More sad news today, Hong kong film legend Shek Kin (aka Shih Kien, Sek Kin) has died at the age of 96 it has been announced. Kin is best known internationally for his role as the villain Mr. Han in Enter The Dragon.Hong Kong's The Standard Reports:
Shek Kin, whose real name was Shek Wing- cheung, died at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Wednesday. He was 96.Shek Kin Vs. Cliff Lok In 'The Roaring Lion'
The Hong Kong-born actor became famous as Wong Fei Hung's nemesis "Bad Guy Kin" in a series of movies from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Born in 1913, Shek began practicing martial arts in childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong he joined a drama club and turned to show business.
In his first movie made just after the war, Flower in a Sea of Blood, he played the role of a Japanese spy - which propelled him into bad guy roles.
However, his fame started to grow in 1949 when he played "Bad Guy Kin" to actor Kwan Tak-hing's Wong Fei Hung.
The two were to star in more than 70 films.
Kwan, who was later awarded the MBE for his role in the movie industry, died in 1996, at the age of 90.
After the Wong Fei Hung series ended, Shek continued his bad-guy action in a string of movies.
He later claimed he was recognized on the streets of Los Angeles after playing an arch villain in Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (1973).
In all, Shek appeared in more than 300 films in a career spanning almost half a century.
With the decline in the Hong Kong movie industry following Lee's death in 1973, Shek switched to television in 1975.
He joined TVB where he played various roles including that of a tycoon, a grandfather and ev
en a kung fu hero.
One of his more classical roles was that of blind martial arts master Golden Hair Lion King in the 1978 TV series The Tale of Heaven-Reliant and Dragon-Slayer, which was based on an ancient kung fu novel.
In the late 1980s he was invited to star in a TV commercial for a natural herbal relief for coughs and sore throats.
Shek retired in 1993.
He was presented with the Professional Achievement Award at a Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony 10 years later.
Between December 2006 and February 2007, the Hong Kong Film Archive showcased Shek's films and TV series in its special retrospective titled More than a Villain: Shek Kin.
Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung expressed deep regret at the actor's death.
"With his death, Hong Kong has lost an outstanding performing arts talent," said So, while expressing his bureau's deepest condolences to Shek's family.
