Diana Pang Dan
Born in 1972
Measurements: 36 – 25 – 36, Height: 5’8’’
Diana Pang Dan. Or “Mystical Breasts” as she
was nicknamed in HK. To understand why, you will have to check her out
in films like The Imp (1996) or Evil Instinct (1996). Let’s just say she
defies the laws of gravity. Every film era needs an actress who is amply
proportioned and in a sense Pang Dan inherited this mantle from Amy Yip.
Not only was she proportioned like the Yipster – she also acquired her
sense of humor and her ability to tease the audience with glimpses but
never quite full looks at her fine form. And how can you not like a woman
like this who can tell the press with a straight face that she " is not
looking for good looks or money in a man. Rather, the most important thing
to Pang is that a man be kind hearted". If that's the case, she doesn't
have to look any further!
She has never quite achieved the fame of the Yipster,
but I lay this down to the fact that the films of the second half of the
90s’ (when Pang Dan started acting) were simply not up to the films of
the first half of the decade in which Amy was a part. Pang Dan’s acting
has been scoffed at, but I have to admit that she has quite grown on me.
The more you see of her (acting that is!) the more you begin to appreciate
her quirkiness and her willingness to make fun of her image and her assets.
At the same time, she was clearly making use of her cleavage to make a
name for herself.
Her background is quite interesting. She was born
in Wu-Nan in the Mainland and from 1987 to 1990 she was the main actress
at the Peking Ballet Dancing Troupe. Then she went on to graduate from
the Dance Faculty of Julliard School in the USA. While studying in the
States, she won the Miss China USA contest. She returned to HK and began
making films and quickly became quite well known. Before this though she
made an interesting film from the Mainland called Chinese Chocolate in
which she plays a newly arrived immigrant in Canada. The film played a
number of festivals and received quite good reviews. Even in this film
though Pang Dan's cleavage had a prominant role!
Some of her more enjoyable – if tacky – films
are the before mentioned The Imp and Evil Instinct plus Midnight Caller,
Six Devil Women, Dangerous Duty and Saint of the Gamblers (at least Pang
Dan’s part). In the late 90’s she started toning down her sexuality in
her films and seems to be making an effort to go mainstream. Much to my
dismay.
She was quite good in the Lau Ching-wan film HK
Triad – but since then has made a number of low budget and not very interesting
films such as HK Spice Girls, Tender Heart and Kingdom of Mob. Hopefully
she will once again start displaying her “mystical breasts”!
Dick Wei
Wei was a captain in the Taiwanese army in
the 1960s and after getting out he joined up with the Shaw Brothers in
the early 70s. It really wasn’t until the 80’s though that he started becoming
fairly well known as one of the best of the kung fu supporting actors.
Nearly always portrayed as a bad guy (sadly, because when he is a good
guy he is very good), his quiet fierce and deadly characters are great
to watch and his kung fu moves are some of the best around. He often worked
with Sammo and participated in some great films with him.
Some of his better films: Prodigal Son, Winner
and Sinners, Project A, My Lucky Stars, Eastern Condors, Millionaires Express,
Paper Marriage. He also appeared in lots of “Girls with Guns” films – In
the Line of Duty III, Angels Mission, Angels Enforcers, Final Run and Angel
Terminators.
Dicky Cheung Wai-kin
Born 02/08/65
He is one of the most popular actors on TV
– and one of the highest paid – but don’t ask me why. In the films I have
seen him in he simply comes across as tiresome and juvenile. Maybe it’s
a language thing. He has been in such films as Holy Weapon (a film for
which it has been rumored that he ended up directing as much as the official
man in charge: The could care less Wong Jing), Future Cops, Chez
N’ Ham, Kung Fu Scholar and The Black Panther Warriors. He is a popular
singer as well.
Do Do Cheng Yu-ling/Carol Cheng
Born 09/09/57
In the late 80’s/early 90’s Do Do was absolutely
one of the most popular actresses in HK. Her brittle, rapid fire delivery
and cool looks made her a natural for the newer style of yuppie like comedies
that were very successful during this period. She is just as adept in drama
and I think one of the all around best actresses in HK. These days she
is sticking to TV.
Her father was a veteran actor (Sai Gwa Pao
who made over 200 films) and she followed in his path by joining RTV (a
TV station) in 1976 and then jumping to TVB in 1978. She and another TV
actor – Chow Yun Fat – had a huge hit with a series called “The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly” which they then followed up with “Brothers” in 1980.
Her first film was in 1982 – The Last Affair (also
starring Chow Yun Fat) – but she didn’t really achieve success until the
late 80’s with films like Heart to Hearts, Yuppie Fantasia, Perfect Match,
Doubles Cause Troubles and Heart into Hearts. One of her major successes
was in the Her Fatal Way comedy series (4 films) in which she plays a rigid
by the book iconoclastic Mainland cop slowly and humorously corrupted by
the capitalism of HK. She received the Best Actress Award for the first
in the series.
In 1988 when she starred in 9 films in quick succession,
she acquired the title – “Miss Cheng of Nine Movies” and also won the Golden
Horse Best Actress award for Moon, Sun and Stars. Other films would be
of course in Jackie Chan’s Armour of God II, Holy Weapon, The Banquet and
the delightfully nasty Murder.
By the way, her nickname Do Do translates to
“fat fat”.
Donnie Yen Ji-dan
It seems many fans either love this guy or
hate him. There is no doubt that he has stunning kung fu abilities – but
his personality, ego, personal rumors on the Internet and recent selection
of films has put a lot of people off.
He was born in China – his mother a dancer and
his father a violinist – but at an early age he first moved to HK and then
later to Boston. His mother’s health deteriorated and she took up martial
arts to exercise and improve her health. She got so good at it that once
in Boston she opened a dojo and began teaching. Donnie became one of her
students at the age of 5 (and also studied classical piano at the same
time), but after high school he went to China for further training. By
that time though he had become Americanized and did not fit in at all.
He then went to HK where legendary director/action choreographer Yuen Woo
Ping discovered him and cast him in Drunken Tai Chi. The film is a bit
of a mixed bag – but Donnie’s acrobatics and athleticism are very apparent.
After another movie – also directed by Yuen -
the awful Mismatched Couples (in which Donnie performs some break dancing!),
he returned to Boston to help out his mother manage the dojo – but he couldn’t
stay away from show business and once again attempted to become a success
in films. He continued working with Yuen Woo Ping on some other films and
this time things worked out much better as he received roles in a few classic
films – the not particularly related Tiger Cage 1 and 2 (he plays different
characters in the two films), In the Line of Duty 4, Holy Virgin vs. Evil
Dead, Dragon Inn (the evil eunuch), Iron Monkey, Butterfly and Sword, and
Wing Chun. After this though he began producing his own films and the quality
has suffered – Ballistic Kiss, Legend of the Wolf and Shanghai Affair.
He made a quick jump to Hollywood for a part in Highlander:Endgame and
so I have read has also produced a TV series in Germany. He is doing a
fair amount of action choreography these days as well - the Japanese film
Princess Blade being the best known.
Donnie's Web site can be located here.
Dorris Lung Jun Er
Ever since seeing a picture of her in a book
– stylish hat shading her lovely face and making kung fu look like the
next hot fashion trend – I have wanted to see a film of hers. I finally
was able to (Shaolin Heroes) and found her to be absolutely enchanting.
She looks incredibly attractive and her kung fu was if far from top notch
certainly passable. Unfortunately, her career did not last very long due
to what seems to be an unstable personality – there were three suicide
attempts! – and she dropped out of the movies within a few years (1976-1980).
Some other films were with Jackie Chan – Shaolin Wooden Man and Half a
Loaf of Kung Fu. In these few years she did make a number of films - around
25 of them - here are a few more: The Jade Fox, Fighting Ace, Along Comes
a Tiger, Duel with the Devils (co- starring Angela Mao!), Secret of the
Shaolin Poles, 18 Bronze Girls of Shaolin, Knife of Devil’s Soul, Eunuch
of the Western Palace, 2 Assassins Against the Darkness and One Armed Boxer
2 (aka return of the One Arm Boxer; One Armed vs Flying Guillotine; Master
of the Flying Guillotine).
