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73-year-old xu shaoqiang passed away due to esophageal cancer, leaving hong kong films without another villain.

i believe many viewers still remember the classic villain roles he has portrayed.

for example, the vicious and cruel zhao wuji in "the legend of drunken master".

in "the new demi-gods and semi-devils", there is the "star monster" ding chunqiu who is good at using poison.

and the "immortal yin zhong" in "water moon cave" who left a trauma in many people's childhood.

moreover, xu shaoqiang was not idle in his later years. after moving to beijing, he filmed many online movies in the mainland, and mostly played villains.

on average, he releases about 10 works online every year.

so, i was still very shocked to suddenly hear the news of his death.

in fact, in recent years we have always heard of the death of many familiar old hong kong stars. just like xu shaoqiang, many "professional villains" who always played villains have passed away.

this time, let’s take stock of the “top ten villains” in hong kong movies that we will never see again.

first place: cheng kui-an

cheng kui-an's nickname is "big fool".

one reason is that many of the villains he created are named dasha.

during his career, he has acted in more than 300 films and more than 600 episodes of tv series, more than 90% of which were villains, and almost half of them had the same name.

the second reason is that most of the villains he plays have an indelible silly temperament.

what’s lovable about him is that he’s evil in an open and aboveboard manner and does bad things openly and honestly.

because of this, you can say that these characters are bad, but you would never think that they are sinister and cunning.

with his 1.85-meter-tall sturdy figure and fierce look, cheng kui-an became the perfect choice for the gangster villain in hong kong movies.

in the years when gangster films were popular, whenever a tough gangster was needed, many directors would think of dasha first.

because he often portrays villain roles, he is known as one of the "four evil men of hong kong" along with wong kwong-leung, ho ka-kui and lee siu-kee.

until now, many audiences still remember his wonderful performances in works such as "a better tomorrow", "god of gamblers" and "young and dangerous".

although he often appears to be extremely vicious on the screen, in real life, "da sha" is actually an out-and-out good guy.

he is a man of loyalty and righteousness. for the sake of brotherhood, he took the initiative to take the blame for a fight and was sentenced to four years in prison. he also turned against stephen chow for his mentor danny lee.

moreover, he extended a helping hand to anita mui when she was in the most difficult time.

unfortunately, good people don't live long.

in 2009, cheng kui-an died in the hospital due to the spread of nasopharyngeal cancer and ineffective treatment. he was 54 years old, which can be considered a premature death.

second place: long fang

different from the silly and cute cheng kui-an, the villains created by long fang are mostly "beasts in human clothing, insidious and vicious".

even though he always wears a well-tailored suit and smiles, he always stabs people in the back, making people grit their teeth and hate him deeply.

long fang was able to become a "hero of the generation" thanks to wang jing's invitation.

in 1989, long fang, who had given up acting to go into business, was running a fishing port. wang jing happened to be the director of this fishing port, and the two had some business exchanges.

at that time, wang jing was preparing to shoot the action film "supreme", and needed an english-speaking villain, so he invited the experienced acting long fang to help.

unexpectedly, for this performance, long fang was nominated for the best new actor at the 9th hong kong film awards.

at the same time, long fang also started his legendary cp with andy lau, the "screen enemy".

in subsequent films such as "the emperor's protégé", "inspector lei luo", "prison on fire", and "dragon on the edge", they have always been portrayed as mortal enemies.

after "the king's avatar", wong jing once again invited long fang to play the villain gao yi in "god of gamblers".

his series of insane actions in the film, especially the behavior of not letting gao jin go after he killed his girlfriend, is a childhood trauma for many people.

with "god of gamblers" topping the box office champion of the year, long fang's "villain era" officially arrived.

at this time, in addition to frequently collaborating with andy lau, he also followed the trend of hong kong films and often played the villain in stephen chow's comedy films.

for example, "descendants of the dragon" and "god of gamblers in shanghai".

it is worth mentioning that in 1994, long fang himself produced and supervised a comedy film "the family of villains".

the film brings together professional villains such as shek kin, chan wai-man, lee siu-kee, shing kui-on, and ho ka-kui, who make fun of their own previous images of villains, which is very interesting.

in march 2000, the action film "speed ​​​​of life and death fist" starring long fang was released. this film was the last film he starred in.

in the same year, affected by nasopharyngeal cancer, long fang bid farewell to the film industry and went to the mainland for treatment. after years of struggle, long fang died in the hospital in 2008 at the age of 54.

from then on, hong kong movies lost a villain, and the audience felt more regretful.

third place: xu zhongxin

when he was a child, xu zhongxin was a notorious "bad student" and was expelled from school for frequent fighting.

seeing that he was very active, his parents sent him to the oriental drama academy to learn northern kung fu when he was 10 years old.

because he entered the industry very early and was the senior of many people, the title “big brother” later became a respectful title for him by people in the industry.

during his career, xu zhongxin has appeared in hundreds of works, and he has portrayed roles such as gangster bosses and big thieves.

he finally got the chance to play a high-ranking official in jet li's wong fei-hung series "iron chicken and centipede", but turned out to be a corrupt official, becoming the "spokesperson for villains".

because he is good at playing villains, xu zhongxin is often misunderstood in real life.

when tin kai man first met him, he was frightened by his ferocious appearance. later, when they got to know each other better, he realized that he was a "good guy".

in fact, xu zhongxin is indeed a straightforward person.

even though he was a stunt double for adam cheng, tore his cruciate ligament, had half of his meniscus removed, and lost the chance to be an action actor, he didn't say much.

in april 2022, due to health reasons, xu zhongxin took the initiative to ask tvb executives to change his previously signed action actor contract to an ordinary artist contract.

half a year later, he passed away due to a heart attack, which is really sad.

fourth place: shen wei

shen wei has had a special liking for acting since he was a child, but after entering the entertainment industry, he was not appreciated for a long time.

later, in order to make a living, he decided to become a martial arts stuntman, but due to an injury he had to change careers again and worked as a diver, clerk and law firm employee.

during this period, he never gave up acting and often went to the crew to look for opportunities while working.

it was not until 1984 that 33-year-old shen wei reached a turning point in his life.

this year, he participated in the realistic police and gangster film directed by mak dang-hung, playing the two-faced a tai.

with his outstanding performance in the film, he won the hong kong film awards for best supporting actor, and became famous overnight, receiving many film offers.

it is worth mentioning that there is a scene in this film where shen wei needs to be tied up in a car full of gasoline, and he agreed without hesitation.

but in pursuit of a realistic performance, the director secretly arranged a fire without informing him, and almost burned him to death in the car.

it is said that the terrified shen wei, after escaping by chance, chased and hacked mai dangxiong on the spot.

because of this, even though he won the only hong kong film award in his life with this film, shen wei still did not express his gratitude to mak dang-hung, and the two never collaborated again.

since shen wei portrayed the ugly side of a tai so vividly, many crews asked him to play the same "villain" roles.

as a result, he was praised by the media and fans as "a villain of his generation."

i believe many people will find it hard to forget the way the "snakehead" in "the legend of the condor heroes" tortured joey wong. it was truly horrific.

in addition to being an actor, shen wei has also been a director and made 7 films. he is very talented.

he died of illness in 2022 at the age of 71.

fifth place: feng ke'an

feng ke'an was born into a family of performing arts.

his father feng feng was a famous cantonese opera actor. he later entered the film industry, playing the leading role and being a director. he also directed the film "little cheung", which made bruce lee famous.

sister feng subo and brother feng jilong are both famous tv producers.

her younger sister, feng baobao, is a well-known talented child star in hong kong and has won the best supporting actress award at the hong kong film awards twice.

feng ke'an followed his father into the film industry at a young age and played many child star roles.

he then followed master liu jialiang as a martial arts stuntman and starred in many kung fu films. after showing his talent, he joined the jacky cheung stunt team as an actor and martial arts instructor.

because of his evil appearance, natural acting skills and excellent martial arts skills, feng ke'an once became the standard villain in kung fu movies.

in "mr. zan and zhao qianhua", the villain mo laokang, who is a master of the mantis hand,

in "lin shirong", gao dahai, a lecherous and domineering man,

in "new shushan swordsman", the cool-looking guardian of the demon sect,

there is also di que, who ranks second on the killer list in "kung fu", who is also very impressive.

although he often plays the villain in the play, feng ke'an outside the play is a very visionary talent scout.

sammo hung has said more than once that he was able to become a director largely because of his encouragement and help.

on march 2, 2016, feng ke'an died in hospital due to esophageal cancer at the age of 65.

many celebrities paid tribute, and the pallbearer team was "star-studded". jackie chan, who couldn't make it back in time, also sent a elegiac couplet, expressing his heavy memory of this old brother.

6th place: ho ka-kui

ho ka-kui was very talented. although he came from an ordinary family and gave up the opportunity to go to university due to family reasons, he relied on his own abilities to become an editor.

after that, he boldly bought a poorly managed newspaper and successfully accumulated his first pot of gold.

unfortunately, he fell into the trap of gambling and soon squandered all his money, which seemed to be ruining his future.

in order to start over, ho ka-kui entered the entertainment industry where opportunities were everywhere and started as a handyman on the set.

ringo lam admired his talent and originally just wanted to invite him to participate in the script conception of "prison on fire", but in the process of discussing the script, he strongly invited him to play the role of "datun" and said that "it has to be him".

if you watch "prison on fire" again today, you will find that it is like a hong kong movie "villain universe".

in addition to ho ka-kui, the film also features villains such as shing kui-an, cheung tsan-yuk, and wong kwong-leung.

however, other villain actors have more or less played some good guys, but ho ka-kui has almost never played a decent role in his career. he is simply the "villain among villains".

because of this, he became the leader of the "four evil men" in hong kong.

his "hateful face" can be seen in many film and television works such as "king of power", "prison dragon", "emperor of shanghai", "legend of the condor heroes", and "dragon family".

because he played the villain so well, ordinary people would be scared when they saw him, especially girls, who did not dare to get close to him. this also became an important reason why he never married.

in early 2015, ho ka-kui passed away due to illness. before his death, he lost all his life earnings on the gambling table, leaving only a few hundred dollars in his card.

in the end, it was a group of good friends who helped him take care of his funeral affairs. considering that there would be no descendants to worship him, his ashes were scattered in the memorial garden.

7th place: lee shau kee

li ka-shing's life is very legendary. he was once a member of a "society".

with the guidance of ringo lam, he retired from the entertainment industry and devoted himself to the film industry, and became famous in "prison on fire".

later, he was respected as "brother ji" by everyone for his role as "chuishui ji" in the "young and dangerous" film series.

as a "professional villain", the villains he played accompanied a generation's growth.

to this day, many people still remember his wonderful performances in movies such as "the god of cookery", "the king of comedy" and "the god of cookery".

because he always acts ferociously, lee siu kei often scares his co-actors and often makes children cry.

someone once said: "brother ji's weather-beaten face is full of pits and dimples. it's easy to shudder if you look at it for too long. he is a potential gang leader."

but in daily life, he is very friendly and kind, loyal and helpful, and many artists in the circle respect him.

following shing kui-an and ho ka-kui, lee shau-kee, one of the "four evil men" in hong kong, also died in 2019 due to liver cancer spreading to his lungs. he was 69 years old.

at this point, among the "four evil men", only "silly biao" huang guangliang is still alive.

one can't help but sigh that the once glorious era of hong kong films is quietly fading.

8th place: li haisheng

many mainland audiences' impression of li haisheng is mostly based on the jin yong martial arts dramas that were extremely popular in the 1990s.

for example, elder peng in the 1994 version of "the legend of the condor heroes", master ku mu in the 1995 version of "the return of the condor heroes", and zhong zhen in "swordsman".

of course, there is also master xuan tong in "the demi-gods and semi-devils", who is both civil and military.

don’t underestimate li haisheng at that time. he had a gentle face and even looked kind.

but if we go back twenty years, he was a rare "golden villain" in hong kong action movies.

because he had worked out and learned martial arts when he was young, he had a very fierce face and often appeared with a bald head. he had played the villain monk in many movies about the dorje chang monastery.

in addition, he has appeared in many films directed by sammo hung and jackie chan.

the most classic one is gao batian in "lin shirong".

there is also li chujiu in "project a".

in fact, with his own strong strength, li haisheng was fully capable of joining the liu family class, yuan family class, hong family class or cheng family class at that time.

but he did not want to be bound by constraints, so he declined good intentions from all sides and worked freely among major film companies.

it was not until 1984 that he joined tvb and filmed a series of tv dramas. the jin yong martial arts dramas familiar to mainland audiences were filmed during this period.

since tvb often assigns him some martial arts roles, he also earned the reputation of "king of fighters".

he just retired from tvb, where he had worked for decades, at the end of last year.

in september this year, he died of a bacterial infection caused by skin ulcers, which is really sad.

ninth place: chen honglie

chan hung lit was one of the few hong kong actors in the 1960s and 1970s who became famous for playing villains.

after becoming famous, he played more "villain" roles in tv dramas than in movies.

for example, zuo lengchan in "swordsman",

the white-eyebrowed taoist in "young hero fang shiyu"

sun qinghua in "beauty's rival in palace" and others.

however, because his role as "jade-faced tiger" in king hu's "drunken master" was so vivid, i still included him in this list.

after all, the "jade-faced tiger", who was handsome in appearance but sinister in heart, had directly helped him create the image of the stern "cold-faced villain".

with his superb acting skills, chan hung lit became tvb's super supporting actor.

in addition, he has a wealthy family background, rich love history, and legendary experience. he was once a celebrity that the audience enjoyed gossiping about after dinner.

it’s a pity that he, who was so romantic throughout his life, died so suddenly in the end.

on november 24, 2009, while filming "off pedder", chan hung lit suffered a heart attack in the dressing room. he was sent to the hospital but died at the age of 66.

10th place: shi jian

when reviewing the “top ten villains” in hong kong movies, we cannot avoid shih kin, the veteran “professional villain”.

his notoriety in hong kong films began with the 1940 film "blood sea flower". the abominable japanese in the film made him his screen debut.

later, director hu peng planned to shoot guan dexing's version of "once upon a time in china". shi jian, who was over 30 years old, was chosen to play the villain in the first "the whip and the candle", playing the mortal enemy of huang feihong.

in this film, he left an indelible image of a "villain" on the audience, and his status as "villain jian" was established.

because the character of "evil man jian" is so famous, tvb also launched a spin-off tv series "evil man jian" in 2007, in which dayo wong re-interpreted this classic villain.

it can be seen that shi jian's original character has great influence.

in the first twenty years of his acting career, shi jian mostly played villain roles.

boss shi in "underworld", lu xiaolong in "drunken snake boy" and tiancanjiao in "tathagata palm" are all impressive.

these movie characters made the audience hate them to death, and shi jian's unique evil laugh made people shudder and attracted many imitations.

however, many mainland audiences are most familiar with his role as the good-and-evil "golden lion king" in the 1978 version of "the heaven sword and dragon saber".

and in the 1983 version of "the legend of the condor heroes", he played two roles, accurately interpreting the twin brothers "qiu qianren" and "qiu qianzhang".

shek kin remained active in the film industry until the 1990s, leaving behind many popular classic villain roles. he won the hong kong film lifetime achievement award in 1996 and the hong kong film awards professional spirit award in 2003.

in 1993, shi jian, who was already 80 years old, retired from the film industry after performing in "the family of villains" which was tailor-made for him.

on june 4, 2009, shi jian died in hong kong at the age of 96.

in hong kong movies, the above-mentioned "top ten villains" mostly play the role of "green leaves" to set off the "red flowers"-like protagonists.

although they do not have the halo of the protagonist, it is precisely because of their existence that there are so many real and rich characters in hong kong films.