Tony Wong Yuen-sun was born in Shanghai in 1947 into a scholarly family and moved to Hong Kong with his parents at the age of one. Raised in poverty, at twelve he met a martial-arts master under a bridge in Wan Chai and became his pupil, training hard and becoming especially good at jumping, able to leap six feet from a standing start. He spent his childhood in Choi Hung Estate and boarded in Tiu Keng Leng, attending Ming Yuen Primary School, Mu De Middle School, Wai Sun English College and Ricci Hall; after secondary school he worked as a waiter and a salesman, and in 1971 took an acting course after his younger brother signed him up. A strong audition for the 1972 kung fu film The Furious Tiger brought a stream of offers, and his habit of answering everything with OK earned him the nickname OK Boy. He joined Television Broadcasts in 1976, playing Li Fai-ho in CID and Ximen Chuixue in Luk Siu-fung, and in 1979 he even directed and starred in several films of his own while rising to stardom as the rascally Jiang Xiaoyu in The Twin Heroes, whose first episode won a gold medal at the 22nd New York International Film and Television Festival. He moved to RTV in 1981, playing Wong Fei-hung in The Young Wong Fei-hung and the title role in The Legend of Huo Yuanjia, the first television series about the martial artist and one of the earliest Hong Kong dramas shown in mainland China, where its 1983 broadcast caused a sensation. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1990 under the dharma name Yanshen and retired from acting to devote himself to Buddhist practice.
Wong became a household name across Chinese communities as the roguish hero of The Twin Heroes, and his 1981 Huo Yuanjia series, carried into mainland China as reforms opened, became a shared memory for a generation and kept the Huo Yuanjia story alive in later remakes. His decision to become a monk at the height of his fame is still often discussed.
Achievements
- 1976 · Joined Television Broadcasts, appearing in CID and Luk Siu-fung as Ximen Chuixue
- 1979 · Rose to fame as Jiang Xiaoyu in The Twin Heroes, whose first episode won a gold medal at the 22nd New York festival
- 1981 · Starred in The Legend of Huo Yuanjia, the first television series about the martial artist
- 1990 · Was ordained as a Buddhist monk under the dharma name Yanshen and retired from acting