appeared in the films Osaka Wrestling Restaurant, Wo Hu, New Police Story, "Angels of Mission" and alongside his father in SPL: Sha Po Lang and Legend of the Dragon. Jimmy Hung is in the R&B group called "Tension".

He is a grandchild of archetypal martial-arts actress Zhi-Gong Chen.

[edit] Partial filmography

Note: actor, otherwise noted.

• Education of Love (愛的教育) (1961)
• Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962) (There are no known copies of this film remaining)
• The Birth of Yue Fei (岳飛出世) (1962)
• The Princess and the Seven Little Heroes (公主與七小俠) (1962)
• Father and Son (1963)
• Touch of Zen(俠女) (1969)
• The Angry River (鬼怒川) (1970)
• The Invincible Eight (天龍八將) (1971)
• Lady Whirlwind (Deep Thrust or 鐵掌旋風腿) (1972)
• Bandits from Shantung (山東響馬) (1972)
• Hapkido (Lady Kung Fu or 合氣道) (1972)
• Enter the Dragon (龍爭虎鬥) (1973)
• Kickmaster (1973)
• Bloody Ring aka. Mandarin Magician (1973)
• Bruce Lee, D-Day at Macao (1973)
• The Devil's Treasure (黑夜怪客) (1973)
• Hong Kong Hitman (1974)
• The Tournament (中泰拳壇生死戰) (1974)
• The Association (艷窟神探) (1974)
• The Stoner (Shrine of the Ultimate Bliss or 鐵金剛大破紫陽觀) (1974)
• The Skyhawk (Ying Chu or 黃飛鴻少林拳) (1974)
• Usurpers of Emperor's Power (1975)
• The Man from Hong Kong (直搗黃龍) (1975)
• The Himalayan (密宗聖手) (1975)
• Kung Fu Stars (1975)
• All in the Family (1975)
• Countdown in Kung Fu (1976)
• Traitorous (1976)
• Shaolin Plot (1977)
• The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977) (also directed)
• Broken Oath (1977)
• Winner Take All (1977)
• The Dragon, the Odds (1977)
• Game of Death (1978)
• Warriors Two (1978)
• Dirty Tiger and Crazy Frog (1978)
• Enter the Fat Dragon (1978) (also directed; a "Bruceploitation" spoof)
• Fast Sword (1978)
• Knockabout (1979) (also directed)
• The Incredible Kung Fu Master (1979)
• Magnificent Butcher (1979)
• Odd Couple (1979)
• Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) (also directed)
• By Hook or by Crook (1980)
• Two Toothless Tigers (1980)
• Lightning Kung Fu (1980) (also directed)
• Return of Secret Rivals (1980)
• Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 (1980)
• Carry on Pickpocket (1982) (also directed)
• The Dead and the Deadly (1982)
• Project A (A計劃) aka. Jackie Chan's Project A (1983) (also directed)
• Winners and Sinners aka. 5 Lucky Stars (1983) (also directed)
• Prodigal Son (1983) (also directed)
• Pom Pom (神勇雙響炮) (1984)
• The Owl and Bumbo (貓頭鷹與小飛象) (1984) (also directed)
• Wheels on Meals aka. Million Dollar Heiress (1984) (also directed)
• End of Wicked Tigers (1984)
• My Lucky Stars (1985) (also directed)
• From the Great Beyond (1985)
• Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) (also directed)
• Police Assassins (1985)
• Wheels on Meals (1985)
• Heart of Dragon aka. Heart of the Dragon aka. The First Mission (1985) (also directed)
• Millionaire's Express aka. Shanghai Express (1986) (also directed)
• Lucky Stars Go Places aka. The Luckiest Stars (1986)
• Spirit and Me (1986)
• The Haunted Island (1986) (also directed)
• Eastern Condors (東方禿鷹) (1986) (also directed)
• To Err Is Human (1987)
• Mr. Vampire 3 (1987)
• The 1987 Miss Asia Pageant (1987)
• Dragons Forever aka. 3 Brothers (1988) (also directed)
• Painted Faces (1988)
• China's Last Eunuch (1988)
• Paper Marriage (1988)
• Seven Warriors (1989) (also directed)
• Pedicab Driver (1989) (also directed)
• Code of Fortune (富貴兵團) (1989)
• Shanghai Encounter (1990)
• Eight Taels of Gold (1990)
• Pantyhose Hero (1990) (also directed)
• Nutty Kickbox Cops (1990)
• Dragon Versus Phoenix (1990)
• Lethal Lady (1990)
• Island of Fire aka. Island on Fire aka. The Burning Island (1990)
• She Shoots Straight (1990)
• Best Is the Highest (1990)
• Touch and Go (1991)
• Ghost Punting (1991) (also directed)
• Lover's Tear (1991)
• The Tantana (1991)
• My Flying Wife (1991)
• Daddy, Father and Papa (1991)
• Gambling Ghost (1991)
• The Banquet (1991)
• Slickers vs. Killers (1991) (also directed)
• The Moon Warriors (1993) (directed)
• Human Night in Painted Skin (1993)
• The Evil Cult (1993)
• Blade of Fury (1993) (also directed)
• Don't Give a Damn (1994) (also directed)
• Somebody Up There Likes Me (1996)
• How to Meet the Lucky Stars (1996)
• The Stunt Woman (1996)
• Mr. Nice Guy aka. SuperChef (1997) (also directed)
• A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)
• Xiao Qian (小倩) (1997) (voice)
• Martial Law (過江龍) (1998) (TV Series)
• Mou man tai (1999)
• The Legend of Zu (2001)
• The Avenging Fist (2001)
• Hidden Enforcers (2002)
• Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger (2002)
• Men Suddenly in Black (2003)
• Astonishing (2004)
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004) - cameo
• Legend of the Dragon (2005)
• Dragon Squad (2005)
• SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005)
• Twins Misson (2006/2007)

[edit] See also

• Cinema of Hong Kong

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Sammo Hung Kam-Bo at the Internet Movie Database
• Magnificent Sammo Hung a Fansite from Hungary
• Sammo Hung Forum from Hungary
• Sammo Hung Kam Bo at Hong Kong Cinemagic