Cheung Ying (25 January 1919 – 14 December 1984), originally named Cheung Yik-sang and a native of Xiamen, Fujian, was nicknamed 'Fourteenth Brother' as the fourteenth of his siblings and, for his ability to play hero or villain alike, 'the actor of a thousand faces' and the 'Emperor of South China cinema'. Educated at Wah Yan College in Hong Kong, he gave up plans to study in Japan when his mother fell ill and, through friends in the film industry, took part in his first film, The Pearl of the Night; the child star Bruce Lee often appeared opposite him. In 1952 he co-founded the Union Film Enterprise company with Ng Cho-fan, Pak Yin and Cheung Wood-yau, taking part in and producing literary works such as Family and Spring and Autumn. Ranked with Ng Cho-fan, Cheung Wood-yau and Lee Ching as the 'Four Great Young Leads' of Cantonese cinema, he starred in more than four hundred films, the most of any Hong Kong male actor; at his peak he shot three films on one street in a single day and forty-seven films in a year. He also directed, wrote and handled set and prop design, directing about fifteen films from the 1950s. In 1963 he directed and starred in the first Jin Yong screen adaptation, The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre (Part One), playing Cheung Chui-shan opposite Pak Yin, and he appeared in the star-studded 1959 film Feast of a Rich Family. He joined Television Broadcasts in 1969 and later worked for RTV, staying active on screen into his final years. He died of a stroke in Toronto, Canada, on 14 December 1984, aged sixty-five; his last film was released as Double Trouble.
Starring in more than four hundred films, Cheung Ying was the most prolific male actor in Hong Kong cinema. His image as 'the actor of a thousand faces' and his performance in the first Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre left a deep mark on the golden age of Cantonese cinema, and his career traced the medium's shift from the big screen to television.
Achievements
- 1952 · Co-founded the Union Film Enterprise company with Ng Cho-fan and Pak Yin
- 1963 · Directed and starred in the first screen adaptation of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre as Cheung Chui-shan
- 1984 · Died of a stroke in Toronto, Canada, aged sixty-five