Bill Chan Shek Sau

Biography

His real name is Chan Shek Sau, and his stage name Shek Sau was suggested by the famous director and actor Chor Yuen, who felt his original name had too many strokes and needed simplification. He grew up in Hong Kong, raised in the Kai Tak Mansion in Kwun Tong. Influenced by his father Chan Chi Kong, who was a screenwriter, producer, and assistant director, he entered acting at age eight. He began his career in the film "駙馬艷史" playing a young child, demonstrating talent that established his status as a child actor. Within three years, he appeared in forty films in child roles, but switched schools eleven times due to poor academic focus, frequent absences, and truancy. At age thirteen, he stopped acting to focus on studies, and after graduating from St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese School, he returned to acting in films like "冷暖青春" and "七彩姑娘十八一朵花". As Cantonese films declined, he turned to television. In 1968, he was invited by Chung King-fai to appear in "夢斷情天" as an actor at TVB, then worked with Rediffusion in 1970 before focusing on TVB in 1971 and participating in "歡樂今宵" for two years. In 1975, he moved from "歡樂今宵" to the drama unit. In the 1980s, he acted in series and hosted programs like "明日世界". In 1984, he left TVB after his contract ended and went to Taiwan at the invitation of Taiwanese TV stations due to the popularity of his series like "絕代雙驕", "楊門女將", and "英雄出少年", with a verbal agreement with TVB for per-series contracts. He also ran a hotpot restaurant "爐峯火鍋店" in Hong Kong with friends. He returned to Hong Kong and TVB again. In 1989, he immigrated with his family to Vancouver, Canada for his son's better upbringing, working in a wooden window factory for seven years and studying window engineering, accounting, and management, expanding his business. In 1997, he joined Asia Television at an invitation from an old colleague and appeared in "非常女警" while managing his factory in Guangdong, China. In 2000, he returned to TVB after a call from Tsang Lai Chun, closing his factory that he had run for twelve years to continue his acting career in "勇往直前". Between 2012 and 2015, he moved to Hong Kong Television Network, ending his forty-four-year relationship with TVB. In 2017, he returned on a per-series contract for "兄弟", and in 2018 TVB's website removed his contract details but he continued participating as a freelance actor.