Jump to content

Chen Kuan-tai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chen Kuan-tai
陳觀泰
Chen in 1973
Born (1945-09-24) 24 September 1945 (age 79)
Other namesChan Goon-Tai
Chen Kwan-Tai
Chan Koon-Tai
Chan Kuan-Tai
Chen Kung-Tai
Chen Guan-Tay
Chen Guan-Tai
Chan Kun-Tai
Ah Tai
Occupation(s)Actor, director, action director
Years active1969–present
Spouses
Ying Ying
(m. 1976; div. 1977)
Fong Yee-chun
(m. 1977, divorced)
Zhao Ting-ting
(m. 1990, divorced)
Tang Liping
(m. 2017)
Children
  • Chen Yong-xi (daughter), with Ying Ying
  • Chen Jun-xiang (son), with Fong Yee-chun
AwardsAsia-Pacific Film Festival
1974 Most Popular Male Actor

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese陳觀泰
Simplified Chinese陈观泰
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinChén Guāntài

Chen Kuan-tai (Chinese: 陳觀泰; born 24 September 1945) is a Hong Kong martial arts actor, director, and action choreographer. Chen rose to fame in the early 1970s for his movies with the Shaw Brothers Studio and is credited as being one of the film company's first professionally trained martial artists.[1]

Early life

[edit]

Chen was born in Guangdong, China. At age 9, he was accepted as a pupil of kung fu practitioner Chen Xiu Zhong, founder of the Tai Sing Pek Kwar Martial Arts Association which specializes in monkey style kung fu.[2] While studying in Pui Kiu Middle School, he excelled in athletics, notably in javelin and soccer. After graduating, he worked as a stuntman and action director, his first project being Chor Yuen's 1970 film, Cold Blade.[3] Chen attracted the attention of Cantonese filmmakers in 1969 after winning a light-weight division championship in Singapore's National Skills Competition.[2][4] He eventually signed with the Shaw Brothers Studio in November of 1971. Unlike his contemporaries, Chen did not adopt a stage name.[3]

Career

[edit]

Chen had been cast in some two dozen films with Shaw Brothers playing tertiary roles, amongst them Jimmy Wang Yu's The Chinese Boxer (1970) and Chang Cheh's Vengeance (1970) before he was cast in the role of Ma Yung Chen by Chang in the latter's kung fu film, The Boxer from Shantung. The film was his first lead role. At the time, Chen had been working with Ng See-yuen on his independent film, The Bloody Fists (1972) and left mid-production to film Chang's movie. Released in 1972, The Boxer From Shantung was a commercial success, netting over HK $2 million in ticket sales and launched Chen into stardom overnight.[4] By the mid-1970s, he had become one of Hong Kong's most famous kung fu stars and achieved several hits including The Teahouse (1974), Heroes Two (1974), Big Brother Cheng (1975), and The Flying Guillotine (1975). At the 20th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Chen was awarded Most Popular Male Actor by the Taipei Press Association.[5]

In 1976, the actor expanded his career into directing and in February that year, made his directional debut with the comedy film, The Simple-Minded Fellow. The film was a moderate success at the box office.[4] In October, Chen continued directing and filming with independent film companies in Taiwan, resulting in the Shaw Brothers Studio filing and winning a temporary injunction against the actor that prohibited him from making movies with any other company other than Shaw Brothers. Chen was also ordered to pay HK $700,000 in subsidies.[4] The dispute lasted for nearly two years resulting in him briefly leaving Shaw studio after completing Lau Kar-leung's Challenge of the Masters (1976) and Executioners from Shaolin (1977). Due to his legal dispute, the five films he made in Taiwan, including his second directional project Iron Monkey (1977), were withheld or frequently pulled from theaters. The case was eventually settled in 1978 and Chen would return to Shaw Brothers after signing a new four-year contract requiring him to make at maximum two films per year with the company.[4] Upon his return, Chen starred in Chang Cheh's Crippled Avengers, a film credited as revitalizing the actor's career.[6] He would remain with the Shaw Brothers until their closure in 1985. His 1980 film, Killer Constable, has been praised as one of the studio's best wuxia films.[7][8]

To date, Chen has starred in 164 films,[9] around 80 of which were with Shaw Brothers. He has gone on to direct five more films including Return to Action (1990) while his starring roles often focused on action, crime and, occasionally, comedy. He remains active in the Hong Kong film industry.

Personal life

[edit]

Chen was close friends with Chang Cheh and Ku Feng. He has cited Chang as his favorite director and credited Ku as helping him learn Mandarin.[3]

Chen has been married four times. In 1976, he married fellow Shaw Brothers actress Cai Zhen-ni (stage name Ying Ying), with whom he has a daughter, Chen Yong-xi. Chen and Cai divorced in the following year. His second marriage was to Taiwanese actress and singer, Fong Yee-chun, with whom he has a son, Chen Jun-xiang. Chen and Fong later divorced. In 1990, he married Zhao Ting-ting in Australia, but the couple divorced a few years later. Chen married his fourth wife Tang Liping in 2017.

He owns a restaurant called Jimmy's Kitchen in Kolkata, India.[10]

In 2012, Chen was expelled from the Tai Sing Pek Kwar Martial Arts Association due to a dispute with his mentor, Chen Xiu Zhong.[2][11]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1969 Two Sisters Who Steal Thug
Redress Robber with coloured face
Have Sword, Will Travel Guard
1970 Modern School Life Peter
Wong Fei-Hung: Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation
The Secret of the Dirk Black Tiger Clan member
Cold Blade Producer, action director
Vengeance
The Chinese Boxer Casino guard (uncredited)
1971 Betrayer Hung Tien-piao
The Duel Liu Shou Yi's guard
Maria Gang member
Story of Thirty-Six Killers Jiao Meng
The Comet Strikes Waiter
The Chase Action director
The Deadly Duo
Bus stop Action director
The Invincible Iron Palm Action director
1972 Huo Tang De Ai Ren
Many Faces of a Diamond
The Boxer from Shantung Ma Yung Chen
The Hurricane
Impetuous Fire Shi Di-Fen
The Water Margin Tattooed Dragon Shih Chien
The Bloody Fight Sun Ta-kuei
The Bloody Fists Japanese long-haired boss
Young People Ho Tai
Man of Iron Chou Lien Huan
Four Riders Li Wei-shi
1973 Blood Brothers Huang Chung
The House of 72 Tenants Police constable
Thunderbolt Action director
Iron Bodyguard Wang Yu
The Savage 5 Ma Dao
All Men Are Brothers Shi Jin
The Bloody Escape Bandit Gu Hui
1974 The Teahouse Wang 'Big Brother' Cheng
Heroes Two Hung Hsi-kuan
The Savage Five Ma Tao
Men from the Monastery Hung Hsi-kuan
Hong Kong 73 Ambulance driver
Five Tough Guys Wu Wen-Yuan
The Two Faces of Love
The Crazy Instructor Producer
1975 The Floating Clouds Lo Chin-Ying
Big Brother Cheng Hung 'Big Brother' Cheng
The Flying Guillotine Ma Teng
Temperament of Life
All Men Are Brothers 'Tattooed Dragon' Shih Chen
Lover's Destiny
The Imposter Captain Lo Gin Yin
The Big Holdup Ma Rulong
The Spiritual Boxer Boxer #2
1976 Big Bad Sis Big Brother Cheng
7-Man Army Chiang Ming-kun
Challenge of the Masters Luk Ah Choy
King Gambler Peng Tien-shih
The Simple-Minded Fellow Director
1977 Executioners from Shaolin Hung Hsi Kuan
Hero of Shanghai
Iron Monkey Iron Monkey Director
Layout Hsieh Hsiao-Lin
The Hero Tattoo with Nine Dragons Producer
Go a Little Crazy Producer
1978 Crippled Avengers Dao Tian-du
Duel at the Tiger Village Cool Head
Invincible Monkey Fist Director, action director
1979 Big Boss of Shanghai Wong Chun Yung Director
Iron Fists Chiu Tien-Hsing
Invincible Enforcer Min
1980 The Master Jin Tien-yun
Rendezvous with Death Golden Staff Ku Fei Tien
Killer Constable Leng Tian-Ying
1981 Bloody Monkey Master Iron Monkey
Red Rattlesnake
Challenge of the Gamesters
Notorious Eight
The Battle for the Republic of China Huang Ming-Hsuan
Dangerous Person Inspector Chan Director
Notorious Eight Zhou Shiqiang
Ambitious Kung Fu Girl Qin Ge
Deadly Duo
1982 Don't Love Any Stranger
Blood Brothers
Human Lanterns Tan Fu
Raiders
The Tycoon
New Pilgrims to the West
Rolls, Rolls, I Love You Mr. Cui Tung-Sing
Gang Master Mang Yi-Tu
Little Flying Dragon
Winner Takes All Miyamoto
Dirty Trick
Who Is the Killer? Director
Seven Knights
Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils Ye-lut Hung-kei
1983 Little Dragon Maiden Guo Jing
Deadly Life of a Ninja Chow Han-wei
The Black Magic with Buddha Chin Ben
Mission Thunderbolt
The Lost Generation Paul
The Challenge of the Lady Ninja Lee Tong
1984 Opium and the Kung-Fu Master Rong Feng
Shanghai 13 Shen Gang Fu
Return of the Bastard Swordsman Mochitsuki Soryu Han
Butcher
The 3 Heroes
Death Ring
Majestic Thunderbolt
Chak Sing
I Will Finally Knock You Down, Dad!
1985 How to Choose a Royal Bride Tian Di Hui chief
The Dancing Warrior Rich man
1986 Tai-Pan Wung Cameo role; First appearance in an English-speaking movie; credited as Chan Koon Tai
1987 Fortune Hunters Leopard
1988 Human Sentiment Law
Long Fa Tang
The Rebellious Husband
1989 Just Heroes
The Sniping
Angel's Mission
1990 Return to Action Chen Yun Chan Director, producer
The Fortune Code Triad boss gambler
Sleazy Dizzy Chen Yuan Long
Forsaken Cop Producer
Blood Stained Tradewind Producer
1991 Tri in Triad
All Mighty Gambler Tai
The Tigers Hon-Wai
Today's Hero Triad boss
1992 Heroin Tunnel
The Trouble Couple
Gambling Soul Policeman
Ghost Killer
The World of Desire Uncle Won
1993 Bogus Cops Officer Wu
Angel of the Road
Shadow Cop
1996 How to Meet the Lucky Stars Liu Tin
2001 The Final Winner Brother Cheng
2002 The Era of Vampires Zombie wrangler
2004 Hero Youngster Wei Bai-Hao
Fearful 24 Hours Shih Jin Jiang
2005 Where Is Mama's Boy? Mad Cow
2006 Dragon Tiger Gate Ma Kun
My Wife Can Fight
2007 The Valiant Ones New
2008 Kung Fu Hip-Hop Second uncle
2009 Murderer Tai
2010 14 Blades Fazheng
Gallants Dragon
2011 White Vengeance Qiu Ran
2012 No Retreat
The Man with the Iron Fists Golden Lion[12]
2013 Conspirators
7 Assassins
Glory Days Brother Tai
The Real Iron Monkey Iron Monkey
2014 Once Upon a Time in Shanghai Baldy Bai
2015 The Master Dojo head
The Choice: A Story of the Old Shanghai
2016 Cherry Returns
Xin Gui Da Gui
Muay Thai Girls
Shed Skin Papa Brother Tai
2017 The Hidden Sword Master Kong
Dealer/Healer
An Idiot Lost in Xiangxi
2018 Burning Summer
Keyboard Warriors
Iceman: The Time Traveler Eunuch Wei
2019 Real You, Fake Me
2022 Legendary in Action! Master Dragon

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1980 Blowing in the Wind Shi Jiawei
Dai dey yan ching Lee Dai-sek
1983 Never Bow Down Zeng Zhanpeng
Never Bow Down sequel Zeng Zhanpeng
Super Hero Lei Huaiwu
1984 Looking back suddenly
1986 The Romance of the White Hair Maiden Ngok Ming-or
A generation of heroes Tan Si director
1987 Pretty girl good luck
1990 Pioneer of Integrity (Third Series) Zhu Taixing
1991 Sai Jinhua Lu Yufang
2000 The Duke of Mount Deer Hong Antong
Mi Xia
2002 The Legendary Siblings 2 Ye Tianzhao
2004 Yixinren
2005 dangerous person Liu Youxing Episode 9 "Betting on Life"
2008 JingWuChenZhen Ichiro Watanabe
2010 Who's the Hero Fu Xiaobo
Detective Tanglang Sheng Ting Fan
2013 Bloody Island Hiroshi Fujiwara
2017 Psycho Detective Deputy Director Chen
2019 fantasy adventure king He Baiqin

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Celestial Pictures DVD release of Five Tough Guys
  2. ^ a b c "斷50年師徒情 大聖劈掛門獎門數臭陳觀泰". Eastweek.
  3. ^ a b c "Interview with big brother Chen Kuan Tai". Hong Kong Cinemagic.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The Flying Guillotines: History of the Shaw Brothers Trendsetter, Its Sequel and Imitators Part 2". Cool Ass Cinema.
  5. ^ "The Flying Guillotines: History of the Shaw Brothers Trendsetter, its sequel and Imitators Part 1". Cool Ass Cinema.
  6. ^ "Film Review: Killer Constable (1980) by Kuei Chih Hung". Asian Movie Pulse.
  7. ^ "Killer Constable". Dundee Contemporary Arts.
  8. ^ Teo, Stephen (2015). Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition. ISBN 9781474400091.
  9. ^ "Chen Kuan-Tai". Hong Kong Movie DataBase.
  10. ^ "屢敗屢結 女友年輕30載陳觀泰73歲又再婚". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  11. ^ "陳觀泰遭師傅逐出門".
  12. ^ Yamato, Jen (October 31, 2012). "UFC Fighter Cung Le Talks RZA's 'Iron Fists,' Bruce Lee, And Facing Off Against Rich Franklin". Movieline. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
[edit]