Ng Man-tat

Richard Ng Man-tat (, 2 January 1952 – 27 February 2021), commonly called Uncle Tat , was a Hong Kong actor originally from Fujian. He was a veteran with dozens of awards in the Hong Kong film industry, including Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in A Moment of Romance. Ng was best known for his comedic roles alongside Stephen Chow and was a versatile actor with many memorable performances throughout his career.

Early life Richard Ng Man-tat was born on Gulangyu island in Xiamen, Fujian, on 2 January 1952.

Ng's breakout film was the 1979 edition of the television series Chor Lau-heung in which he played Wu Tit-fa. This role allowed him to become one of the more sought-after actors of that time. However, he became caught up in the fame and fortune that he gained, and starting gambling. By 1980, he owed to loan sharks and was declared bankrupt. TVB then minimised his appearances. After some consideration, Ng decided to restudy and improve his acting skills, reading up on Konstantin Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares and Zheng Junli's The Birth of a Role (角色的誕生). The debts were paid off by 1984.

Through 1991, Ng carried a grudge against Chow Yun-fat for not lending him money. When Ng won the Best Supporting Actor award at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for A Moment of Romance, he openly snubbed Chow. Benny Chan, the director of A Moment of Romance, then revealed to Ng that it was on Chow's recommendation that Ng had gotten the role for the film. Chow also had similarly assisted him to get the role for Heroic Cops.

Although Ng owed much of his popularity to co-starring in comedy films, he showed himself to be a versatile actor in successfully portraying various roles. An example of such was in his portrayal of Sister 13's father in Portland Street Blues, where he played a man who could not feel anything but abuse and rejection. It proved to be the perfect complement to his usual "mo lei tau" style with Chow. He also played Andy Lau's sidekick in the Lee Rock series in a more serious role, which won him Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards. In Hong Kong, Ng was often known as "Uncle Tat", a nickname most likely derived from his role as Stephen Chow's sidekick (often as his uncle) in their films. Ng was sometimes credited as Richard Ng.

In 2001, Ng and Stephen Chow collaborated for the last time in Shaolin Soccer.

In 2019, Ng starred in the science fiction film The Wandering Earth, in which he played the grandfather of the male lead. During the filming, he had to bear the weight of a spacesuit while still recovering from his heart failure in 2014.

Personal life Ng married Mak Lee Lee, a Hong Kong artist, in 1976. They met during a TVB training class. Mak gave birth to twin daughters. In 1993, while Ng was filming All's Well, Ends Well Too in Singapore, he met Hou Shanyan (侯珊燕), a Malaysian beauty pageant runner-up and artist. Ng married Hou in 1996, and they had a daughter and son. He lived with his family in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, until shortly before his death, when he asked to spend time in Hong Kong.

Illness and death Ng was admitted to the hospital in 2014 for heart failure due to a viral infection. After this incident, Ng had a will drawn up, and remained in poor health from that point. In February 2021, he confirmed that he suffered from liver cancer and had been undergoing chemotherapy followed by rest and recuperation, but his condition had turned critical.

At 17:17 on 27 February 2021, Ng died in his sleep at Tai Wai's Union Hospital at the age of 69.

Filmography

Film

Television