Shek Kin

Biography

Shek Kin was a Hong Kong Cantonese film actor born in 1913 in Hong Kong, raised in the Hung Hom area. He was orphaned at a young age after losing both parents, and was adopted by Shek Sze Chi's brother who was travelling in the north; after the brother's death, Shek Sze Chi and his second wife adopted him. As a child he suffered from poor health, so his stepmother arranged for him to practice martial arts, which laid the foundation for his acting career. During the Sino-Japanese War, he participated in student strikes and performed anti-Japanese plays in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and also served in the Chinese army resisting the Japanese. He began his artistic career in 1940 as a makeup artist for the famous Cantonese opera performer Xue Jue Xian, then became a film actor playing a Japanese spy in the film "Flower of the Blood Sea." He achieved fame in 1994 when he played the villain in "The Whip Extinguishes the Candle" in the Wong Fei-hung film series, establishing his status as one of the greatest villains in Cantonese cinema history and earning the nickname "Villain Kin." He portrayed famous villainous roles such as "Tian Can Jiao" in "Buddha's Palm" and the nemesis of Fang Shi Yu, and played the villain "Mr. Han" in Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" in 1973. He moved to television in 1975 with TVB, taking on roles completely different from his film work, portraying kind and wise elderly characters in popular series. He retired from acting in 1992, with his final work being the film "Villain Family" in 1994. The Hong Kong Film Archive held a tribute programme for him in 2007 screening thirteen of his famous films. He passed away on June 3, 2009 at Queen Elizabeth Hospital at the age of 96.