The Five Tiger Generals of

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...

(無綫五虎將), more commonly referred to as simply the Five Tigers (五虎), were a group of five of the most popular young leading male actors of 1980s Hong Kong television. The group consisted of

Michael Miu Michael Miu Kiu-wai ( 苗僑偉) (born 18 June 1958) is a Hong Kong actor and businessman. His career has been met with popular success in his youth, followed by a resurgence in middle age after a period of hiatus. He is considered one of the most ...

苗僑偉 ("Big Tiger"),

Kent Tong Kent Tong (; born 29 September 1958) is a Hong Kong actor. He was a popular TVB actor during the 1980s, nicknamed "Prince" and one of the "Five Tiger Generals" of TVB. Early life Kent Tong was born to and grew up in a poor family in Hong Kong. His ...

湯鎮業 ("Second Tiger"),

Felix Wong Felix Wong Yat-wah (born September 4, 1961) is a Hong Kong actor and singer best known for his performances in many ''wuxia'' television series produced by Television Broadcasts Limited, TVB, such as ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes (1983 TV seri ...

黃日華 ("Third Tiger"),

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

劉德華 ("Fourth Tiger"), and

Tony Leung Chiu-wai use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place ...

梁朝偉 ("Small Tiger"). The group was formed to collectively promote the popularity of the five members, as well as to promote the company's various drama and entertainment productions.

Five Tiger Generals The Five Tiger Generals is a popular appellation in Chinese culture for the top five military commanders serving under one lord. Although the term does not appear in Chinese historical records and is not used officially, it has been heavily used i ...

was a name given to them by the media. The term is a popular appellation in

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

, meaning a ruler's five best military generals.

Background

While all 5 members were once trainees of TVB's then all-year Artiste Training Academy, they joined the school at different times—Kent Tong joined in 1978, Michael Miu and Felix Wong in 1979, Andy Lau in 1980, and Tony Leung in 1981. Tong was the first to debut with his first role as the supporting character Wu Wang-yuen in the 1980 drama '' This Land is Mine''. Wong's first role was in the 1981 ''

The Misadventure of Zoo ''The Misadventure of Zoo'' (流氓皇帝) is a TVB television series, premiered in 1981. Theme song "Personhood Loves Freedom" (做人愛自由) composition and arrangement by Joseph Koo, lyricist by Wong Jim, sung by Adam Cheng, and the sub the ...

''. The other 3 members had debut roles while still trainees at the school: Miu's debut role was the 1980 drama ''

The Adventurer's ''The Adventurer's'' (衝擊) is a TVB television series, premiered in 1980. Its theme song "The Adventurer's" (衝擊) and the sub theme song "The Sentimental Debts" (情債) had both composition and arrangement by Joseph Koo, while the lyricis ...

'', Lau's first role was in the

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

'' Hong Kong '81'', and Leung had his first major role in the 1982 '' Soldier of Fortune'', which also starred Wong and Tong. It did not take long for the Five Tigers to become popular. According to Wong during a 2009 interview for the talk show '' Be My Guest'', TVB's first generation of leading actors at the time, which included

Adam Cheng Adam Cheng Siu-chow (born 24 February 1947) is a Hong Kong TVB actor and Cantopop singer. Career Cheng started his career in the 1970s, where he gained a reputation for playing the lead roles in TVB ''Wuxia'' drama series based on the works of ...

and

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: ''A Better Tomorrow'', ''A Be ...

, were leaving the company, and TVB was in need of rounding up a new generation of popular idols; thus, the members of the Five Tigers quickly rose to fame due to many performing opportunities. Wong said that as soon as he graduated from acting school, he was offered a major supporting role. Wong was then offered a leading role in his second drama, ''

The Lonely Hunter ''The Lonely Hunter'' (Traditional Chinese: 過客; lit. ''The Passerby'') is a 1981 Hong Kong television drama. Produced by Lee Tim-shing and written by Chan Yiu-ying, ''The Lonely Hunter'' is a TVB production. Backed by a star-studded supporting ...

'' (1981), which shot him to instant fame in Hong Kong.

Formation

In September 1983, amidst a ratings competition with

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese variety shows, TVB created the show ''All Star Challenge'', which featured almost an entire lineup of the most popular actors and singers of Hong Kong at the time. The five most popular young male idols at the station—Miu, Tong, Wong, Lau, and Leung—were grouped together to perform a variety of stage performances at the show, such as singing and dancing. Their appearances brought in a lot of media attention, and their performances were a selling point for the show. The media then branded them as TVB's Five Tiger Generals, and the term quickly caught on to the public. Since their formation, the five of them consistently made public appearances together as a group; they even expressed that they would like to release an album together under their name. In 1991, the group starred in the action thriller '' The Tigers'', a film adaptation of the 1984 television drama ''Rise and Fall of a Stand-In''. It is the only film to star all five members.

Legacy and reunion

The popularity of the Five Tigers led TVB to continue with similar group projects even after the members of the Five Tigers left TVB. However, none of them were that successful. Many television dramas that featured the members of the Five Tigers, notably ''

The Legend of the Condor Heroes ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the first part of the ''Condor Trilogy'' and is followed by ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' and ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''. It w ...

'' (1983), ''

The Return of the Condor Heroes ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', also called ''The Giant Eagle and Its Companion'', is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the second part of the ''Condor Trilogy'' and was preceded by ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and followe ...

'' (1983), ''

Police Cadet A police cadet can refer either to a trainee police officer or to a member of a youth organisation in which young people learn about and/or participate in law enforcement and police work. Many police departments in the United States offer polic ...

'' (1984), '' The Duke of Mount Deer'' (1984), and ''

Looking Back in Anger ''Looking Back in Anger'' () was a 1989 Hong Kong TV series and one of the most watched TVB series by Chinese people in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia and around the world. Many factors contributed to the success of this series. As well as its tragic ...

'' (1989), were branded as classics by many in Asia. On 27 June 2010, during a press conference for a training academy in

Panyu Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, Tong revealed that the five members are planning for another reunion project. The collaboration between Miu and Wong in the 2010 drama ''

Gun Metal Grey ''Gun Metal Grey'' is a 2010 Hong Kong police procedural television drama produced by Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB). It originally aired on Jade from 1 November to 10 December 2010, consisting of 30 episodes. ''Gun Metal Grey'' is a dramati ...

'' created a heated discussion about a possible reunion of all members in the future. "The Five Tiger Generals will definitely reunite again. The five of us really hope for that day to come; in fact, we are currently planning one right now."

Collaborations

References

External links