Tang Kee Chan (, 17 February 1912 – 2 July 1991) was a Hong Kong actor, singer and radio personality. He is often referred to as the "King of Comedy (諧劇大王)" which is a moniker given to him by the Hong Kong entertainment industry as evidenced by his profile in the 'Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema' by Lisa Stokes, Tang's official profile at
Avenue of Stars and a radio broadcast titled '60 Years of Broadcasting - The Most Memorable Moments' by
Radio Television Hong Kong
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...
.
He is known in the radio broadcasting industry for voicing and playing up to eight to nine different roles for his story telling show and also for starring as part of a comedic duo (The Two Fools) with
Sun Ma Sze Tsang
Tang Wing-Cheung (; 20 June 1916 – 20 April 1997), better known by his stage name Sun Ma Sze Tsang (), was a Cantonese opera singer and actor in Hong Kong.
Career
Born in Shunde, Guangdong, China, his parents divorced when he was eight. ...
in a series of films.
[
]
Career
Tang had his start in his native Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
as a radio broadcaster before travelling to 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 ...
after being recruited by Rediffusion Television
Rediffusion Television (RTV) was the first television station in Hong Kong, making it both the first British colony and the first predominantly ethnically Chinese city to have television.Kitley, Philip. 003(2003). Television, Regulation and ...
. He specialized in comedy and used up to eight to nine different voices and roles in his story telling show titled 'Tang Kee Chan's Comedy Show'. His characters ranged in age from small children to old citizens and included members of both genders.
He branched out into the film industry in 1950 and starred in over 100 films. He also wrote the screen plays for some of the films including "The Feuds between Huang Tangjing and Chen Mengji" in which he co-starred with opera singer, Sun Ma Sze Tsang
Tang Wing-Cheung (; 20 June 1916 – 20 April 1997), better known by his stage name Sun Ma Sze Tsang (), was a Cantonese opera singer and actor in Hong Kong.
Career
Born in Shunde, Guangdong, China, his parents divorced when he was eight. ...
.
Tang forged a partnership with Sun Ma Sze Tsang
Tang Wing-Cheung (; 20 June 1916 – 20 April 1997), better known by his stage name Sun Ma Sze Tsang (), was a Cantonese opera singer and actor in Hong Kong.
Career
Born in Shunde, Guangdong, China, his parents divorced when he was eight. ...
and starred with him in a series of films as the comedic duo known as "The Two Fools". Tang played the fool while Sun Ma Sze Tsang
Tang Wing-Cheung (; 20 June 1916 – 20 April 1997), better known by his stage name Sun Ma Sze Tsang (), was a Cantonese opera singer and actor in Hong Kong.
Career
Born in Shunde, Guangdong, China, his parents divorced when he was eight. ...
played the smarter member of the duo. Their disagreements were often improvised and comedic.[
In 1963, ]Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...
held two concerts in Hong Kong. Under contract with Diamond Records
Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky. Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year.
History
...
, Tang was asked to perform with Checker. Owing to the language barrier, Diamond Records
Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky. Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year.
History
...
decided to re-write Pat Boone
Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...
's Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fas ...
where Chubby sung in English while Tang replaced the English spoken parts with Cantonese dialogue. Because of the success seen during the performances, a version of this song was recorded in 1965 with The Fabulous Echoes singing in English while Tang reprised his speaking role in Cantonese.[
On 30 May 1963, ]Patti Page
Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known professionally as Patti Page, was an American singer and actress. Primarily known for pop and country music, she was the top-charting female vocalist and best-selling female ar ...
had two performances in Hong Kong to which Tang was a supporting act along with The Fabulous Echoes.
In 1975, he immigrated to Canada and would occasionally travel back to Hong Kong to cameo in films such as Chasing Girls
''Chasing Girls'' (Chinese: 追女仔) is a 1981 Hong Kong romantic comedy film directed by Karl Maka and starring Dean Shek, Flora Cheong-Leen, Nancy Lau and Eric Tsang. It was the second film produced by Cinema City, a film company establis ...
, All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution
''All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution'' () is a 1981 Hong Kong comedy film directed and co-written by Tsui Hark. The film stars George Lam as Yoho, Karl Maka as Ah Capone and Teddy Robin Kwan as Inspector Robin. Yoho is a down on his lu ...
, Behind the Yellow Line
''Behind the Yellow Line'' (in Chinese 緣份), also known as ''Fate'', is a 1984 Hong Kong romantic comedy film directed by Taylor Wong and starring Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui. The film was released in Hong Kong on 3 October 19 ...
, Happy Ghost II, and The Isle of Fantasy.[
Tang has a plaque at the ]Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong
The Avenue of Stars (), modelled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an avenue located along the Victoria Harbour waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. It honours celebrities of the Hong Kong film industry.
History
Establishment
In 1 ...
which honours outstanding contributors to the Hong Kong Film Industry much like the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
. He is commemorated as number 29.[
In 2009, Tang was recognized as one of seventy-three significant contributing members to the Hong Kong Film Industry in a website created by DotAsia and ]Radio Television Hong Kong
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...
which celebrates 100 years of Hong Kong Films.[
]
Music
Tang Kee-chan started recording albums as early as 1956. Cantonese singers whom he partnered include Cheng Gwan-min
Cheng Gwan Min (1917–1994) was a Hong Kong TVB actor. He died in China at the age of 77, reportedly from lung cancer.
A native of Baoan county, Guangdong province, Cheng was once a theatre actor and broadcaster. In 1936, he made his debut in '' ...
(鄭君綿), Cheng Pik Ying (鄭碧影), Cheng Kwok Bo (鄭幗寶), Law Lai Kuen (罗丽娟), Lam Dan (林丹), Lee Bo-Ying (李寶瑩) and Ng May Ying (吳美英). His songs are mainly the humorous type.
Personal life
He had five children, none of whom followed in their father's footsteps into the entertainment industry. Third son, Professor Tang Siu Wa (鄧兆華) was a Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
and later, Chair Professor at the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
Medical School before his retirement in 2008.
In 1991, Tang died from emphysema in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79. As most of his descendants reside in Toronto, Canada, he was flown there for his funeral rites and subsequent burial.[
]
Filmography
Film
Writer
Producer
External links
*
*
Tang Kee Chan
at Hong Kong Cinemagic
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tang Kee-chan
1912 births
1991 deaths
Hong Kong male actors
Hong Kong male singers
Hong Kong radio presenters
Male actors from Guangdong
Singers from Guangdong
20th-century Chinese male singers
Chinese emigrants to Canada