Lau Kar Wing

Other Name: 劉家榮

Age: 79

Birthday: November 30, 1944

Nationality: Hong Konger

Gender: Male

Lau Kar Wing is a martial artist, Hong Kong martial arts film director and actor, action choreographer and martial arts instructor. Born in Jiangmen of Guangdong Province, he came to Hong Kong in 1949. He is the fourth child of Lau Cham, a martial arts master who studied under Lam Sai Wing, pupil of the legendary Wong Fei Hung. Lau has two brothers in the film industry: actor, director and action choreographer Lau Kar Leung and his adopted brother Gordon Liu (aka Lau Kar Fai). Lau began learning kung fu in his early teens, learning in secret at his father's school. When his elder brother Lau Kar Leung discovered this, he began teaching Kar Wing himself. Before becoming famous, Lau worked as an extra and choreographer on the black and white Wong Fei Hung films, which starred Kwan Tak Hing as the titular hero. Working under his father and brother in these films, he followed his brother to becoming a stuntman and assistant choreographer. In the 1960s, he became one of the main action choreographers of Shaw Brothers Studio, working with many directors on films such as King Boxer (1972). Lau evolved to become a director in the late 1970s. By then, he was already an accomplished actor and action choreographer outside of Shaw Brothers. In the 1970s, Lau formed a partnership with Sammo Hung and Karl Maka. The trio started their own film production company in 1978, Gar Bo Motion Picture Company. They made just two films before Maka left to start "Cinema City". Throughout the 1980s, he directed films for Shaw Brothers, Art City and Golden Harvest respectively, alternating between his own work and that of Sammo Hung. He also found the time to appear in several of his brother Lau Kar Leung's films. The 1988 movie "The Dragon Family" attracted wide attention due to its gathering of many stars and was a box office hit, earning tens of millions. After the 1990s, his film output slowed down. Since 1994, he has virtually retired from the industry. As a martial artist, he won the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Action with "Once Upon a Time" with Yuan Xiangren and Yuan Xinyi. He was also an uncredited martial arts advisor on Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords" (2005). Lau is also a skilled lion dance performer and has demonstrated this ability in at least two films, "Why Me?" (1985) and "Once Upon a Time in China and America" (1997)..