Norman Chui

Norman Chui Siu-keung (16 October 1950 – 1 September 2024) was a Hong Kong actor. He was best known for portraying heroic protagonists in many martial arts films from the 1970s to 1980s and later portraying villainous roles in the 1990s. Chui was under contract with Asia Television during the 1990s and mostly acted in mainland China thereafter.

Career After graduating from secondary school, Chui worked as a debt collector. He then worked as an accounting clerk managing financial products at a stockbroker. Chui joined Shaw Brothers Studio's third actor training class in 1972. He graduated and entered the industry as a stuntman. In the 1970s, martial arts film were popular and Chui often appeared as a hero in films. In 1976, Chui portrayed Zhan Zhao in Rediffusion Television's (RTV) adaption of The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants which led to an offer from a television station to hire him as their actor, however the deal fell through.

In 1977, Chui acted in Death Duel, a film adaptation from the novel Third Young Master's Sword by Gu Long. The following year, Chui received much attention from his cameo appearance in the RTV drama series, 大丈夫. As a result, Shaw Brothers permitted Chui to act in RTV's productions.

In 1979, Chui played the eponymous lead role of Shen Shengyi (沈胜衣) in the television series (沈胜衣) by RTV. After the series was shown in Thailand, Chui attracted a Thai following with Thai fans flying to Hong Kong to meet him. RTV had suffered poor television ratings prior the show, but then experienced a boost in its ratings and surpassed its rival television station TVB resulting in the cancellation of its prime-time programming. Leveraging on the popularity of Reincarnated, RTV requested Chui to act in 30 additional episodes. Due to Chui's popularity, he was often acting in other films and had little time to continue filming the extension. Eventually, he abandoned his commitments to RTV, forcing a stoppage to further filming of Reincarnated. As a result, RTV used the plot of Reincarnated but replaced Chui with lead actor Koo Koon Chung. There was a marked difference in the change of the character's appearance and martial arts skills.

In 1980, Chui acted in which was released in March. In April, Chui signed a two year contract with Bin Bin Films (繽繽電影). After the series On the Water Front, Chui did not appear in any RTV's productions, leading to speculations that he was out of favour with RTV. Chui denied the rumours, explaining that he was busy with other projects and had rejected two television series to prevent a similar incident with Reincarnated. It was alleged that Bin Bin Films was the reason for Chui's fall out with RTV. RTV then filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Chui. The network initially sought HKD 350,000 in compensation, which they later increased to HKD 600,000. RTV alleged that Chui had avoided obligations in order to work on other films. Since he had abandoned Reincarnated, it resulted in shooting delays and a forced subsequent change of the male lead. The change led to companies pulling their advertisements from RTV. In February, Chui's contract with RTV expired. While RTV sought to renew Chiu's contract, Chiu chose to take on other film projects and rejected their offers. The rights were eventually given to Shaw Brothers who produced it with Chui reprising his role under the new title Bastard Swordsman. A sequel was immediately commissioned by Shaw Brothers, with director Lu Chun-ku to commence production of the sequel immediately and to shelf his next film, a film adaptation of Woon Swee Oan's series (布衣神相系列).

Filmmaking In 1982, Chui with Wilson Tong Wai-Shing and Gordon Liu formed a film production company Gold City Film Company 金城影业公司. They eventually split their partnership. In 1987, Chui with Liu, formed another film company, 吸引力電影製作. In the same year, Chui also formed another film company 海港影業 with help from investors.

Personal life Chui married Zhang Xiaofeng (張小鳳) in 1975. After incompatibility issues, they separated shortly in 1976 and divorced in 1979.

In 1980, Chui married his second wife Ho Suk Foon (何淑寬) and they have a son, (徐梓耀), who would later work as a content creator in the advertising and entertainment industries in Hong Kong.

In 1982, Chui had an affair with actress , the younger sister of actress Michelle Yim. They have one son and a daughter . Chui and Yim ended their relationship in 1988.

In 2005 Chui married a Chinese dancer Meng Yuxuan (孟雨軒), who was about 30 years his junior. They have a daughter and a son.

Chui died from esophageal cancer in Beijing, on 1 September 2024, at the age of 73. While handling his funeral arrangements, his widow Meng Yuxuan suffered a heart attack and died four days later on 5 September 2024. The funerals for Chui and Meng were held at the in Hung Hom, Hong Kong on 5 October 2024.

Filmography Films This is a partial list of films. 1974 The Savage Five – Da Niu 1977 The Battle Wizard – Gu Ducheng 1977 Death Duel – Crow 1977 Clans of Intrigue – Song Gang 1978 Clan of Amazons – Jiang Chongwei 1978 Legend of the Bat – Xiang Feitian 1978 Vengeful Beauty – Ma Seng 1978 Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre – Wei Yixiao 1978 The Brave Archer 2 – Qiu Chuji 1979 Abbot of Shaolin – Li Jin Lun 1978 Heroes of the East – Chang 1980 The Sword – Lin Wan 1982 Phet Tud Yok – Thai film 1982 Ghost Nursing 1991 Au Revoir, Mon Amour – Tit Chak Man 1992 King of Beggars – Chiu Mo-kei 1993 Legend of the Liquid Sword – Dugu Qiubai 2000 The Duel 2016 Sword Master – Cult Leader

Television series 1979 Reincarnated – Yun Fei Yang 1980 – Yun Fei Yang 1993 Reincarnated II – Yun Fei Yang 1994 Heroic Legend of the Yang's Family – Yang Zongbao 1994 The Great General – Yang Zongbao 1996 The Snow is Red – Wan Tien Xing 1998 The Return of the Condor Heroes – Lu Zhanyuan / Gongsun Zhi 1998 Master Ma – Xue Changchun 2000 State of Divinity – Xiang Wentian 2001 The New Adventures of Chor Lau-heung – Xue Xiaoren 2008 Legend of the Fist: Chen Zhen – Satō Kashirakawa (Zuoteng Bachuan) 2010 The Patriotic Knights – Meng Shen Tong 2021 Word of Honor'' – Bi Cangfeng