Tang Pik-wan
Tang Bik Wan (鄧碧雲) (September 27, 1924 - March 25, 1991, born as Tang Siew Foo, in Sanshui, Guangdong) was a Cantonese opera and television actress.
Tang Bik Wan | |||||||||||
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| Born | Tang Cheuk Foo (鄧芍芙) September 27, 1924 | ||||||||||
| Died | March 25, 1991 (aged 66) | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Cantonese Opera and television actress | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1940s to 1980s | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 鄧碧雲 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 邓碧云 | ||||||||||
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| Musical career | |||||||||||
| Also known as | Ma-Da (妈打) or Big Sister Pik (大碧姐) | ||||||||||
Early life
Tang Bik Wan was a Cantonese opera actress since she was 13, when she joined a Cantonese opera. She was a disciple of a few Cantonese opera masters and soon became the head actress for her troupe when she was 15. She was very talented and could almost play any role in the opera, hence earning her the nickname the Multi-role actress. During the civil war, she went to Guangzhou, then later to Hong Kong.
Career
Tang, after she went to Hong Kong, became a movie actress playing various roles in movies since the 1950s, winning acclaim for many of her versatile performances. She and seven great opera actresses later became sworn sisters who went by the nickname "Eight Peonies". Tang was the Blue Peony and until 1967, she has acted in more than 250 movies.
By 1968, Tang decided to go as a TV actress, performing in Rediffusion, ATV and in TVB. As age caught up with her, she became the typical actress for the role as the mother of the drama's main characters, some of her most notable roles in Television including the 1977 family soap opera A House Is Not a Home, the 1978 classic drama Chameleon and the popular 1979 drama serial The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Tang's television career reached its peak when she played the caring and intelligent family matriarch in the late 1980s long-running hit The Seasons (hence, gaining her the nickname "Ma-Da" [Cantonese pronunciation of "mother"]) "Ma-Da" propelled her to fame, and when she continued to take movies and advertisements, she would portray the "Ma-Da" role.
Death
Tang's health began to deteriorate during her tenure in The Seasons as a result of throat cancer. Her voice on screen had been noticeably deeper and softer between two seasons of the television series after she had undergone treatment to it during the off-season hiatus. However, Tang Pik Wan, the multi-talented actress died of a liver malfunction on March 25, 1991. Her family in her name has donated to various charity organizations in Hong Kong. There is a nursery and an old folks centre named after her.
External links
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