Ng Man Tat

Biography

Ng Man Tat was born on 2 January 1952 in Xiamen, Fujian, with Hokkien as his native language. At age five, he emigrated to Hong Kong with his parents and sister during the wave of migration, and he had two younger brothers. He grew up in the Southern District of Hong Kong Island in cubicles within a fish wholesale market, later moving to the Yue Shing Estate. He attended St. Peter's School and the St. Gabriel's Vocational Training Centre. His interest in acting began in childhood by watching films at Heung Tao Theatre and imitating characters, which made him lose interest in school and dream of stardom. After completing a mechanical training diploma in 1967, he entered the workforce. He noticed the TV series "Legend of the Folk" and saw a former colleague in it, prompting him to apply for the TVB Artist Training Course in 1973, graduating fifth in the third cohort alongside Chow Yun-fat and Lo Hoi-pang. He began acting on TV in 1974 in supporting roles and gained attention in 1979 through the character "Hu Tiehua" in "The Legend of Chu Liuxiang". He faced a difficult period in 1980 due to gambling debts but returned to acting after reading books on acting craft and repaying his debts. He appeared in his first film in 1981. He became widely known for his collaboration with Stephen Chow in absurdist comedy starting in 1989 in "The Heroic Legend" and "He's from the River". Most of his works were Cantonese films, and he was among the few who achieved fame despite supporting roles. he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for "A Moment of Romance". He moved to mainland China in the 2000s after the comedy trend cooled. He passed away on 27 February 2021.