Simon Yam Tat-wah (; born 19 March 1955) is a Hong Kong actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival and box office hits such as ''

Naked Killer ''Naked Killer'' () is a 1992 Hong Kong erotic thriller film written and produced by Wong Jing, and directed by Clarence Fok Yiu-leung. The film stars Chingmy Yau, Simon Yam and Carrie Ng. The film is regarded as a cult classic. Plot Kitty ...

'', '' SPL: Sha Po Lang'', ''

Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

'', ''

Election 2 ''Election 2'' (literal title: '' Black Society: Harmony is a Virtue''), also known as ''Triad Election'' in the United States, is a 2006 Category III Hong Kong crime film directed by Johnnie To with a large ensemble cast including Louis Koo, S ...

'' , ''

Exiled ''Exiled'' () is a 2006 Hong Kong action drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To, and starring Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Nick Cheung, Josie Ho, Roy Cheung and Lam Suet, with special appearances by Richie Jen and Simon Yam. The action ...

'', '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life'' and ''

The Thieves ''The Thieves'' () is a 2012 South Korean heist action comedy film directed by Choi Dong-hoon with an ensemble cast. With over 12.9 million ticket sales, the action comedy is the ninth highest-grossing film in Korean film history. Plot Ye ...

''.

Career

Yam started off as a model before becoming an actor in the mid 1970s. He then signed with the Hong Kong television network

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 ...

, starring and co-starring in a number of television series prior to "apply his trades" in the film industry in 1987. His elder brother is Yam Tak-wing, a retired former Deputy Commissioner of Hong Kong Police. In 1989, he starred in the Japanese-Hong Kong co-production of ''Bloodfight''. This was the first of its kind in which English was spoken throughout the entire film. In 1992, Yam gained critical acclaim for his role as the maniacal Judge in the crime film ''

Full Contact ''Full Contact'' () is a 1992 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Ringo Lam, and starring Chow Yun-fat, Simon Yam, and Anthony Wong. Plot The first part of the movie takes place in Bangkok, Thailand. Gou Fei's (Chow Yun-fat) frie ...

'', where he faced off in a bloody battle against

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 ...

's character. In 1993, he starred as "Dhalsim" in the action-comedy film ''

Future Cops ''Future Cops'' (; literal title: ''Super-School Tyrant'') is a 1993 Hong Kong action-comedy film loosely based on the ''Street Fighter'' video game franchise, starring an ensemble cast of Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, Chingmy Yau, Dick ...

'', a parody of ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' directed by

Wong Jing Wong Jing ( born 3 May 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, Film producer, producer, actor, News presenter, presenter, and screenwriter. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, Wong Jing played a prominent ...

. In 1996, Yam began his role as Chiang Tin-Sung, the leader of the ''Hung Hing'' triads in the first three instalments of the ''Young and Dangerous'' film series. In 2000, Yam starred as Cheung San, the progenitor of all vampires, in the television series ''

My Date with a Vampire II ''My Date with a Vampire II'' is a 2000 Hong Kong television series produced by ATV as a sequel to '' My Date with a Vampire'' (1998) even though it is a reboot of the original. It was followed by '' My Date with a Vampire III'' in 2004. The ser ...

'', produced by ATV. In 2003, Yam made his Hollywood film debut in '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life'' as Shaolin crime lord. In 2013, Yam directed his first film, as part of the Hong Kong portmanteau horror film ''

Tales from the Dark 1 ''Tales from the Dark 1'' (李碧華鬼魅系列: 迷離夜) is a 2013 Hong Kong portmanteau horror film directed by Simon Yam, Lee Chi-ngai, and Fruit Chan. The film is split into three segments, each based on a short story by Lilian Lee. The ...

''. In Feb 2021, Yam, Tony Leung and

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 ...

will team up in a new major action movie titled ''Goldfinger'', backed by Emperor Motion Pictures and mainland Chinese partners, with a reported budget of around $30.8 million (RMB200 million).

Personal life

Yam was married to his first wife Ho Sui-yi from 1981-86. In 1997, he married Sophia Kao, known as Qi Qi, an international model. She was born in Shanghai but raised in Austria. They have a daughter, Ella. On 20 July 2019, Yam was stabbed at a promotional event in China. He suffered a minor injury and his manager said, "He was stabbed in the tummy area and also got a cut on his right hand." He got a small operation in

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 ...

and recovered. Yam's favorite investment is real estate in Hong Kong. SCMP. 2021-05-23

Filmography

Film

Television series

Awards and nominations

Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...

* Best Actor Nomination for ''PTU''

Golden Bauhinia Awards Golden Bauhinia Awards () is a Hong Kong film award organised by the Hong Kong Film Critics Association. Its first award presentation ceremony took place in 1996. The award attracted controversy in 2007, when ten nominations were given to Pang ...

* Best Actor for ''PTU'' * Best Actor for ''Election''

Asia Pacific Screen Awards The Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) is an international cultural initiative overseen by the Asia Pacific Screen Academy and headquartered in Australia. In order to realise UNESCO's goals of promoting and preserving the different cultures th ...

* Best Performance by an Actor for ''Sparrow''

References

External links

Simon Yam
a
LoveHKFilm.com
*
HK Cinemagic entry

Simon Yam discusses Ocean Flame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yam, Simon 1955 births Living people Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong film producers Hong Kong film directors Hong Kong male television actors Hong Kong people of Shandong descent Asian film producers 20th-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century Hong Kong male actors