Huang Chien Lung
HUANG CHIEN LUNG
If Ho Chung-tao is the “Walmart” of Bruce Lee-inspired actors, then Huang Chien Lung was the “Walmart Bargain Bin” of Bruce Lee-inspired actors. Ho had some oddballs in his filmography, but Huang takes the cake for making movies that resembled the cheapest Filipino exploitation films – in fact, a handful of them were actually made in the Philippines.
Better known as Bruce Le this Chinese-Burmese native, and avid martial artist, got his start as taking minor roles in a number of films produced by the famous Shaw Brothers studios.
When Bruceploitation-era was taking shape in the 70s, Huang’s likeness to Bruce Lee caught the eye of producers, and he was eventually cast as Cheng Chao-an’s brother in 1976’s The Big Boss Part II (Bruce Lee played Cheng Chao-an in the 1971 original). The same year came Bruce’s Deadly Fingers, starring Huang as a very Bruce-like character, where he teamed up with frequent Bruce Lee co-star, Nora Miao (Way of the Dragon).
From this point forward, Huang would churn out titles like 1978’s Enter the Game of Death (it was Fist of Fury meets Game of Death), 1980’s Clones of Bruce Lee (with Dragon Lee, Bruce Lai and Bruce Thai), 1982’s Bruce Strikes Back (with Hwang Jang Lee, Casanova Wong, Harold Sakata) and 1986’s Future Hunters (starring Terminator 2’s Robert Patrick and directed by Filipino film legend Cirio H. Santiago).
But the reason why Huang is even on this list is because he actually plays Bruce Lee in 1980s King of Kung Fu, a highly fabricated biopic he also directed. The film features main Enter the Dragon villain, Sek Kin, as well as Bolo Yeung (which is really nothing special, since he’s in everything).
Today, Huang is still going at it, but mainly behind the camera as a director. One of his recent projects include 2014’s Eyes of Dawn (a redux of his 1992 film, Comfort Women) and he has just wrapped up the war movie, Bloody Hero. He’s also keen on going back to martial arts movies with a dream project that would be a worthy successor to Enter the Dragon.
Kim Tai-chung
KIM TAI-CHUNG
If there’s one guy that qualifies as a certified “Bruce Lee” actor, it’s Korean martial arts star, Kim Tai-chung, who also goes by his Chinese screen name, Tong Lung.
A few years after the death of Bruce Lee in 1973, Golden Harvest Studios (the company behind all of Bruce’s films) started pre-production on Bruce’s incomplete film, Game of Death. Bruce had already shot the film’s action finale, which meant that all that was left to shoot was… well… the rest of the **** movie. This meant they needed someone who could not only fight like Bruce, but also walk, move, and capture his overall essence.
After an exhaustive search, producers finally found their leading man in Kim Tai-chung. With the help of some cardboard cut outs, sunglasses, a prosthetic beard, Bruce’s actual corpse, two or three other body doubles and footage from Bruce’s other completed films, they were able to finally complete 1978’s Game of Death, which was directed by Robert Clouse (Enter the Dragon). The film features a cast consisting of so many white people that’s probably the most white washed movie ever made. They even threw in clips of Chuck Norris to give it a little financial boost.
Despite its sloppy finished product, Game of Death was a box office smash. The demand for more Bruce Lee was obviously evident, so Golden Harvest called Kim called back for 1981’s Tower of Death (aka Game of Death II). This time around, Kim was able to fully sell himself, as he was playing his own character (let’s just say he’s supposed to be Bruce’s brother). Together with director Corey Yuen (Raging Thunder), choreographer Yuen Woo Ping (Dance of the Drunken Mantis) and the perfect villain in Hwang Jang Lee, Tower of Death is considered one of the greatest Brucepoitation movies ever made. There was even a Korean cut, which proved that Kim was becoming a star in his homeland.
After Tower of Death, Kim returned to Korea where he immediately began work on 1981’s Miss, Please Be Patient (our very own Paul Bramhall premiered the film at the Korean Culture Office in Sydney) and then came 1982’s Jackie vs. Bruce to the Rescue, where Kim, as a Bruce-like character starred alongside a Jackie-like character, played by Lee Siu-Ming.
Even though I just went through a bunch of paragraphs regarding Kim’s Bruceploiation output, the real reason he makes this list is because of his role as Bruce Lee’s ghost in 1985’s No Retreat, No Surrender. The film, which reunites Kim with Corey Yuen, follows the Karate Kid mold, only instead of Pat Morita, we get the ghost of Bruce Lee and better fight choreography. Above of all, the film is mostly remembered for launching the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme (who is now doing **** like Kill ’em All).
Leung Siu-lung
LEUNG SIU-LUNG
Just as producers did with Ho Chung-tao (Bruce Li) and Huang Chien Lung (Bruce Le), Leung Siu-lung was given the name Bruce Leung to help market his movies as Bruce Lee products. But unlike Li and Le, only a couple of Bruce-centric titles made their way into Leung’s 65+ filmography.
Legend has it that Leung once took on 13 armed attackers and defeated them single-handedly (too bad Smartphones and YouTube didn’t exist back then), which eventually led to his film career. Trained in the Cantonese Opera, as well as various forms of karate and kung fu, Leung spent the most of the early 70s taking minor roles or action directing in a number of movies. It wasn’t until Ng See Yuen’s 1975 film, Little Superman, that Leung finally gained momentum as a kung fu star.
In 1978, Leung co-starred in Magnificent Bodyguards with Jackie Chan (who was only months away from becoming an overnight sensation). Directed by Lo Wei (The Big Boss), the film is groundbreaking for being Hong Kong’s first ever 3D film (it’s also infamously known for ripping off John Williams’ Star Wars score). Then in 1979, Leung teamed up with Ho Chung-tao (Bruce Li) in Bruce and the Iron Finger. Although neither of the two technically connected to Bruce Lee, the “Bruce” the title is referring to is for Ho, since he’s the first-billed star (makes sense to me).
But let’s jump back to 1976’s Dragon Lives Again, which is one of the reasons Leung is qualified for this list. Taking place after Bruce Lee’s passing in 1973, this over-the-top flick starts with “Bruce Lee” (Leung) rising from his death and waking up in a mysterious after-life universe where people like James Bond, The Godfather, The Blind Swordsman, The One Armed Swordsman, Clint Eastwood, Dracula, Emmanuelle (yes, you guessed right), Zombies, Mummies and Popeye (played by Eric Tsang) roam the streets. Bruce takes on most of these guys (sometimes, in his Kato outfit).
Leung played Bruce again in the 2010 TV series, Jeet Kune Do. This time around, he portrays an elderly version of Bruce who mentors a character played by Chen Tian Xing (Nunchucks), who actually happens to be one of the newest additions of Bruceploitation era.
For the most part, Leung has had a steady career that still goes strong, but it was his memorable role as “The Beast” in Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle that gave him a second wind of success not seen since his 70s glory days.
Stephen Au
STEPHEN AU KAM-TONG
In 1999, rising Hong Kong actor Stephen Au Kam-Tong directed, starred-in and wrote What You Gonna Do, Sai Fung?, which focused on Bruce Lee’s turbulent years in Hong Kong during the late 1950s.
If you’re wondering who the film’s title is referring to, here’s the explanation: In the film, Stephen’s character doesn’t go by the name Bruce, he goes by the name Sau Fung (or Sai Fon), which was Bruce’s childhood name that meant Little Unicorn.
It was said that Bruce’s family gave him this nick name (a substitute for his real name, Lee Jun-fan) which was actually a girl’s name. They believed that evil spirits did not like boys in the family (their firstborn was a son who died in infancy). So, by calling him Sau Fung, they were able to trick demonic spells into thinking Bruce was female. Come to think it, maybe Linda was right about that demonic samurai in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story? Hmmm.
I’ve never seen What You Gonna Do, Sai Fung?, but judging from the footage, Stephen is almost a spitting image of a late 1950s-era Bruce Lee. Since Stephen holds a Black Belt in Karate, he’s probably not too shabby in the action department either.
Prior to What You Gonna Do, Sai Fung?, Stephen appeared in yet another 1992 Bruce Lee biopic (not as Bruce), which is the subject of our next Bruce Lee actor.
Today, Stephen is still very active in the industry. Some of his film’s include 2000’s The Blood Rules, 2009’s Overheard, 2014’s That Demon Within and just recently, 2016’s Three.
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