Corey Yuen Kwai

Biography

Corey Yuen Kwai, born on February 15, 1951, was a Hong Kong director, action choreographer, producer, and actor, and one of the "Seven Little Fortunes" (七小福), trained by the Peking Opera master Yu Chan-yuan (于占元). He was renowned for directing action and martial arts films. He began his career in the 1970s as a "wuxia stuntman" (龙虎武师), working as a producer, director, and action director, but was known for his low profile and rare public appearances. He directed numerous films, including "Fong Sai-yuk" (方世玉), "New Fist of Fury 1991" (新精武門1991), and "All for the Winner" (賭聖). After leaving the Seven Little Fortunes' stage performances, he entered film studios as a stuntman, then became a full-fledged action director, participating in films like "Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain" (新蜀山劍俠) and "Dragon Lord" (龍少爺). He worked in Taiwan, and in 1982, was invited back to Hong Kong by Ng See-yuen (吳思遠) to direct his debut film "Ninja in the Dragon's Den" (龍之忍者), for which he received a Hong Kong Film Award nomination for Best Action Choreography. In 1990, he co-directed "All for the Winner" (賭聖) with Lau Chun-wai (劉鎮伟), which launched the career of Stephen Chow (周星驰) and became the year's top-grossing film. In 1992, he co-founded "BoB and Partners Co. Ltd." (正東製作有限公司) with Jet Li (李連杰), and they collaborated on successful films like "Fong Sai-yuk", "The Bodyguard from Beijing" (中南海保鏢), and "My Father Is a Hero" (給爸爸的信), being widely recognized as the "best duo". Corey Yuen won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography for "Fong Sai-yuk" at the 13th awards ceremony, and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 30th ceremony. In 1995, he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography for "Thunderbolt" (霹雳火). In 1998, he moved to Hollywood at the invitation of Jet Li to design action scenes for "Lethal Weapon 4" (致命武器4), and also served as action choreographer for Jet Li's films "Romeo Must Die" (致命羅密歐) and "The One" (救世主), and directed "The Transporter" (玩命快遞). In recent years, he focused on Hollywood, providing action choreography for films like "X-Men" (X戰警), "Romeo Must Die", "The Last Boy Scout" (最后一强), and "Kiss of the Dragon" (龙之吻). Corey Yuen passed away on March 2, 2022, due to COVID-19, but the news was not officially confirmed until August 12, 2024, when Jackie Chan (成龍) announced it on his Weibo account.