Lau Leung-wah (6 July 1933 - 2014) was a Hong Kong actress, producer and executive, born into a Guangdong family and raised in Shanghai before coming to Hong Kong in the 1940s; she was married to the director Lo Wei. In 1952 she entered the actors' training class run by Bu Wancang at the Taishan Film Company, making her debut in Seven Sisters (1953). She later joined Shaw and Sons, appearing in films such as Spring Warmth of Penglai (1957) and Rendezvous at Dusk (1958). In 1957 she co-founded the Siwei Film Company with Lo Wei and starred in its first production, Emerald Lake (1958). In the mid-1960s she and Lo Wei joined Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong), signing as basic artistes while she assisted Lo Wei's production work. In 1970 they joined Golden Harvest, where she continued as a producer on films including The Blade Spares None (1971), The Big Boss (1971), The Killer (1972), Fist of Fury (1972), The Hero (1973) and Kung Fu, the Invisible Fist (1973). She was the person who travelled to the United States on Golden Harvest's behalf to persuade Bruce Lee to sign with the company and return to Hong Kong to make films, a move that led directly to The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, and she was one of the few women producing in the studio's early years. She separated from Lo Wei in 1974, and in the early 1980s co-founded a film company with Philip Chan, producing the 1981 films Two Kids and Hitting the Board, both released through Golden Harvest. Moving from in front of the camera to behind it, she handled production and scheduling over many years, working across kung-fu films and urban comedies. At Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest she was both a contracted actress and a production organiser, an unusual double role for a woman in the studio era, and she is also recorded as a shareholder in Golden Harvest. She died in 2014.
Moving from acting to production and executive work, Lau Leung-wah supported Lo Wei's films for years. She travelled to the United States for Golden Harvest to bring Bruce Lee back to Hong Kong, helping to make The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, and was one of the few women producing in the studio's early days; in later years she co-founded a company with Philip Chan to make comedies.
Achievements
- 1952 · Entered the actors' training class run by Bu Wancang at the Taishan Film Company.
- 1957 · Co-founded the Siwei Film Company with Lo Wei.
- 1970 · Joined Golden Harvest as a producer, working on films including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury.