Lo Wei ( 12 December 1918 – 20 January 1996) was a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

best known for launching the

martial arts film Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

careers of both

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

, in ''

The Big Boss ''The Big Boss'' (, lit. "The Big Brother from Tangshan"; originally titled ''Fists of Fury'' in America) is a 1971 Hong Kong action martial arts film produced by Raymond Chow and starring Bruce Lee in his first major film in a lead role. Th ...

'' and ''

Fist of Fury ''Fist of Fury'' is a 1972 Hong Kong action martial arts film written and directed by Lo Wei, produced by Raymond Chow, and starring Bruce Lee in his second major role after ''The Big Boss'' (1971). Lee, who was also the film's action choreogra ...

'', and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

, in ''

New Fist of Fury ''New Fist of Fury'' is a 1976 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Lo Wei and starring Jackie Chan. It is the first of several films that Lo directed Chan in, and the first using Chan's stage name Sing Lung (, literally meaning "becoming a ...

''.

Career

Lo began his entertainment career as an actor in the Second World War. He moved to Hong Kong in 1948. During the 1950's Lo became a popular matinee idol. After Lee's death it was Lo who gave Jackie Chan his first shot at the big time as part of the wave of

Bruceploitation Bruceploitation (a portmanteau of "Bruce Lee" and "exploitation") is an exploitation film subgenre that emerged after the death of martial arts film star Bruce Lee in 1973, where filmmakers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea cast Bruce Lee l ...

. Lo is said to have been linked with Chinese organized crime, the Triads. Lo ran the production company "Lo Wei Motion Picture Company", which operated until 1977-78 due to heavy

cost-cutting Cost reduction is the process used by companies to reduce their costs and increase their profits. Depending on a company’s services or products, the strategies can vary. Every decision in the product development process affects cost: design i ...

measures as a result of

signing a deal with Golden Harvest. Lo is credited with over 135 films as an actor, over 60 films as a director, over 30 films as a writer, and over 45 films as a producer.

Filmography

Films

This is a partial list of films. * ''Chun lei'' (1949) * ''Chun cheng hua luo'' (1949) * ''Da liang shan en chou ji'' (1949) * ''Hai shi'' (1949) - Ku San * ''Wang Kui yu Gui Ying'' (1952) - Wang Kuei * ''Wu shan meng'' (1953) - Mingde * ''Nie hai qing tian'' (1953) - Song Siqing * ''Ge nu Gong Lingyan'' (1953) * ''Ming nu ren bie zhuan'' (1953) * ''Xiao feng xian'' (1953) * ''Dang fu qing chi'' (1953) - Wen Lung * ''Yuan yang jie'' (1953) * ''Mei gui mei gui wo ai ni'' (1954) * ''Bi xue huang hua'' (1954) * ''Yang e'' (1955) * ''Xiao bai cai'' (1955) * ''Xiao feng xian xu ji'' (1955) * ''Jin sang zi'' (1955) * ''Cha hua nu'' (1955) * ''Ying du yan ji'' (1955) * ''Ju zi gu niang'' (1955) * ''Tao hua jiang'' (1956) - Li Ming * ''Hong chen'' (1956) - Hong Dalong * ''Xue li hong'' (1956) * ''Lian zhi huo'' (1956) * ''Jing hun ji'' (1956) - Ma Churen * ''Mang lian'' (1956) - Lung Meng-tang * ''Shui xian'' (1956) - Kuang Yung-Li * ''Wo xin chang dan'' (1956) * ''Hu die fu ren'' (1956) - Wu Chiao * ''Xian mu dan'' (1956) * ''Duo qing he'' (1957) - Ah-Ching * ''Jiu se cai qi'' (1957) * ''Ai yu zui'' (1957) - Zhang Long * ''Chun guang wu xian hao'' (1957) * ''Ankoru watto monogatari utsukushiki aishu'' (1957) - King of Cambodia * ''Diao Chan'' (1958) - Tung Chuo * ''Xiao qing ren'' (1958) * ''Shan hu'' (1958) - Chang Da Shun * ''Hai wang zi'' (1958) * ''Xiang ru fei fei'' (1958) * ''Jin feng huang'' (1958) * ''Long xiang feng wu'' (1959) * ''Man tang hong'' (1959) * ''Sha ren de qing shu'' (1959) * ''Gui wu ge sheng'' (1959) - Kuan Li-Chi * ''Jia you xi shi'' (1959) - Feng Gengtang * ''Tao wang 48 xiao shi'' (1959) * ''Ye hua xiang'' (1959) - Shang Ching Cheng * ''Er nu ying xiong chuan'' (1959) * ''Kuer liulang ji'' (1960) * ''Gong lou dian ying'' (1960) * ''Tao hua lei'' (1960) - Hua Mingchun * ''Zhi fen jian die wang'' (1960) * ''Hei hu die'' (1960) * ''Mi yue feng bo'' (1960) - Chang Ying-Wei * ''Ti yu huang hou'' (1961) - Guo Sue's Father * ''Yuan nu Meng Li Si'' (1961) * ''Wu yu wen can tian'' (1961) - Ho Ji-Ching * ''Zei mei ren'' (1961) * ''Shou qiang'' (1961) * ''Zao sheng gui zi'' (1962) * ''Yi duan qing'' (1962) * ''Jin jian meng'' (1963) * ''Wu Ze Tian'' (1963) * ''He hua'' (1963) * ''Die hai si zhuang shi'' (1963) * ''Bao lian deng'' (1964) - Prime Minister Qin * ''Luan feng he ming'' (1964) - Juying's Father * ''Shen gong yuan'' (1964) - Dorgan * ''Sheng si guan tou'' (1964) * ''E yu he'' (1965) * ''Nu hai qing chou'' (1965) - Master Ting * ''Qi qi gan si dui'' (1965) * ''Jin pu sa'' (1966) * 1967 ''Angel With The Iron Fists'' - Chief Inspector. Also as director. * 1967 ''Madame Slender Plum'' - Wang Xue Bin. Also as Director. * 1967 ''Summons to Death'' - Gin Te-Biu. Also as screenwriter and director. * 1967 ''Cui ming fu'' * ''Jin shi qing'' (1968) - Liu Yi-Jen * ''Nu xia hei hu die'' (1968) - Chief Gai Tian Lui * ''Tie guan yin yong po bao zha dang'' (1968) - Professor Hsiung * ''Duan hun gu'' (1968) - Chao Yun Yang * ''Jurang bahaya'' (1968) - Mr. King * ''Bayangan ajal'' (1968) - Mr. King * ''Du long tan'' (1969) * ''Hu dan'' (1969) * ''Long men jin jian'' (1969) - Pai Chen-Tung * ''

Brothers Five ''Brothers Five'' (Chinese: 五虎屠龍) is a 1970 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film directed by Lo Wei and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. Plot Five brothers were separated at birth when the evil lord of Flying Dragon Villa murdered their fat ...

'' (1970, Director) * ''Gui tai jian'' (1971) - The King * ''Ying zi shen bian'' (1971) - Chief Yang * ''Gui liu xing'' (1971) * ''

'' (1971, Director) * ' (1971, Director) - Shen Dun * ''Jin Xuan Feng'' (1972) * ''

'' (1972) - Inspector * ''

The Black Tavern ''The Black Tavern'' is a 1972 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film directed by Teddy Yip and produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio, starring Shih Szu. Cast *Shih Szu as Zhang Caibing *Tung Li as Zha Xiaoyu * Ku Feng as Zheng Shoushan *Kong Ling as Jinglu * ...

'' (1972) * 1973 ''

A Man Called Tiger ''A Man Called Tiger'' (Hong Kong title ''Leng mian hu'') is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts action thriller starring Jimmy Wang and Maria Yi and directed by Lo Wei. Plot Chin Fu ( Jimmy Wang Yu)'s father was a kung-fu master who was murdered. ...

'' - Director. Also as Nakatami / Moriyuki. * ''Ma lu xiao ying xiong'' (1973) - Tram passenger victim * ''Hai yuan chi hao'' (1973) - Noodle shop boss * '' Kung Fu Girl'' (1973, Director) - Commissioner Wu * ''

Yellow Faced Tiger ''Yellow Faced Tiger'' (, originally released in the United States as ''Slaughter in San Francisco'') is a 1974 Hong Kong-American martial arts action film directed by Lo Wei, and starring Wong Tao, Sylvia Chang and Chuck Norris. Summary In ...

'' (1974, Director) * '' Naughty, Naughty'' (1974, Director) * ''Chuo tou zhuang yuan'' (1974) * ''Jin fen shen xian shou'' (1975) * 1976 ''

Shaolin Wooden Men ''Shaolin Wooden Men'' () (Shao Lin mu ren xiang) is a 1976 Hong Kong action film directed by Chen Chi-Hwa and starring Jackie Chan. It was made at Lo Wei's studio at Golden Harvest, during the post-Bruce Lee era. The film was also released i ...

'' - Director, producer. * 1976 ''

'' - Inspector (cameo). Also as Director, screenwriter, and producer. * '' The Killer Meteors'' (1976, Director) * '' Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin'' (1977, Producer) * '' To Kill with Intrigue'' (1977, Director) * ''

Spiritual Kung Fu ''Spiritual Kung Fu'' () (Quan Jing) is a 1978 Hong Kong action martial arts film directed and produced by Lo Wei, and starring Jackie Chan and James Tien. The film also features Yuen Biao as one of the ''Master of the Five Fists'' martial ar ...

'' (1978, Director) * ''

Dragon Fist ''Dragon Fist'' (), also known as ''Dangsang Martial Arts'' or ''The Wild Big Boss'', is a 1979 Hong Kong martial arts film directed and produced by Lo Wei, starring Jackie Chan, Nora Miao and James Tien. The film was released in Hong Kong on 2 ...

'' (1979, Director) * ''

Fearless Hyena Part II ''Fearless Hyena Part II'' () is a 1983 Hong Kong martial arts action film directed by Chan Chuen, and starring Jackie Chan. It was the sequel to the first part ''The Fearless Hyena''. Background When film producer Willie Chan left the Lo Wei ...

'' (1983, Writer) * ''Long hu zhi duo xing'' (1988) * ''Haam ging bin yuen'' (1988) * ''Shen xing tai bao'' (1989) * ''Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive'' (1989) - The Boss * ''Gong woo jui hau yat goh dai lo'' (1990) - (final film role)

Personal life

On 20 January 1996, Lo died of heart failure in

References

External links

*
Lo Wei at fareastfilms.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lo, Wei 1918 births 1996 deaths Film directors from Jiangsu Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong film directors Male actors from Jiangsu 20th-century Hong Kong male actors Hong Kong screenwriters Screenwriters from Jiangsu 20th-century screenwriters Chinese emigrants to British Hong Kong