Simon Loui Yu-yeung (8 July 1964 – 7 September 2026) was a Hong Kong actor, television host, radio disc jockey, newspaper columnist and director, and a former Television Broadcasts artiste. Born an only child with one-eighth British ancestry, he studied at St Paul's College and read mass communication at Concordia University in Montreal after finishing his A levels. He graduated from the Television Broadcasts acting course in 1988 and joined the station, at first playing villains and minor roles, before moving into films, where he took so many uneven productions for a living that he was nicknamed the king of bad movies; he appeared in some 142 films in all, and also composed songs and lyrics for Cantonese pop. After leaving Television Broadcasts he moved into radio, hosting the paranormal shows The Midnight Scream and Banana Club. In 1996 he became the first host of the Cable TV supernatural programme The Unbelievable, and from 1997 he appeared in the Troublesome Night film series as its narrator and a key player, earning the nickname king of ghosts. Troublesome Night ran to many instalments and became the longest-lived cycle of Hong Kong ghost films in the late 1990s, mixing jokes and scares within a single narrative; he also appeared in the Young and Dangerous films. He later worked as a screenwriter, director and producer, writing and starring in Police Station No. 7 (2001) and writing, directing and starring in Mr Ink (2004). In 2012 he married the Guangdong Television presenter Ma Lai and afterwards settled in Guangzhou, where he ran a catering business on the mainland. He died of stomach cancer in Guangzhou on 7 September 2026, aged 62; reports said he had been treated for cancer earlier and that the illness had later returned.
Loui folded black humour into the Troublesome Night series and his paranormal broadcasts, becoming a defining face of late-1990s Hong Kong ghost films; his blend of jokes and scares in both hosting and acting shaped the tone of later supernatural fare.
Achievements
- 1988 · Graduated from the Television Broadcasts acting course and joined the station
- 1996 · Became the first host of the Cable TV supernatural programme The Unbelievable
- 1997 · Appeared in the Troublesome Night film series, establishing his image as the king of ghosts