Shocking news --- the iconic Hong Kong actor Mr. Ng Man-tat passed away on February 27 at Tai Wai's Union Hospital for his deteriorated liver cancer. He died at the age of 70. 

Early Acting Career

Born in Fujian China in 1952, Ng migrated to Hong Kong at the age of five and then started his acting career by attending training classes from Hong Kong’s Television Broadcasts (TVB) when he was 19. Upon garnering experience in a number of films and television series during his early acting career, he welcomed his first breakthrough role  being Wu Tit-fa (胡鐵花）in the 1979 edition of Chor Lau-heung (楚留香), which made him one of the most sought-after artists of that time. But he became lost in the out-of-blue fame and fortune he gained, starting gambling and womanizing. By 1980 he lost so much to loan sharks that he had to declare bankruptcy. TVB thus minimized his appearance on screen for his misbehavior and damaged image. 

In Retrospect

Reflecting on his mistakes, Ng started to read up on Konstantin Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares(演員的修養) and Zheng Junli's The Birth of a Role (角色的誕生) to hone his acting skill, delving into how to be an excellent actor professionally and morally.

In the early 1980s, Ng restarted his cameo appearances in many classic TVB series. In 1983, he landed a recurring role in the chivalry series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" (射雕英雄傳). The series, adapted from Louis Cha’s (金庸）novel of the same name, rapidly acquired wide popularity and pervasive applaud throughout Mainland China, Taiwan, and some Southeast Asian countries. Since then, Ng's career gradually get back on track as he worked his way up again. 

In 1985, Ng acted in the television series Police Cadet '84 (新扎師兄) which was, at that time, well-received by local television audience, and allowed his peers in the industry to re-evaluate him positively. 

Acting Career Reborn

In 1988, Ng began to partner with Stephen Chow (周星馳) in their first Hong Kong TVB television series, The Final Combat (蓋世豪俠) and later the popular 1990 film All for the Winner (賭聖), which turned out to be the turning point of his career. The duo again evoked the popularity of a genre named "無厘頭", Mo Lei Tau in Cantonese, a type of slapstick humor associated with Hong Kong folk culture which started in the 1920s. Since then their collaboration had appeared in dozens of Mo Lei Tau-styled classic movies, such as Tricky Brains(整蠱專家), Fight Back to School(逃學威龍)，Royal Tramp (鹿鼎記), The God of Cookery (食神), to name a few.   The collaboration between these two reached its peak in "A Chinese Odyssey” (大話西游) in 1995 as the movie broke Hong Kong's box office record that year. Their last co-starring movie, Shao-Lin Soccer (少林足球), earned lots of well-known rewards such as 38th Golden Horse Awards (金馬獎), 7th Golden Bauhinia Awards (金紫荊獎), and 21st Hong Kong Film Awards (金像獎), and so on.

Ironically, popular as his performance was, Ng didn't receive any rewards while in Stephen Chow's movie. His only award, Hong Kong Film Award's Best Supporting Actor(金像獎最佳男配角) came from his excellent acting in "A Moment of Romance" (天若有情), featuring Andy Lau (劉德華). 

Partnering with almost all the most popular superstars in the Hong Kong film industry in the 1990s and 2000s, Mr. Ng was considered one of the best supporting actors of his time. Other than his 48-year legendary acting career and his dedication to the brilliance of Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1990s, Ng is also a patriot. The last blog on his Weibo was "I am a Chinese" which also was probably the last sentence he left in public. Life is harsh but his movies always give us a sense of relax, relief, sooth, and reflection. The classic he left behind will always be unforgettable memories for those who were born in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s. Rest in peace, Uncle Da(達叔). Take your laugh to Heaven!! You are always in our hearts!!!