RIP Feng Tien 1928-2015

[GeneChing]

celebrated-actor-feng-tien-passes-away-in-hong-kong-at-87 (http://www.filmsmash.com/news/celebrated-actor-feng-tien-passes-away-in-hong-kong-at-87)
(page protected so it cannot be spread virally)

This saddens me greatly. He was such a fixture in that first wave of great Kung Fu cinema.

[GeneChing]

Film stalwart dubbed 'National Grandpa' passes away at age 87 (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/arts-&-leisure/2015/10/26/449308/Film-stalwart.htm)

The China Post news staff
October 26, 2015, 12:12 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Tien Feng (田豐), winner of the Golden Horse Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, has passed away, local media reported on Friday. He was 87 years old.

Tien lived in Hong Kong and arrived in Taiwan with the Republic of China Army.

    The Central News Agency (CNA) reminded readers that he was dubbed "The National Grandpa" after appearing in many TV shows and movies in elderly grandfather roles.

    A native of Henan province, Tian became interested in acting during childhood, according to CNA. His movie career was launched with "Happenings in Alishan" in 1949, filmed in Taiwan.

Later, this was followed by "The One-Armed Swordsman,"  "Return of the One-Armed Swordsman"  "The Assassin," "Fist of Fury," "A Time To Live, A Time To Die" and "A Better Tomorrow."

No matter the era in which the work was set, and no matter whether his role was that of the protagonist or antagonist, nothing was too hard for Tian. For his lively and artful renditions of his roles, Tien was widely praised.

Tien also took up directing later in his career.

He said "I've been waiting for you for half a century!" when he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 51st Golden Horse Awards last year. He thanked Taiwan for fostering his talent in acting and providing a place where he could hone his art.

He doesn't even have a photo posted in wikipedia or IMDB. Here's a pic from HKcinemagic. (http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=491#gal) Now you can all say "oh yeah, that guy!"

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/images/people/large/fist-of-fury-perso3_cf12b92fa630889a910fdfa50fb1ec6a.jpg

[Jimbo]

I consider him one of the great dramatic actors of HK cinema. And his screen fighting skills were underrated. My favorite performance of his was as the arch-villain in Brothers Five. Also, IMO he was one of the very few Jing Wu fighters in Fist of Fury besides Bruce Lee who looked like he could actually handle himself, although his fight scene was very brief.