[imagesource:wikicommons]

Michael Chan is a famous Hong Kong actor and martial artist who shared the screen with the likes of Bruce Lee back in the day.

Famous for his portrayals as ass-kicking gangsters, the Chinese actor was later discovered to be an actual boss in the infamous 14K Triads.

Chan, who starred in over a hundred movies from 1971 up until 2018, became famous across the world for portraying triad roles, including the hugely successful 1972 film Black List, which cemented his reputation as one of the top martial arts stars and fight choreographers.

In 1976 he successfully played a cold-blooded killer in Jumping Ash, which left a ‘deep impression among audiences as his signature work’. But the actor/gangster eventually admitted during an interview to being a top boss in the 20,000-member 14K, the gang that dominated crime in the Tsim Sha Tsui region before the handover of Hong Kong.

Chan came into the 14K orbit when he still working as a young police officer in Hong Kong. During his time on the legal side of the system, he came into contact with several underworld figures until eventually joining the Triads.

According to legend, Chan’s brutality and ambition in the Triads closely resembled the characters he often played on-screen, eventually getting him to the top of the crime pyramid.

Today, Chan is a director and scriptwriter with an established movie company to fund his own productions. Chan and his partner of 5o years, Ng Kwok-ying, have three children.

Lovers of old-school martial art movies may be familiar with the policeman turned triad turned actor, but for those who have never had the pleasure of watching one of these cinematic masterpieces, check out the trailer for Once Upon a Time in Triad Society (1996) below. The name is kind of funny in hindsight.

[source:wikipedia&hongkongcinemagic]