Chen Kuan-tai
陳觀泰
Chen in 1973
Born (1945-09-24) 24 September 1945
Other namesChan Goon-Tai
Chen Kwan-Tai
Chan Koon-Tai
Chan Kuan-Tai
Chen Kung-Tai
Chen Guan-Tay
Chen Guan-Tai
Chan Kun-Tai
Ah Tai
Occupation(s)Actor, director, action director
Years active1969–present
Spouses
Ying Ying
(m. 1976; div. 1977)
    Fong Yee-chun
    (m. 1977, divorced)
      Zhao Ting-ting
      (m. 1990, divorced)
        Tang Liping
        (m. 2017)
        Children
        • Chen Yong-xi (daughter), with Ying Ying
        • Chen Jun-xiang (son), with Fong Yee-chun
        AwardsAsia-Pacific Film Festival
        1974 Most Popular Male Actor

        Chinese name
        Traditional Chinese陳觀泰
        Simplified Chinese陈观泰

        Chen Kuan-tai (Chinese: 陳觀泰; born 24 September 1945) is a Hong Kong martial arts actor, director, and action choreographer. Chen rose to fame in the early 1970s for his movies with the Shaw Brothers Studio and is credited as being one of the film company's first professionally trained martial artists.[1]

        Early life

        Chen was born in Guangdong, China. At age 9, he was accepted as a pupil of kung fu practitioner Chen Xiu Zhong, founder of the Tai Sing Pek Kwar Martial Arts Association which specializes in monkey style kung fu.[2] While studying in Pui Kiu Middle School, he excelled in athletics, notably in javelin and soccer. After graduating, he worked as a stuntman and action director, his first project being Chor Yuen's 1970 film, Cold Blade.[3] Chen attracted the attention of Cantonese filmmakers in 1969 after winning a light-weight division championship in Singapore's National Skills Competition.[2][4] He eventually signed with the Shaw Brothers Studio in November of 1971. Unlike his contemporaries, Chen did not adopt a stage name.[3]

        Career

        Chen had been cast in some two dozen films with Shaw Brothers playing tertiary roles, amongst them Jimmy Wang Yu's The Chinese Boxer (1970) and Chang Cheh's Vengeance (1970) before he was cast in the role of Ma Yung Chen by Chang in the latter's kung fu film, The Boxer from Shantung. The film was his first lead role. At the time, Chen had been working with Ng See-yuen on his independent film, The Bloody Fists (1972) and left mid-production to film Chang's movie. Released in 1972, The Boxer From Shantung was a commercial success, netting over HK $2 million in ticket sales and launched Chen into stardom overnight.[4] By the mid-1970s, he had become one of Hong Kong's most famous kung fu stars and achieved several hits including The Teahouse (1974), Heroes Two (1974), Big Brother Cheng (1975), and The Flying Guillotine (1975). At the 20th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Chen was awarded Most Popular Male Actor by the Taipei Press Association.[5]

        In 1976, the actor expanded his career into directing and in February that year, made his directional debut with the comedy film, The Simple-Minded Fellow. The film was a moderate success at the box office.[4] In October, Chen continued directing and filming with independent film companies in Taiwan, resulting in the Shaw Brothers Studio filing and winning a temporary injunction against the actor that prohibited him from making movies with any other company other than Shaw Brothers. Chen was also ordered to pay HK $700,000 in subsidies.[4] The dispute lasted for nearly two years resulting in him briefly leaving Shaw studio after completing Lau Kar-leung's Challenge of the Masters (1976) and Executioners from Shaolin (1977). Due to his legal dispute, the five films he made in Taiwan, including his second directional project Iron Monkey (1977), were withheld or frequently pulled from theaters. The case was eventually settled in 1978 and Chen would return to Shaw Brothers after signing a new four-year contract requiring him to make at maximum two films per year with the company.[4] Upon his return, Chen starred in Chang Cheh's Crippled Avengers, a film credited as revitalizing the actor's career.[6] He would remain with the Shaw Brothers until their closure in 1985. His 1980 film, Killer Constable, has been praised as one of the studio's best wuxia films.[7][8]

        To date, Chen has starred in 164 films,[9] around 80 of which were with Shaw Brothers. He has gone on to direct five more films including Return to Action (1990) while his starring roles often focused on action, crime and, occasionally, comedy. He remains active in the Hong Kong film industry.

        Personal life

        Chen was close friends with Chang Cheh and Ku Feng. He has cited Chang as his favorite director and credited Ku as helping him learn Mandarin.[3]

        Chen has been married four times. In 1976, he married fellow Shaw Brothers actress Cai Zhen-ni (stage name Ying Ying), with whom he has a daughter, Chen Yong-xi. Chen and Cai divorced in the following year. His second marriage was to Taiwanese actress and singer, Fong Yee-chun, with whom he has a son, Chen Jun-xiang. Chen and Fong later divorced. In 1990, he married Zhao Ting-ting in Australia, but the couple divorced a few years later. Chen married his fourth wife Tang Liping in 2017.

        He owns a restaurant called 'Jimmy's Kitchen' in Kolkata, India.[10]

        In 2012, Chen was expelled from the Tai Sing Pek Kwar Martial Arts Association due to a dispute with his mentor, Chen Xiu Zhong.[2][11]

        Filmography

        Year Title Role Notes
        1969Two Sisters Who StealThug
        Redress Robber with coloured face
        Have Sword, Will Travel Guard
        1970 Modern School Life Peter
        Wong Fei-Hung: Bravely Crushing the Fire Formation
        The Secret of the Dirk Black Tiger Clan member
        Cold Blade Producer, action director
        Vengeance
        The Chinese BoxerCasino guard (uncredited)
        1971BetrayerHung Tien-piao
        The DuelLiu Shou Yi's guard
        MariaGang member
        Story of Thirty-Six KillersJiao Meng
        The Comet StrikesWaiter
        The ChaseAction director
        The Deadly Duo
        Bus stopAction director
        The Invincible Iron Palm Action director
        1972Huo Tang De Ai Ren
        Many Faces of a Diamond
        The Boxer from ShantungMa Yung Chen
        The Hurricane
        Impetuous FireShi Di-Fen
        The Water MarginTattooed Dragon Shih Chien
        The Bloody FightSun Ta-kuei
        The Bloody FistsJapanese long-haired boss
        Young PeopleHo Tai
        Man of IronChou Lien Huan
        Four RidersLi Wei-shi
        1973Blood BrothersHuang Chung
        The House of 72 TenantsPolice constable
        ThunderboltAction director
        Iron BodyguardWang Yu
        The Savage 5 Ma Dao
        All Men Are Brothers Shi Jin
        The Bloody Escape Bandit Gu Hui
        1974The TeahouseWang 'Big Brother' Cheng
        Heroes TwoHung Hsi-kuan
        The Savage FiveMa Tao
        Men from the MonasteryHung Hsi-kuan
        Hong Kong 73Ambulance driver
        Five Tough GuysWu Wen-Yuan
        The Two Faces of Love
        The Crazy Instructor Producer
        1975The Floating CloudsLo Chin-Ying
        Big Brother ChengHung 'Big Brother' Cheng
        The Flying GuillotineMa Teng
        Temperament of Life
        All Men Are Brothers'Tattooed Dragon' Shih Chen
        Lover's Destiny
        The ImposterCaptain Lo Gin Yin
        The Big Holdup Ma Rulong
        The Spiritual BoxerBoxer #2
        1976Big Bad SisBig Brother Cheng
        7-Man ArmyChiang Ming-kun
        Challenge of the MastersLuk Ah Choy
        King GamblerPeng Tien-shih
        The Simple-Minded Fellow Director
        1977Executioners from ShaolinHung Hsi Kuan
        Hero of Shanghai
        Iron MonkeyIron MonkeyDirector
        Layout Hsieh Hsiao-Lin
        The Hero Tattoo with Nine Dragons Producer
        Go a Little Crazy Producer
        1978Crippled AvengersDao Tian-du
        Duel at the Tiger VillageCool Head
        Invincible Monkey FistDirector, action director
        Flying Guillotine, Part II Ma Teng
        1979Big Boss of ShanghaiWong Chun YungDirector
        Iron FistsChiu Tien-Hsing
        Invincible Enforcer Min
        1980The MasterJin Tien-yun
        Rendezvous with DeathGolden Staff Ku Fei Tien
        Dai dey yan chingLee Dai-sekTV series
        Killer Constable Leng Tian-Ying
        1981Bloody Monkey MasterIron Monkey
        Red Rattlesnake
        Challenge of the Gamesters
        Notorious Eight
        The Battle for the Republic of ChinaHuang Ming-Hsuan
        Dangerous PersonInspector ChanDirector
        Notorious EightZhou Shiqiang
        Ambitious Kung Fu Girl Qin Ge
        Deadly Duo
        1982Don't Love Any Stranger
        Blood Brothers
        Human LanternsTan Fu
        Raiders
        The Tycoon
        New Pilgrims to the West
        Rolls, Rolls, I Love YouMr. Cui Tung-Sing
        Gang MasterMang Yi-Tu
        Little Flying Dragon
        Winner Takes All Miyamoto
        Dirty Trick
        Who Is the Killer? Director
        Seven Knights
        Demi-Gods and Semi-DevilsYe-lut Hung-kei
        1983Little Dragon MaidenGuo Jing
        Deadly Life of a NinjaChow Han-wei
        The Black Magic with BuddhaChin Ben
        Mission Thunderbolt
        The Lost GenerationPaul
        The Challenge of the Lady NinjaLee Tong
        1984Opium and the Kung-Fu MasterRong Feng
        Shanghai 13Shen Gang Fu
        Return of the Bastard Swordsman Mochitsuki Soryu Han
        Butcher
        The 3 Heroes
        Death Ring
        Majestic Thunderbolt
        Chak Sing
        I Will Finally Knock You Down, Dad!
        1985 How to Choose a Royal Bride Tian Di Hui chief
        The Dancing Warrior Rich man
        1986The Romance of the White Hair MaidenNgok Ming-orTV series
        1987 Fortune Hunters Leopard
        1988 Human Sentiment Law
        Long Fa Tang
        The Rebellious Husband
        1989 Just Heroes
        The Sniping
        Angel's Mission
        1990 Return to Action Chen Yun Chan Director, producer
        The Fortune Code Triad boss gambler
        Sleazy Dizzy Chen Yuan Long
        Forsaken Cop Producer
        Blood Stained Tradewind Producer
        1991 Tri in Triad
        All Mighty Gambler Tai
        The Tigers Hon-Wai
        Today's Hero Triad boss
        1992 Heroin Tunnel
        The Trouble Couple
        Gambling Soul Policeman
        Ghost Killer
        The World of Desire Uncle Won
        1993 Bogus Cops Officer Wu
        Angel of the Road
        Shadow Cop
        1996 How to Meet the Lucky Stars Liu Tin
        2001 The Final Winner Brother Cheng
        2002The Legendary Siblings 2Ye TianzhaoTV series
        The Era of Vampires Zombie wrangler
        2004 Hero Youngster Wei Bai-Hao
        Fearful 24 Hours Shih Jin Jiang
        2005 Where Is Mama's Boy? Mad Cow
        2006Dragon Tiger GateMa Kun
        My Wife Can Fight
        2007 The Valiant Ones New
        2008 Kung Fu Hip-Hop Second uncle
        2009MurdererTai
        201014 BladesFazheng
        GallantsDragon
        Who's the HeroTV series
        2011White VengeanceQiu Ran
        2012No Retreat
        The Man with the Iron FistsGolden Lion[12]
        2013Conspirators
        7 Assassins
        Glory Days Brother Tai
        The Real Iron Monkey Iron Monkey
        2014Once Upon a Time in ShanghaiBaldy Bai
        2015The MasterDojo head
        The Choice: A Story of the Old Shanghai
        2016 Cherry Returns
        Xin Gui Da Gui
        Muay Thai Girls
        Shed Skin Papa Brother Tai
        2017The Hidden SwordMaster Kong
        Dealer/Healer
        An Idiot Lost in Xiangxi
        2018Burning Summer
        Keyboard Warriors
        Iceman: The Time Traveler Eunuch Wei
        2019Real You, Fake Me
        2022 Legendary in Action! Master Dragon

        References

        1. Celestial Pictures DVD release of Five Tough Guys
        2. 1 2 3 "斷50年師徒情 大聖劈掛門獎門數臭陳觀泰". Eastweek.
        3. 1 2 3 "Interview with big brother Chen Kuan Tai". Hong Kong Cinemagic.
        4. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Flying Guillotines: History of the Shaw Brothers Trendsetter, Its Sequel and Imitators Part 2". Cool Ass Cinema.
        5. "The Flying Guillotines: History of the Shaw Brothers Trendsetter, its sequel and Imitators Part 1". Cool Ass Cinema.
        6. "Film Review: Killer Constable (1980) by Kuei Chih Hung". Asian Movie Pulse.
        7. "Killer Constable". Dundee Contemporary Arts.
        8. Teo, Stephen (2015). Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition. ISBN 9781474400091.
        9. "Chen Kuan-Tai". Hong Kong Movie DataBase.
        10. "屢敗屢結 女友年輕30載陳觀泰73歲又再婚". Apple Daily 蘋果日報. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
        11. "陳觀泰遭師傅逐出門".
        12. Yamato, Jen (October 31, 2012). "UFC Fighter Cung Le Talks RZA's 'Iron Fists,' Bruce Lee, And Facing Off Against Rich Franklin". Movieline. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
        This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.