TVB Acting Classes: 1st Year Artists List – 1971-72 (Part 2 in a series)

As I promised in Part 1 of my “TVB Acting Class History” series, this post is the first of the Artists Lists that I will be posting.

TVB had a really awesome Acting Class back in the day (I'm talking late 70s / early 80s) but heading into the 90s and 00s, the format of the classes as well as the instructors changed -- to the point that an artist graduating from the Acting Class in the late 90s (as an example) has nowhere near the skill of an artist who graduated from the 70s/80s classes. I talked about this a little bit in my introductory post when I outline the history and evolution of the class.

Just as a point of reference, I felt it would be interesting to go back through the Acting Classes from its start in the 70s until present to see which artists had gone through the classes and which ones did not. I did some research and was able to find various listings related to the classes. I tried my best to compile as inclusive of a list as I could, but of course, some information dates as far back as 30 years and therefore may not be available anymore. So please do not consider this an all-inclusive list because it most likely isn’t (and if there are any inaccuracies with the information, I apologize in advance).

Whenever possible, I tried to list out the artists’ English names, but since I’m not familiar with all the artists and some of them may not even have English names, I decided to use Cantonese pinyin for the translated portion.

** Note 1: The artists’ names listed in BOLD are the ones who were actually active in the HK entertainment industry (as far as I know) and /or ones whom most audiences will probably be familiar with.

** Note 2: Under the “Summary & Thoughts” section, I’ve listed various tidbits as well as other descriptive info about some of the artists that I’ve highlighted in BOLD.

Hopefully, readers may find this list useful. If there are any artists listed that you would like to comment on, please feel free!

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Names list credit to : HKM Mon Amour

TVB 藝員訓練班（第一期）- 1971 -72年
TVB’s Acting Class – 1st year (1971-72)

呂有慧 (Lisa Lui Yau Wai)、陳嘉儀 (Chan Kar Yi)、莊文清 (Chong Man Ching)、郭鋒 (Samuel Kwok Fung)、高妙思 (Ko Miu Si)、蘇杏璇 (So Hang Suen)、黃允材 (Wong Wan Choi)、甘國亮 (Kam Kwok Leung)、招振強 (Chiu Chun Keung)、許紹雄 (Benz Hui)、陳美琪 (Maggie Chan), 劉緯民 (Lau Wai Min)、陳喜蓮 (Chan Hei Lian)、金興賢 (Kam Hing Yin)、關聰 (Kwan Chung), 林偉圖 (Lam Wai To)、林德祿 (Lam Tak Luk)、梁立人 (Leung Lap Yan)、陳婉桃 (Chan Yuen To)、張惠儀 (Cheung Wai Yi)、蔡婉萍 (Choi Yuen Ping)、周如英 (Chow Yu Ying)、覃恩美 (Tam Yan Mei)、何鳳翎 (Ho Feng Ling)、許楚娟 (Hui Chor Jun)、顧小萍 (Ku Siu Ping)、郭雅烈 (Kwok Ya Lit)、鄺靜美 (Kwong Jing Mei)、李佩貞 (Lee Pei Zhen)、李小梨 (Lee Siu Lei)、岑清媚 (Shum Ching Mei)、蘇文儀 (So Man Yi)、孫明貞 (Suen Ming Zhen)、王麗容 (Wong Lai Yong)、汪慧莉 (Wang Wai Lei) 、楊蓮桂 (Yang Lian Gui)、陳培達 (Chan Pei Tat)、鄭樹光 (Cheng Shu Kwong)、張汝棠 (Cheung Yu Tong)、梁大成 (Leung Dai Sing)、施學全 (Si Hok Chuen)、田民族 (Tin Min Juk)、溫燦華 (Wan Chan Wah)、甄怡石 (Yan Yi Shek)


SUMMARY & THOUGHTS:

.-- Lisa Lui participated in many series in the 70s and 80s, however most audiences probably remember her best as Lee Mok Sau in the Andy Lau / Idy Chan version of “Return of the Condor Heroes” (also her most famous role). Current audiences probably know her from the 2010 series “Growing Through Life”, which marked her return to TVB after more than a decade (her last role prior to that if I remember correctly was a guest appearance on the 3rd installment of “Detective Investigation Files” in 1997).

.—Chan Kar Yi also participated in a lot of series in the 70s and 80s. You probably don’t recognize the name, but I’m pretty sure that those of you who were around during that time would probably recognize the face. Interestingly, her most famous role (to the ‘after 80s’ audiences anyway) was as a ‘corpse’ – she played Wong Yung’s (Barbara Yung) deceased mother in the classic 1983 version of “Legend of the Condor Heroes”, a minor character in the series whose story was told primarily in flashbacks .

.—Chong Man Ching was most active in the 70s and 80s and played supporting roles her entire career, usually portraying the ‘friend’ or ‘schoolmate’ of the main female lead (remember Angie Chiu’s friend and schoolmate Wang Yuet Kei in the 1980 version of “The Bund”?). Chong Man Ching was once married to producer Chiu Chun Keung(more on him later on in this post), but they divorced many years later. She lived a pretty difficult life -- she was known as a ‘medicine pot’ who constantly had medicine with her because of health problems, she had a mother who was a life-long gambler that she eventually severed ties with, and her marriage ended in divorce when it was discovered that her husband had an affair. In 1991, she left all the ‘troubles’ of the world behind her and entered the monastery, becoming a monk.

.— I’m sure everyone is familiar with Samuel Kwok Fung, as he is still active in the TV industry even now (he is one of my most favorite supporting actors). He participated in countless series in the close to 40 years that he has been in the industry and actually was one of the few actors who had worked for 3 of the most popular TV stations at the time: Rediffusion Television (in the 70s), TVB (in the 80s and currently), and ATV (in the 90s). His wife is actress Susanna Au Yeung(歐陽佩珊), who retired from the industry in the mid-90s and is currently working in the area of Chinese medicine (as an acupuncturist). Samuel and Susanna have been married for 34 years (wow!) – one of the early ‘golden couples’ who are still together today and still as much in love with each other as they were so many years ago! (awwww....)

.—Ko Miu Si is a another actress whom audiences will probably recognize her face, but not her name. She was most active in the 70s / early 80s and participated in majority ancient series (costume dramas). I would have to do some research to know for sure, but I’m willing to bet that she is probably the only actress who was in practically every single one of TVB’s Jin Yong and Gu Long remakes from the 70s and 80s. I know that she retired from the industry a long time ago (back in the early 90s), but that’s as far as my knowledge goes, since there is so little information about her out there nowadays.

.—If you’re an 80s TVB series fanatic, you better know who So Hang Suen is! Even if you don’t remember her name in real life, I’m sure you will definitely remember the many classic “mother” characters she played: Kwok Jing’s (Felix Wong) mother Lee Ping in 1983’s “Legend of the Condor Heroes”, Cheung Wah Kit’s (Tony Leung) mother in all 3 installments of “Police Cadet”, Ding Yau Kin’s (Felix Wong) and Ding Yau Hong’s (Deric Wan) adoptive mother Auntie Wan in 1989’s “Looking Back in Anger”, etc. (just to name a few). She retired from the industry in the mid-90s and went into the restaurant business, though she did continue to participate in series here and there, primarily in cameo roles (ATV series, not TVB). The latest I heard is that So Hang Suen is helping to teach acting at one of the schools that she and other fellow veteran artists collaborated on opening last year.

.—Wong Wan Choi is another famous supporting actor whom 80s TVB series fanatics will be familiar with – especially if you’re a fan of ancient series. He participated in so many series in the past 3 decades that I can’t even begin to recount them – but of course, one of his most famous roles (and I say ‘one’ because he surely had many famous roles) was the character Au Yeung Hak from the 1983 version of “Legend of the Condor Heroes”. Wong Wan Choi is still quite active in the industry even now, participating in stage productions and various shows in Mainland China. Not only that, he also has his medical license and is a very famous Chinese herbal doctor in Hong Kong (has been since the 80s), with his own medical clinic and everything! As if that’s not enough, he is also a philanthropist who has devoted most of his life in the past decade doing charity work and helping out the elderly especially. Definitely a very admirable man!

.—Kam Kwok Leung is a very talented man who wears many many hats. He is one of HK’s most famous ‘cross-media’ celebrities, as he has been involved in almost every discipline in the entertainment industry (TV, movies, music, radio, theater, etc.). At TVB, he was most famous for his screenwriting talent, as he wrote the scripts for several of the early 80s’ most popular female-oriented series such as “No Biz Like Showbiz”, “Don’t Look Now”, “No One is Innocent”, etc. He’s also a famous movie director, radio DJ / executive, actor, host, etc. Of course, many of us remember him also because of his famous ‘other half’ – he dated actress / host DoDo (Carol) Cheng for 10 years back in the 80s (they broke up in 1990 but are still friends).

.—I mentioned Chiu Chun Keung earlier in this post. He is one of TVB’s most famous producers from the 70s and 80s. Some of the series that he produced include (these are just the most famous ones): “The Bund” (1980) with Chow Yun Fat, Ray Lui, Angie Chiu, “You Only Live Twice” with Michael Miu and Jamie Chik, “Police Cadet 84” with Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, “Police Cadet 85” with Tony Leung and Margie Tsang….just to name a few….he went to ATV in the late 80s but didn’t have much success. He returned to TVB in 1996 to produce his last series “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai” (the remake of “The Bund” with Sunny Chan, Gordon Lam, Nnadia Chan), but then left after that….not 100% sure what he is doing now, though I think he’s working in movies currently. The other ‘situation’ he was famous for was his affair with 80s actress Ng Sai Mei (吳茜薇), whom he married after his divorce with Chong Man Ching.

.—Benz Hui (also known as “Green Leaf King”) is my all time favorite supporting actor! He has pretty much been consistently active in the HK television industry since the early 70s up to today (2011), so I guess I don’t need to do much in terms of intro, since most people know who he is. One interesting tidbit about Benz (other than how his English name came about – which you probably guessed is because he used to drive a Mercedes Benz to work) is that he actually has an aristocratic family background, as his great-grandfather was a high-ranking bureaucrat in Imperial times; also, his great-aunt is the wife of famous Chinese author Lu Xun (other members of his family also have ‘famous’ pasts, but too many to list). Anyway, I love Benz – he’s definitely one of the greatest supporting actors of all time!!

.—Maggie Chan also isn’t a stranger to viewers, as she participated in a lot of series in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. I of course remember her most for her roles in “Detective Investigation Files” (she played Kenix Kwok’s older sister) and “Untraceable Evidence” (she played Flora Chan’s older sister). I’ve always liked how Maggie is so natural with her acting, which is why I enjoy almost all of her performances (even if I don’t like the series itself). Maggie is actually known as a 才女 (‘gifted female’) in the industry, as she is very studious and even obtained an MBA at the same time that she was pursuing her acting career (she’s definitely one of the few artists in the industry who actually continued her studies and has Masters level education). She lives with her family (her second husband and his children) in Shanghai and the past few years, has taken to writing lyrics for songs.

.—Not sure how many people are familiar with Kam Hing Yin, as he is considered more of a 70s actor, since that was the height of his career. In the 80s, he was with ATV and in the 90s was when he returned to TVB. I’m actually not familiar with any of Kam Hing Yin’s works from the 70s or 80s, but I have seen most of the series he’s been in from the 90s. My understanding is that he’s also a movie actor as well.

.—Kwan Chung may not be a familiar name or face to most audiences – unless you are a fan of author Gu Long that is, as his most famous on-screen performance was as Mo Fa Monk in the 70s version of “Chor Lau Heung” (the Adam Cheng version). That role made Kwan Chung pretty much a household name in Taiwan (I wonder why Taiwan?). Also, he has a famous dad – the late veteran senior actor Kwan Hoi San (關海山).

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Sorry to say that I'm actually not familiar with the rest of the artists in the list, so I'm pretty much going to end my summary here.

Stay tuned for Part 3!