余子明

简介

Yu Chi Ming was born in Hong Kong in 1944 into a middle-class family. His father ran a guesthouse-like business near the Triangle Wharf on Connaught Road West on Hong Kong Island, hosting trade guests from Vietnam, Thailand, and elsewhere. As a child, he was led astray by bad company at school and stopped attending classes, yet was still chosen by the school to perform plays at its events. After finishing secondary school at a southwestern school, he worked for a year at a commercial firm in Bonham Strand West before resigning due to harassment from colleagues. At age 17 or 18, he found work as a proofreader at a newspaper through a friend, then moved to the *Nan Hua Wan Pao* thanks to his brother-in-law, who was an editor-in-chief there. He later became a trainee reporter in the local news section, writing for several newspapers and penning film reviews. A lifelong lover of singing, he performed with other artists at Chaozhou community schools and venues. In 1966, he entered the *Sing Tao Evening News* "7th Hong Kong Amateur Singing Contest" and reached the finals of the Mandarin pop category. The following year he placed third in the same contest, and in 1968 he won the gold medal under a pseudonym. The prize included an EMI record contract and a round-trip air ticket to Thailand. After a period of nightclub singing, he signed a long-term contract as a singer in Singapore and settled there after marriage, but later returned to Hong Kong due to a Singaporean government policy. He then became a professional actor and a core TVB artist, famous for his role "Big Eyes" in the *Enjoy Yourself Tonight* comedy sketch in the 1970s and 1980s, and for playing Jiang Ziya in *Investiture of the Gods* in 1981 and 2001. From the late 1990s onwards, he specialized in elderly, Teochew, and eunuch roles. Before entering television, he trained vocally under soprano teacher Wei Xiu Xian. He passed away on 10 November 2022.