What's Wong Yat Lung's story?

[J.J. Hayden]

I've always wondered what was the deal with this kid Wong Yat Lung (aka Huang I Lung). He seems more like a circus kid rather than your usual Beijing Opera performer. He was good looking, had some mad skills and seemed pretty capable when it came to performing the fight choreography. But he only did a handful of films and then seemed to disappear. Does anyone know where he came from and where he went?

Cheers

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

So Wong Yat Lung was trained by his dad in Kung fu to do medicine shows, much like in the movies.

According to Robert Tai (who told Toby) he lost his looks when he got older. From what he said, Wong had to do his mandatory military service and wasn't heard from in the industry after that. Who knows what happened? He could be that guy waiting tables who has a few good stories or a colonel or whatever.

Edited December 1, 2020 by NoKUNGFUforYU

[sifu iron perm]

great PHOTO!!

 

 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

I will ask Toby Russell. He seems to know must of these guys.

[J.J. Hayden]

Cheers. I know that name, did he used to be a stuntman or do audio commentaries or something like that?

[sifu iron perm]

3 hours ago, Dredderick_Tatum said:

Cheers. I know that name, did he used to be a stuntman or do audio commentaries or something like that?

He is a pioneer/historian (of helping shaping kung fu mania to the west) plus actor (action roles) and director who made it to the industry during its hey days.. Basically the Man (with a few more) in the western hemisphere of kung fu cinema. 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by sifu iron perm

[J.J. Hayden]

1 hour ago, sifu iron perm said:

He is a pioneer/historian (of helping shaping kung fu mania to the west) plus actor (action roles) and director who made it to the industry during its hey days.. Basically the Man (with a few more) in the western hemisphere of kung fu cinema. 

 

 

Fair play to hi. Sounds like they guy who'll know. Cheers

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Toby usually takes a few days to get back to me, so don't hold your breath or anything. He is a font of information. 

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

You guys have to remember that this was dangerous work, and unless you negotiated a really good deal and invested in HK real estate, most people were not paid well. Producers kept the lion's share of profits, and that is probably why bigger name actors produced their own films when they could. Things have changed, but from what I can tell most people did movies because they liked movies, few of them got rich, or even close.

[J.J. Hayden]

Awesome work getting the info. Cheers. That's a damn shame though, similar story to many kids in showbiz who get chewed up and spat out, reminds me of poor Bobby Driscoll, but hopefully Wong's story didn't end like that. Apparently Fung Hak-on used to be a cute kid actor then as he got older transformed into the villain in every film ever, lol. It's a shame Wong didn't follow that same path, it would've been awesome to see.

Cheers

Edited December 30, 2022 by J.J. Hayden