關德興

简介

Kwan Tak-hing was born on 27 June 1905 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, into a poor family and was the second of his siblings. He had a difficult childhood; his father died before he was seven and the family fell into hardship after a fire destroyed their grocery shop. He began working at age twelve and travelled to Singapore at thirteen to work as a restaurant waiter and hotel cleaner. He learned Cantonese opera at fourteen under master Xinbei Sheng, then joined the Red Boat troupe at sixteen. In 1932 he starred in the film "Song Lovers" in San Francisco, and during the war against Japan he toured the United States raising funds to support the war effort. He became famous for portraying Wong Fei-hung in 77 films out of his 130-screen career, holding the world record for the most films in a single series. He was also awarded the MBE by the British Queen in 1982 and an honorary doctorate from Armstrong University in San Francisco in 1996. He passed away in June 1996 at the age of 91.