Cheung Lik, Cheung Nick, Chang Lee...

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[DragonClaws]

 

Nick Cheung-Lik plays a cool headed mysterious Martial Arts expert and government agent in The Big Risk(1974), Click/Tap on the link below for my long winded thoughts on this one, thank you. This all action old-school title really deserves an official release.

 

 

 

 

[Boards Fight Back]

Hello. Is this actor still alive? 

I saw him in a film where he fought Bolo Yeung and other men on a boat, and he kicked Bolo into the water at the end.  

The guy is super fit, too. He hasn't made any films in years, if he is still alive. Does anybody know about him, because his IMDb page doesn't have much on there? 

[ShawAngela]

I was just about to ask the same question. I searched on hkmdb and hkcinemagic as well and none of them mentions any information on him, not even his birth date, only his filmography...

I watched Kung fu the headcrusher yesterday, and he looks so young in this movie that I tried to check on his birth date, but with no result...

[DragonClaws]

On 12/26/2019 at 1:02 AM, Boards Fight Back said:

I saw him in a film where he fought Bolo Yeung and other men on a boat, and he kicked Bolo into the water at the end.  

 

This sound's like Superior Youngster(1974), the sequel to Kung Fu's Hero(1973) which also features Bolo Yeung among the cast. Nick Cheung-Lik's final role, was opposite one of his old regular Martial Art's movie co-star Chiang Tao. According to his HKMDB page, they played a piar of thiefs in How to Choose a Royal Bride(1985).

 

Link- http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=3973&display_set=eng

 

On 12/26/2019 at 1:02 AM, Boards Fight Back said:

The guy is super fit, too. He hasn't made any films in years, if he is still alive. Does anybody know about him, because his IMDb page doesn't have much on there? 

 

On 2/15/2020 at 10:23 AM, ShawAngela said:

I was just about to ask the same question. I searched on hkmdb and hkcinemagic as well and none of them mentions any information on him, not even his birth date, only his filmography...

 

I'm not sure there is any post-1985 information, concerning Martial Artist & Actor Nick Cheung Lik?.

[Boards Fight Back]

I wonder if that's even his real name. 

His last known work was as a script supervisor for an episodic series.

https://en.hkcinema.ru/actor/64

I guess he doesn't give public interviews. 

[Cognoscente]

He is kind of like what if Jimmy Wang Yu was a proper martial artist.

[DragonClaws]

 

 

[Boards Fight Back]

In this movie, he was credited as Wei Long. 

 

[AlexanderFu]

I thought I'd put this here to show just how badass this man was with the Nunchaku. For me, he is the best I've ever seen. I really wish he made more films. 

 

[Cognoscente]

I tried to find him on Chinese webpages using only his characters but his name translates as "Tension" - so I had to include the characters for actor.

This is the only article that I can find about him so far: https://kknews.cc/entertainment/4jjxa8g.html

He apparently worked behind the scenes on Once Upon a Time in China III.

[AlexanderFu]

33 minutes ago, Cognoscente said:

I tried to find him on Chinese webpages using only his characters but his name translates as "Tension" - so I had to include the characters for actor.

This is the only article that I can find about him so far: https://kknews.cc/entertainment/4jjxa8g.html

He apparently worked behind the scenes on Once Upon a Time in China III.

Awesome, thank you. 

 

it's a shame some of these legends are so anonymous. This guy is like a ghost, yet he worked with the same crew of actors on many films. I think he is excellent in all aspects. He makes some really lo-fi movies watchable. 

[AlexanderFu]

Another sample of the immense skill of Cheung Lik. This one from Bruce's Deadly Fingers. This was the 1st time I saw him with the nunchaku, and I was instantly hooked.

 

[Boards Fight Back]

Is this him? 🙂

https://baike.baidu.com/item/Lik Cheung/53215686

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, Boards Fight Back said:

Is this him? 🙂

https://baike.baidu.com/item/Lik Cheung/53215686

The chinese characters for the name of this actor you show don't seem to match the ones shown on hkmdb for him.

Here, are the right characters for Chang Li :

 張力

[J.J. Hayden]

1 hour ago, Boards Fight Back said:

Is this him?

Seems to be him. He does have some facial similarities, it may only be some due to aging. It's a bit strange for someone to have only one credit and only an English script name, but the name and only film (A Tooth For A Tooth) fit. Although the date for the film is listed here as 1978, according to HKMDB it's from 1973 and I trust the 100% more than Baidu. Though the Chinese title on Baidu 贼杀贼 looks slightly different than HKMDB 賊殺賊 they mean the same thing "zéi shā zéi". So I'd say you're right.

[Boards Fight Back]

It's hard to get any information on these old martial arts stars. I once found an article on Fang Yeh, who often played a baddie in these old films. I can't remember what it said. I believe he was born in 1939, which would make him almost 90. 

They also keep putting alternative spelling of their names in the opening credits. Hardly any old Hong Kong or Taiwan films have end credits.

 

[J.J. Hayden]

6 minutes ago, Boards Fight Back said:

It's hard to get any information on these old martial arts stars.

Similar situation with the Korean actors, for the most part it's like pulling out teeth....using chopsticks.

[ShawAngela]

12 minutes ago, J.J. Hayden said:

Seems to be him. He does have some facial similarities, it may only be some due to aging. It's a bit strange for someone to have only one credit and only an English script name, but the name and only film (A Tooth For A Tooth) fit. Although the date for the film is listed here as 1978, according to HKMDB it's from 1973 and I trust the 100% more than Baidu. Though the Chinese title on Baidu 贼杀贼 looks slightly different than HKMDB 賊殺賊 they mean the same thing "zéi shā zéi". So I'd say you're right.

I can't recognize him, and even if they list a movie of his, I still say that the Chinese characters for the name of this guy aren't the same as for Chang Li. In addition to that, they name him "Lik Cheung"and even if it were simplified characters, it would be very different in comparison to the ones I posted. They may also have posted a wrong picture with the right movie title...

If anyone knows how to use the computer to make somebody's face look like what the would look when old, maybe we could have an idea of Chang Li's face nowadays and see if it's the same as in the baidu picture...

@J.J. Hayden, did you try to check him with his Korean characters spelling ? Maybe the Korean sites have more informations than us ?

[J.J. Hayden]

15 minutes ago, ShawAngela said:

I still say that the Chinese characters for the name of this guy aren't the same as for Chang Li

Please could you post the Chinese name from Baidu, all I saw was the English "Lik Cheung".

[Boards Fight Back]

Maybe some actors don't leak out much personal information because that's how they preferred working in the industry. Keeping it friendly, but basic. Although, I cannot say I blame them. 

I acted in several low key films too. I would like to say that my work speaks for itself, but I don't like to mingle with people I meet on film sets any more, as it had led to some hassle in the past with being talked about, followed around the web, and so on. I had bother with trolls in the past from being a regular user on different gaming forums, so it's best not to reveal too much about yourself, including your real name and location.

I think actors that understand when their heyday is up get my respect more too, as you have ones like Arnie and Sly that used to be awesome 40 years ago in action movies, but are just phoning it in now for the cash. It's kind of sad and embarrassing.

Yeah. Stallone was a big draw in the 80s, but his films dipped in quality over the past decade or so, as was the case with numerous other film stars. I think it's just what happens when things change. 

Also, teenagers these days honestly have a terrible attention span when it comes to appreciating complex characters. Art house movies just aren't up their street. They just want to see the same type of violent, mundane stuff every week.

[J.J. Hayden]

I found this photo under the name of 張力 and the caption basically said "older actor Cheung Lik". It's definitely the same guy as the one on that Baidu page. But is it the same guy as the martial arts actor Nick Cheung Lik? I'll do some more digging.

[J.J. Hayden]

Looks like it's a different Cheung Lik born in 1968.

https://www.baike.com/wikiid/9135902061499484633?prd=attribute&view_id=33aa8t2k866000

Seems like someone saw the name Lik Cheung on an English movie poster and assumed it was this Cheung Lik. Sigh, it's like IMDB all over again.

[Boards Fight Back]

I once tried to look him up on a Hong Kong people finder site, but it doesn't reveal anything about a person, and Cheung Lik is a very ordinary name, I assume. I mean, why would it display anything about him? Data protection and all. 

Some actors have even passed away, but IMDb will only state that info if there's a citation to verify the information sent in is factual. This is how Wikipedia works too. 

I do think it's sad that these level of fine actors never achieved much international success, because he could have been a big star overseas like Jackie Chan. But maybe he didn't speak English. If you cannot speak English, then wow. You aren't likely to get far. In Bolo's case, it was likely his intimidating physical stats that got him roles, as he basically grunts rather than says anything.

In fact, it took Jackie Chan a lot of years to break into the American market. He had numerous flops, before he just decided to remain active in Asia, where he has tremendous success. A decade later, he had another crack at it. His Hollywood career really took off after that. 

[J.J. Hayden]

Speaking English would definitely help, even if you've got no lines, it'd make it easier to communicate with the director etc. Maybe those guys dodged the bullet by not working in Us as though the money is astronomical compared to HK the films are never as good. I struggle to think of JC's US films that match up to HK and with Jet Li I can't think of any.

It is a shame there's so little info out there, I think part of it is their age. People who are more internet savvy (using blogs etc.) are likely to be younger and less likely to know much of the older actors: and the actors themselves may not be tech savvy enough to put up a blog page or something even after they've left the film industry.