Veteran Hong Kong actor and director Wu Ma dies
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 04 February, 2014, 3:59pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 04 February, 2014, 4:37pm
Ng Kang-chung [email protected]
Wu Ma. Photo: SCMP pictures
Veteran Hong Kong actor and director Fung Wang-yuen, who was more popularly known by his stage name Wu Ma, died of lung cancer on Tuesday, according to the Hong Kong Performing Artistes Guild. Fung was 71.
Fung’s friends quoted his wife as saying the actor’s lung cancer had worsened since early last year. “He lived the last few months of his life in his best-ever condition,” friends quoted her as saying.
Fung was born in Tianjin in 1942 and moved to Hong Kong in the late 1950s.
Starting as a drama actor in the city, Fung later signed up with Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Studio and made his screen debut in 1963. Since then he had over 180 appearances to his name plus 38 directorial credits within a 25-year period.
He played a wide range of supporting roles and was best remembered by Hong Kong fans as the Taoist ghost-buster in the 1987 film A Chinese Ghost Story, which earned him a best supporting actor award in the Golden Horse Awards that year.
In recent years, he had taken a more active part in film production in the mainland. He won the Leading Role Award in the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival for his performance in “Wu Dao Zi” in 2012, a film portraying the life of the famous painter in the Tang dynasty.
He was survived by his wife and a daughter, according to friends.
The guild offers condolences to his family.
