![]() The following year he starred in The Queen’s Ransom. ![]() In 1975, Wang starred in the first Hong Kong-Australia co-production, The Man From Hong Kong. Wang was still in demand in international productions, however, with producers in the west looking to cash in on the kung fu craze. A self-proclaimed street brawler rather than a martial artist by training, Wang’s lack of skills, hidden to an extent by editing, was beginning to show when compared to his better-trained rivals. With the rise of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, and the success of Shaw Brothers stars Ti Lung and David Chiang, Wang’s popularity began to dip by the mid-1970s. In Taiwan, and now producing his own features, Wang was prolific and among the many kung fu films he made in this period, One-Armed Boxer (1972), A Man Called Tiger (1972) and Beach of the War Gods (1973) have all gone on to achieve cult status. In an interview with Eastern Kicks, Wang referred to himself as a “street fighter” and said that in the period between 19 he was often in the newspapers for fighting, typically with paparazzi, and even a policeman.įinding work harder to come by in Hong Kong, Wang would relocate to Taiwan to work with Shaw Brothers rivals Golden Harvest. Also weighing on Wang’s celebrity was a series of scandals in his private life, including sex scandals, alleged links to organized crime and repeatedly brawling in public. The studio sued the star, winning after a highly publicized trial. ![]() The preeminent Hong Kong action star of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wang’s career was derailed by a very messy and public legal battle with Shaw Brothers after he broke his contract with the studio in 1970. It also established a popular trope used in countless kung fu films, that of a loner seeking revenge but facing seemingly impossible odds/numbers of enemies. Written, directed and starring Wang, the film is credited with establishing a new template for Hong Kong action films, giving birth to the kung fu films, with storylines that veered away from swords and fantasy elements and focused more on fight scenes driven by hand-to-hand combat. The Chinese Boxer, which saw Wang’s character single-handedly take on a gang of Japanese karate thugs, proved to be a huge hit and found an audience outside of Hong Kong and Asia. Wang started acting in the early 1960s and caught the attention of the fledgling Hong Kong branch of the Shanghai-based Shaw Brothers Studio, which had begun to broaden its production slate with action movies and wuxia films.Ī contract player at first, Wang’s early career was indelibly linked with Shaw Brothers, for better and worse, and he would become a mainstream star in the studio’s most famous wuxia films including One-Armed Swordsman (1967) which broke box office records in Hong Kong, Golden Swallow (1968), Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969) and ground-breaking kung fu film The Chinese Boxer (1970). ![]() We will miss you!”Īndre Braugher, 'Homicide: Life on the Street' and 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Star, Dies at 61īorn Wang Cheng-chuan in Shanghai in 1943, he migrated with his family to Hong Kong. And your movies will always remain in the hearts of your fans. On Facebook, Jackie Chan wrote, “Another martial arts hero has left us… The contributions you’ve made to kung fu movies, and the support and wisdom you’ve given to the younger generations will always be remembered in the industry. He had been suffering from chronic ill health for a number of years. Wang died in a Taipei hospital on Tuesday, his daughter Linda Wang revealed on Instagram. Jimmy Wang Yu, the trailblazing martial artist who starred in classic Hong Kong movies Golden Swallow, One-Armed Swordsman and The Chinese Boxer and paved the way for the likes of Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, has died.
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