Susan Tse Suet-sum

Biography

Susan Tse Suet-sum, born in 1953 in Hong Kong, originally named Kung Ling-fook, is a 76th-generation descendant of Confucius. Raised in a middle-class family from Shandong and Guangdong heritage, her father was a swimmer and teacher. She began her career early as a gifted swimmer, winning awards in harbor-crossing races, before transitioning to Cantonese opera and cinema. In 1962, she became a disciple of Cantonese opera legends Yam Kim-fai and Pak Suet-sin at age nine, joining the Chor Fung Ming Troupe in 1964 as their last accepted apprentice. Her stage name "Susan Tse" was given by her teacher Pak Suet-sin, meaning "grateful heart to Pak Suet-sin's dedicated cultivation." In 1979, she joined TVB television, then moved to ATV in the 1990s where she was hailed as the "ATV Wang Ming-chuan." In 2008, she returned to TVB and achieved major success as Yin Fung-yi in "Rosy Business," becoming the first actress to return from ATV and immediately win Best Supporting Actress at the TVB Anniversary Awards 2009. She also won Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the Asian Television Awards 2010. She is known for portraying powerful and commanding characters, such as Empress Dowager Kwok in "Beyond the Realm of Conscience."