Hong Kong — Hong Kong actor Kenneth Tsang, known as a police officer, criminal boss, tough guy supporting role as Kung Fu Master, and hair dye Ubiquitous TV Pitchman, died Wednesday during hotel quarantine in the city. He was 87 years old.
His death was confirmed by his manager, Andrew Ooi. The cause of death was not immediately reported. Mr. Tsang has been quarantined as part of the standard requirements for travelers entering Hong Kong from abroad and was negative on the coronavirus test the day before his public broadcaster was found dead. RTHK reported.. In Hong Kong, most arrivals need to stay in the hotel quarantine for at least a week.
Tsang has appeared in more than 200 Hong Kong and Hollywood films and was a tough mafia boss, police officer, or military official, including a North Korean general in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day. I often appeared. He also played several roles in John Woo’s films, appearing as a cab driver who turned into a former prisoner in “A Better Tomorrow” since 1986. Police sergeant of “Martyrs of Werewolves” in 1989. The boss of the 1998 “The Replacement Killers” criminal organization.
Wu’s role in action films led to opportunities in Hollywood. There, he starred in the 2005 “Recollections of Geisha” and the 2001 action comedy “Rush Hour 2”, where he played the captain of the Hong Kong Police Force with Jackie Chan and Chris. Tucker.
“Kenneth was a pioneer from the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, and his fearless talent helped break down the barriers of Asians in Hollywood,” Oi said. “We stand on his shoulders and on the shoulders of those who came before him.”
He was survived by his 28-year-old wife, Taiwanese actress Lisa Chiao Chiao, and daughter from a previous marriage, Musette Tsang.
Kenneth Tsang Kong was born on October 5, 1934 in Shanghai and moved to Hong Kong in 1949. He studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, but felt that his skills were not fully utilized in the Hong Kong construction industry. He turned to movies and television with the help of his sister Janet Lynn Chui, who was already an actor.
He later worked in some of the largest studios during the heyday of Hong Kong’s film industry, including Shaw Brothers and its television subsidiary TVB. His groundbreaking role in Hong Kong was the television broadcast of the Kung Fu series “Legend of the Condor Heroes” in 1983.
Tsang won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing the boss of a criminal family in the 2014 movie Interception 3.
But for many in Hong Kong, his most iconic role was the advertisement for Bigen hair dye, which appeared on television every night for years. His tagline: “It gets darker and darker, and can get darker soon.”
He continued acting until the 80’s and appeared in commercials. And he maintained his interest in architecture and worked on the preservation of the State Theater, a historic cinema in the North Point district of Hong Kong with a distinct concrete arch on the roof.
