Yiu Kai-hung was an actor of the Hong Kong Teochew opera and film world. Trained in mainland troupes, by the early 1950s he was a senior member of the New Tin Choi Teochew Opera Troupe, able to play chou-sheng clowns, painted-face roles and bearded roles, and known for his powerful voice; he helped the troupe's head Zhang Mujin train newcomers, and the actor Zhang Yingyan learned bearded roles under him. He later spent about ten years performing with troupes in Vietnam, and rejoined New Tin Choi on his return just as it was making films. His screen debut was The Peacock Flies Southeast (1962), directed by Gao Li, followed by Lu Mengzheng (1963), Red Bristle Steed (1963), The Number One Scholar on Night Patrol (1963), Meng Lijun (1963) and more. On screen he often played villains, such as the cruel brother Pi Dun in Si Gao Zhuang (1964), the wealthy, disdainful chancellor in The Real and Fake Golden Peony (1965), the grasping clan elder in Er Sui Fu (1965) and the scheming advisor Yue Zhong in Cui Ming-feng Offers a Robe (1968), yet he was equally convincing as loyal officials, as in Shuang Qi Jie (1965), earning the title of the 'all-purpose actor'. He appeared in over thirty Teochew-language films. New Tin Choi, then a leading Hong Kong Teochew troupe, made a large number of these films for audiences in Southeast Asia. When Teochew cinema declined in the mid-1960s he turned to the stage, managing the troupe's affairs and joining the Xin Tian Yi and Sheng Yi troupes, touring the mainland, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.
Capable in chou-sheng, painted-face and bearded roles, Yiu was famed for his powerful voice and nicknamed the 'all-purpose actor'. Appearing in over thirty Teochew-language films, he carried Teochew opera stagecraft onto the screen and later toured the mainland, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, sustaining the tradition in Hong Kong.
Achievements
- 1962 · Made his Teochew-language film debut in The Peacock Flies Southeast
- 1963 · Appeared in several Teochew-language films including Lu Mengzheng and Meng Lijun
- 1968 · Appeared in the two-part film Cui Ming-feng Offers a Robe