Tang Bik-wan, born Tang Cheuk-fu in Guangzhou in 1926 and known as 'Big Bik', was a Cantonese native of Sanshui. She studied singing under Liu Liu-liao, settled in Hong Kong in 1937 and trained under the male female-lead Tang Siu-lan-fong, joining the Tai Ping and Kau Chung Tin troupes. In 1942, during the war, she took refuge in Macau and rose to fame with The Hanging of Guan Lizhen; by sixteen she was a principal female lead. In 1947 she founded the Bik Wan Tin troupe, staging such famous works as The Flower King's Daughter and The Painted Luan Lantern, and touring the United States in 1971. A readers' poll named her 'Queen of the Female Leads' in 1959, and because she was adept at many kinds of roles, including male leads, she earned the title 'Queen of All Trades'. She began making films in 1950 and starred in popular comedies such as Iron Beak Chicken (1956) and Sister Ho Sells Rice Dumplings (1965), creating a gallery of comic characters performed in various dialects. She ran three production companies between 1953 and 1966, producing more than forty films, and in later years moved to television, where her warm mother figure in the series The Seasons (1987) made 'Ma Da' a household name. She died in Hong Kong in March 1991.
Tang Bik-wan combined the principal female lead and the clown, creating comic characters in films such as Iron Beak Chicken and Sister Ho Sells Rice Dumplings that earned her the title 'Queen of All Trades', and she performed in many regional dialects. Running her own troupe and mentoring successors such as Lee Fung-sing and Leung Hon-wai, she became a household name late in life through her 'Ma Da' mother figure in The Seasons, a versatile artist across opera, film and television.
Achievements
- 1942 · Took refuge in Macau during the war and rose to fame with The Hanging of Guan Lizhen.
- 1950 · Made her film debut in 1950 and went on to star in numerous popular films.
- 1959 · Was named the second 'Queen of the Female Leads' in a popular newspaper poll.