Lui Kei

Biography

Lui Kei (original name Tang Juemin) was born on March 3, 1939 in Taishan, Guangdong, into a family of lawyers. He moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and attended Wellington English Secondary School, graduating from there. In 1959, he enrolled in the Chung Lian actors training program, and the following year joined Shaw Brothers' Cantonese film division alongside his sister Lee Min, making his debut in "The Great Injustice" (1960), followed by starring in "Sleeping Princess" and "Love and Chastity" in the same year. After Shaw closed its Cantonese film unit in 1964, Gao Feng founded Ocean Film Production Company and cast Lui Kei as the lead in "The Amorous Gentleman" (1965), which brought him fame after seven years in the film industry, earning him the title "The Amorous Leading Man." Lui Kei wrote his first screenplay for "Lover's Tears" (1966). He founded his own company, 21st Century Film Production, in 1965 after his Shaw contract expired, initially as a screenwriter and later as a director. He wrote and directed several films including "Lover's Tears," "Know-It-All," "Don't Forget Tonight," "Sea Wonder Flower," and "Unforgettable First Love," directed by Yao Huang. Lui Kei and actress Chan Po-chu formed a classic screen romantic duo in youth romance films, and the two also had a romantic relationship for a period. Lui Kei directed his first film "Manli Manli I Love You" in 1969, and went on to direct about thirty films, most of them adult films. In June 1969, he was attacked with acid by a man, injuring his hands and feet. With the decline of Cantonese films in the late 1960s, he shifted to directing Mandarin films and founded Video Art Film Company to produce "Golden House Tears" (1971), which performed poorly at the box office. He continued directing films such as "Danish Girl," "Hong Kong Style of Infidelity," and "Wanton Woman's Adventures" in 1973, then founded Jinhe Company in 1974. Lui Kei appeared in nearly one hundred films during his career spanning from the 1960s to the 1980s and was a pioneer in directing Hong Kong Category III adult films.