Eric Tsang Chi-wai (born 14 April 1953) is a Hong Kong actor, director, producer and television host whose ancestral home is in Wuhua, Guangdong. A professional footballer in his youth under his father Tsang Kai-wing, he moved into film as a stuntman and double. In the 1970s he joined Shaw Brothers with Sammo Hung, followed Lau Kar-leung to Taiwan in 1974 to join Chang Cheh's studio, and returned to Hong Kong in 1976, where Lau Kar-wing introduced him to Karl Maka. He co-wrote The Kung Fu Kid in 1978 and made his directing debut with The Challenger in 1979. His 1982 Aces Go Places, starring Sam Hui and Karl Maka, combined action and comedy and set a new box-office record for the year. A versatile performer, he could play comedy as well as brooding villains, and his mob boss Hon Sam in the 2002 hit Infernal Affairs became one of the defining roles of Hong Kong cinema. He won Best Actor at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards in 1992 for C'est la vie, mon chéri, Best Supporting Actor at the 16th in 1997 for Comrades: Almost a Love Story, and again at the 36th in 2017 for Mad World. In 1998 he took the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor for Hold You Tight. Though short in stature, he worked as an agile stuntman and once doubled for an actress. Beyond film, his Super Trio game shows, launched in 1995, are familiar to generations of viewers and became part of local popular culture. In early 2004 he succeeded the late Anita Mui as president of the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild, was re-elected in 2006 and 2010, and was followed by Louis Koo in 2018. He was also a founder of the Hong Kong Celebrity Football Team, has appeared in more than two hundred films and produced many others, and has worked in radio and variety hosting. In 2021 he became General Manager of TVB, overseeing programme production, and left the post in early 2026.
Tsang rose from stuntman and double to general manager of a television station, spanning acting, directing, producing and hosting. His Super Trio game shows became part of Hong Kong popular culture, and his long tenure as president of the Performing Artistes Guild gave him influence far beyond the screen.
Achievements
- 1982 · Directed Aces Go Places, which set a box-office record for the year
- 1992 · Won Best Actor at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards for C'est la vie, mon chéri
- 2017 · Won Best Supporting Actor at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards for Mad World
- 2021 · Became General Manager of TVB, overseeing programme production