Alan Chui Chung-san was born on 16 August 1954. A restless child often expelled from school for fighting, he was sent at about the age of ten to the Oriental Drama School run by Tang Di to study northern-style martial arts and Peking opera, training for seven years and building a strong physical foundation alongside fellow students such as Ching Siu-tung and 'Mars', and being respected as 'senior brother' for starting so young. He joined Shaw Brothers as a stuntman in his teens, working on countless period and kung-fu action scenes and performing dangerous flips and hard-edged choreography until a serious on-set injury pushed him towards choreography and supporting roles. His rugged looks and agility suited villains and martial-arts masters. He joined TVB in 1984, becoming one of the station's regular action directors, designing fight scenes for period and early-Republican dramas while playing robbers, gang bosses and martial artists on screen, earning the nicknames 'TVB's go-to villain' and 'Smiling Tiger'; his roles as Wu Lei in the series 'The Justice of Life' and as Lei Yixiao in the film 'Last Hero in China' are among his best remembered, the latter featuring a long duel with Jet Li. He also choreographed films including 'A Chinese Ghost Story' and 'Painted Skin'. In 1987 he shared Best Action Choreography at the 6th Hong Kong Film Awards for 'Qi Yuan' with Ching Siu-tung, Kwok Chui and Lau Chi-ho. He served as vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Action Stunt Performers Association, lobbying for the trade over many years, and in 2016 received a 'King of Villains' award on the TVB variety show 'Sunday Good Show King'. He died on 2 November 2022, aged sixty-eight.
Trained in Peking opera from childhood, Alan Chui went on to become a Shaw Brothers stuntman, action director and television character actor, a mainstay of the Hong Kong action-film craft. He spent years as an action director at TVB and his 'boss' image on screen became familiar to viewers; winning Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1987 for 'Qi Yuan' recognised his work behind the camera, and he long campaigned for the rights of stunt performers.
Achievements
- 1984 · Joined TVB as a regular action director and character actor
- 1987 · Shared Best Action Choreography at the 6th Hong Kong Film Awards for 'Qi Yuan'
- 2016 · Received a 'King of Villains' award on a TVB variety show