Tony Liu

Tony Liu
Born
Liu Tian-jue

(1952-02-07) 7 February 1952 (age 72)
Hong Kong
Other namesLau Wing
Liu Yung
Anthony Lau
Liu Wing
Liu Yun
Liu Yong
Tony Lau Wing
Tony Liu Tian-Jue
Tony Lau
OccupationActor
Years active1971–present
Spouses
Tai Liang-chun
​
​
(m. 1983; div. 1984)​
Eva Lai
​
​
(m. 1992; div. 2004)​
Huang Li Yan
​
​
(m. 2007; div. 2019)​
Children4
Parent
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese劉永
Simplified Chinese刘永

Tony Liu Tian-jue (born 7 February 1952) is a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. He is often credited by his Cantonese stage name Lau Wing. Liu is best known for starring in many Hong Kong martial arts films, especially in the 1970s and 1980s. He has also acted in some television series where he is better remembered for his roles as Qing Shi Huang and Genghis Khan.

Early life

Liu was born in 1952 in British Hong Kong to Hong Kong actress Lai Man, and a sailor, Liu Tao. He was one of seven children born to the couple; he has five sisters and one brother. He grew up in Kowloon City and was playmates with members of the Seven Little Fortunes.[2] As a child, he often visited film sets with his mother[3] and was friends with Bruce Lee and Lam Ching-ying, with whom he practised kung fu.[2] Liu was additionally a Hapkido, jujutsu, and Gōjū-ryū practitioner, attaining the rank of 3rd dan in the latter.[2][3]

In elementary school, his mother enrolled him in several extracurricular activities and he would attend morning lessons at the Bishop Ford Memorial School and afternoon and evening English classes respectively at the St. Paul and Pui Ching English School.[2]

Liu later attended Tang King Po School although he fared poorly in his studies, preferring to play various sports including basketball and soccer. He also took up jujutsu and karate during this time.[2]

Career

In 1970, Liu joined the Hong Kong film production company Golden Harvest. He made his movie debut in a villainous role in the 1971 film The Big Boss opposite Bruce Lee, whom he was reunited with by sheer coincidence having both been cast in the same movie despite having not seen each other since Lee's departure for the States in 1959.[3] Liu went on to appear in three of the Lee's subsequent films – as a martial arts student in Fist of Fury (1972); as a restaurant worker and karate practitioner in Way of the Dragon (1972); and as a tournament fighter in Enter the Dragon (1973).

In 1973, Liu left Golden Harvest and two years later, joined the Shaw Brothers Studio and made his breakthrough as the Chien Lung Emperor in Emperor Chien Lung (1976) and its sequels.[4] He continued acting in movies and various television series produced by ATV before relocating to Mainland China in the 2000s. In 2017, he returned to Hong Kong from Zhongshan to raise his sons.[5] He currently remains active in the movie and television industry.

Personal life

Liu was married to former Taiwanese actress Tai Liang Chun from 1983 to 1984. After the couple moved to Taiwan, Liu accused Tai of cheating on him and disfigured her face with knives and forks. He received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for the assault and was ordered to pay Tai 6 million TWD, but avoided serving any prison time by returning to Hong Kong.[6] In 1992, he married Hong Kong actress and Miss Asia 1985, Eva Lai with whom he has two children, Wynce (born 1994) and Dicky (born 1998). Lai filed for separation at the Hong Kong High Court in 2000 due to domestic violence and finalized their divorce in 2004, whereupon Lai gained custody of their children. In 2007, Liu married Huang Li Yan, a woman from mainland China 30 years his junior. The couple lived in Shenzhen where they had two sons (born 2007 and 2011 respectively). The marriage ended in 2019 when Huang filed for divorce citing generation gap as the reason for the separation.[7]

Liu was attacked in 1985 after leaving a nightclub and hospitalized for a month due to a broken sternum, ten cracked ribs, and a burst bone brow sustained from the incident.[8]

Awards

Award/Film Festival Year Nominated work Category Result Ref
Golden Horse Awards 1981 A Man of Immortality Best Leading Actor Nominated [9]
2011 Revenge: A Love Story Best Supporting Actor Nominated [10]

Filmography

In film, Liu is credited as Lau Wing.

As actor

As director

[11][12]

References

  1. ^ "Anthony Lau Wing". Hong Kong Cinemagic.
  2. ^ a b c d e RTHK.HK Radio broadcast. Aired 1 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "The Flying Guillotines: History of the Shaw Brothers Trendsetter, its sequel and Imitators Part 1". Cool Ass Cinema.
  4. ^ Celestial DVD release of Bloody Parrot
  5. ^ "劉永認自己無用 無錢供兒子讀書". 明周. 20 September 2017. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Liu Yong Receives Two and a Half Year Prison Sentence in Taipei For Spousal Abuse (Chinese)". Wah Kiu Yat Po. October 1984.
  7. ^ "Actor Tony Liu's History of Domestic Abuse". jaynestars.com. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  8. ^ "劉永挨揍真不單純 眾說紛紜滿城風雨". TTV Weekly Issue No.1214 (Chinese). January 1986.
  9. ^ "18th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (English).
  10. ^ "48th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (English).
  11. ^ Tony Liu at douban.com
  12. ^ Tony Liu at chinesemov.com

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tony_Liu&oldid=1211641379"