Danny Lee Sau-yin, born in Shanghai on 6 August 1952 to a family from Shantou and later raised in Hong Kong, is a Hong Kong actor, director and producer. He joined Shaw Brothers' actor-training class in 1970 and made his debut in The Twin Swords the following year, playing mostly supporting parts in many martial-arts and action films through the 1970s; in The Brothers (1979) he played a policeman, beginning the upright persona he would develop. He began directing in 1981 with One Way Only, followed the next year by the popular Friend What a Band. In 1984 he wrote, directed and starred in Law with Two Phases, playing a conscientious plainclothes detective, a performance that won him Best Actor at the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards and Best Actor at the 21st Golden Horse Awards, and earned him a Best Director nomination, cementing his upright-policeman image. By his own account the film was first offered to Chow Yun-fat and Ray Lui but the producers objected, so he took the lead himself opposite Eddie Chan. In 1986 he founded Magnum Films, specialising in crime pictures and films based on real cases. Casting newcomer Stephen Chow in Final Justice (1988) earned Chow a Best Supporting Actor award at the 25th Golden Horse Awards, and other Magnum productions such as The Unmatchable Match, The Magnificent Scoundrels and Legend of the Dragon were important early Chow vehicles. In 1989 he appeared opposite Chow Yun-fat in John Woo's The Killer, a landmark of Hong Kong action cinema. Magnum later produced The Untold Story (1993), whose star Anthony Wong won Best Actor at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards. Across his career Lee has portrayed a host of police detectives and long produced crime films as a producer, making him a defining presence in Hong Kong's crime-film tradition.
The realist detective persona Lee established in Law with Two Phases shaped the way later Hong Kong crime films drew their policemen. Founding Magnum Films, he gave Stephen Chow his break and helped launch a comedy giant, while his crime productions brought awards to actors such as Anthony Wong.
Achievements
- 1970 · Joined Shaw Brothers' actor-training class and made his debut in The Twin Swords in 1971
- 1984 · Won both the Hong Kong Film Award and the Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for Law with Two Phases, which he wrote, directed and starred in
- 1986 · Founded Magnum Films; casting Stephen Chow in Final Justice (1988) won Chow a Golden Horse Best Supporting Actor award
- 1989 · Appeared opposite Chow Yun-fat in John Woo's The Killer