Yuen Biao

Yuen Biao
Yuen Biao in Dragons Forever (1988)
Chinese name	元彪 (Traditional)
Chinese name	元彪 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Yuán Biāo (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Jyun4 Biu1 (Cantonese)
Birth name	夏令震 (Traditional) Xià Lìngzhèn (Mandarin) Haa6 Ling6zan3 (Cantonese)
Born	July 26, 1957 (1957-07-26) (age 51) China
Other name(s)	Bill Yuen Jimmy Yuen
Occupation	actor, producer, action choreographer
Years active	1962 – present
Spouse(s)	Didi Pang (1984 – present)
Children	2
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Action Choreography 1982 The Prodigal Son

Yuen Biao (born 27 July 1957) is an actor from Nanjing, China. He specialises in martial arts and has worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. Along with Peking Opera School "brothers" at the China Drama Academy, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he was one of the Seven Little Fortunes.

The early years

Born 夏令震 Xià Lìng-Zhèn (Hsia Ling-Jun) in Nanjing, he was the fifth child in a family of eight children. His family moved to Hong Kong and at the age of 6, he was enrolled at the Peking Opera School The China Drama Academy. He was given the stage name Yuen Biao (Little Tiger) and trained alongside schoolmates Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen, Yuen Wah and several others who would later become famous in Hong Kong cinema. He quickly showed a talent for acrobatics, and remained at the school until the age of 16.^[1] When he left, Yuen followed his classmate Sammo Hung into a career in the Hong Kong film industry.

Film career

Yuen Biao has appeared in over 130 films to date. He has also played roles in 8 television series for Hong Kong channel TVB.

Early 1970s

In the early 1970s, Yuen began work as a stuntman and extra. After working on Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Yuen became a stunt double for Bruce Lee on Enter the Dragon, in 1973. He was also one of the "fake" Bruce Lees in Game of Death (1978), performing the acrobatics and stunts that the Bruce Lee "body double" (Taekwondo expert, Kim Tai Chung) was unable to perform. Yuen continued working as a stuntman, doubling for actors in Hong Kong action films and taking on supporting actor roles.

During his early acting period, he adopted the anglicised name Bill Yuen for use on the Hong Kong films that were released internationally. However, recognising the growing success of Jackie Chan, Golden Harvest were keen to give him a similar name, and on some international film prints, he was credited as Jimmy Yuen. Both anglicised names were later dropped.^[2]

Late 1970s and 1980s

In the late 1970s and early 80s, thanks to his good friends and former classmates, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, he began working more frequently as an actor. After his co-starring role in The Dragon, the Odds (1977) and his full lead role debut in Knockabout (1978), he starred in several successful films in the early 1980s, notably The Prodigal Son (directed by Sammo Hung) and Dreadnaught (directed by Yuen Woo-ping). He later co-starred alongside his Peking Opera "brothers", Chan and Hung, in Project A, Wheels on Meals and Dragons Forever, and also appeared in smaller roles in films such as Hung's original Lucky Stars trilogy.

1990s

Yuen's acting roles waned somewhat in the early 1990s, although he notably played a supporting role alongside Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China (1991). In the late 1990s, films such as Hero (1997) co-starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and A Man Called Hero (1999) co-satrring Ekin Cheng saw Yuen return to the big screen. During this time he began to concentrate more on television work and took lead roles in the series Righteous Guards and The Legend of a Chinese Hero in 1998.

Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung in Dragons Forever (1988), their final film together to date.

2000s

In 2000, Yuen went to the United States to work with Jackie Chan as the action choreographer on Shanghai Noon. In 2001, he co-starred alongside Hung in The Avenging Fist. Yuen also starred in a more comedic role in the 2002 Japan-HK film No Problem 2. He is best known for his acrobatic action scenes which often overshadow the work of his more famous co-stars, especially in films such as Eastern Condors (co-starring Sammo Hung) and Dragons Forever. In most of his roles he plays inexperienced and foolish young men, or eccentrics caught up in the schemes of his co-stars.

In 2005, Yuen starred in a TVB series called Real Kung Fu with Yuen Wah, Maggie Siu, Leung Kar Yan, Jack Wu and one of Sammo Hung's sons, Timmy Hung.

In 2007 he finished filming the Wing Chun TV series (a remake of the 1994 series that had preceded the film Wing Chun) alongside Nicholas Tse, Sammo Hung and another of Hung's sons, Sammy Hung. Biao plays an elder version of the character Leung Jan, the role he played 25 years earlier in The Prodigal Son, and father to Tse's character.^[3] The series has since been re-edited for release as a film, entitled Shuang Long Ji (aka Legend of Twins Dragon). However, the film's release has been delayed as it has been banned in Mainland China for containing too much violence.^[4]

Yuen is scheduled to appear as a guest judge on the China Beijing TV Station reality television series The Disciple, which is currently airing in Mainland China and is produced by, and features Jackie Chan. The aim of the program is to find a new star, skilled in acting and martial arts, to become Chan's "successor", the champion being awarded the lead role in a film. It will conclude on June 7, 2008, with the series winner being announced in Beijing.^[5]

Yuen will also be starring alongside Leung Kar Yan and Ji Chun Hua in Legend of Shaolin Kung-fu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks, a new film directed by Yuen Bun.

Directing and Producing

Though mainly known as an actor, Yuen co-directed Peacock King with Lam Ngai Kai in 1989 and made his full directorial debut with A Kid from Tibet in 1992. Yuen also has a co-directing credit on the 2004 film Boxer's Story, with Ivan Lai (Lai Kai-Ming).

Yuen also set up his own film production company, Yuen Biao Films Limited, which produced his films A Kid from Tibet and Once Upon a Chinese Hero aka Kickboxer (1993).^[6]

Personal life

In 1984, Yuen married Didi Pang (Pang Sau Ha). They have two children. Yuen has a second home in Canada where he enjoys pursuing his love of golf.

References

External links

• Yuen Biao at the Internet Movie Database
• Fan site
• Jade Screen: The Hong Kong Movie Magazine
• Yuen Biao Australian Fan site

v • d • e Cinema of Hong Kong Actors · Directors · Cinematographers · Ocean Shores · Producers · Shaw Brothers Studio · Films A–Z · Action films · Writers Films by year: 1909–1929 · 1930s · 1940s · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009