Yammie Lam
Yammie Lam Kit-ying (27 April 1963 – 31 October 2018)[1][2][3], also known as Yammie Nam, was a Hong Kong actress and most notable for her performances in TVB drama series The Greed of Man and Looking Back In Anger, as well as in the film series A Chinese Odyssey. Lam was found dead in her apartment at Leung Ma House (Ma Hang Estate) in Stanley, Hong Kong. She was last seen on 31 October 2018, aged 55.
Yammie Lam | |||||||||||
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藍潔瑛 | |||||||||||
![]() Yammie Lam at TVB Programme "Stars of Jade" on 1992 | |||||||||||
Born | |||||||||||
Died | 31 October 2018 55) | (aged||||||||||
Burial place | St. Raphael's Catholic Cemetery, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, Hong Kong | ||||||||||
Occupation | Actress | ||||||||||
Years active | 1984–2004 | ||||||||||
Chinese name | |||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 藍潔瑛 | ||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 蓝洁瑛 | ||||||||||
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Career
Lam first joined TVB in 1983, graduating from the TVB actor training class a few months later along with fellow actress Margie Tsang. She was cast in a number of movies as well as TVB serials, soon becoming well known as one of the TVB's Five Beauties. She was called "the most beautiful on the five-station hill" (靚絕五台山).[4]
In 1992, Lam played the leading female role in a Taiwanese TV series. Taiwanese actress Di Ying who was also a member of the in the same series disliked Lam and assaulted her in a hotel lobby, where she kicked her in the stomach causing Lam to fall. Lam never worked with Taiwanese companies again. In 2005, Di recounted her assault on Lam on a Taiwanese variety show, calling her "Lam the big shot" (藍大牌), long after Lam's retirement.[5][6][7][8]
Personal life
She was in a relationship with a Hong Kong indigenous villager surnamed Tang, but Tang committed suicide in 1986, which greatly shocked her. From 1987 to 1988, she had a relationship with Cheng Kar-shing, a son of Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, but they eventually broke up.[9][10] [9][10]
In 1995 and 1996, Lam's parents died in succession. It was said she broke up with her boyfriend afterwards. In 1998, she got into a car accident. She was admitted into a mental institution in 1999. Her stage career was completely shattered by then despite her showing up in a few TV serials or movies afterwards.
Declared bankrupt in 2006, Lam subsequently lived on government welfare of HK$3,700 per month. In 2008, Lam was found wandering in the street smoking heavily and in her nightgown.[11] Police later arrived after responding to a concerned pedestrian's call and sent her to Sheung Shui station.[11]
In March 2013, Lam was baptised as a Catholic at St. Anne's Church in Stanley and was given the Christian name Maria.[12]
Rape allegations
In December 2013, Next Magazine obtained the video of an interview with Lam, in which she said that she had been raped by two Hong Kong entertainment industry "big brothers" more than two decades earlier. Lam stated that the first man, who had raped her after consuming alcohol, had died recently. Lam alleged that another man raped her during a film production in Singapore by obtaining a key to her room, breaking in at night, and raping her. She said that fears about his influence in the film industry dissuaded her from reporting the incident to the police. The interviewer had mentioned the names of the two accused men during the interview, and Lam acknowledged the names to be correct, but the audio portions were censored out of Next Magazine's published video; it is unknown if the edits were made by the magazine or by the original interviewer.[13][14] Subsequently, an anonymous source cited on Sina News corroborated the alleged rape in Singapore and claimed that the important man had announced, to the film crew, his intention of "having fun" with Lam before he allegedly broke into her room.[15]
In January 2018, Chinese journalist Zhuo Wei uploaded what appeared to be the uncensored video of Yammie Lam's interview, which revealed the alleged rapists to be Eric Tsang and Alan Tang (deceased in 2011).[16] A day later, the rape accusation against Eric Tsang was corroborated by Grace Han, a prominent talent agent who formerly headed the Ford Models agency in Asia. Han further alleged that Eric Tsang was a serial sexual predator, and claimed to know of a specific incident where a group of showbiz men led by Tsang drugged seven female models in a Hong Kong karaoke bar and raped six of them, while one model escaped. Tsang denied both the authenticity of the video and Grace Han's claims, and a week later, filed a defamation law suit at the Hong Kong High Court against Han.[17][18]
Several media outlets raised concerns that the audio portion of the 2018 video could have been edited, noting that the interviewer's voice increased in pitch from a male-sounding individual in the 2013 video to a female-sounding individual in the 2018 video. However, experts suggested that the most likely explanation was that the published 2013 video was digitally altered to disguise the identity of the interviewer, and that the interviewer was in fact female. They also point out that the 2018 video contained unremoved background noises, indicating that it was either the original video or in an earlier state of edit compared to the 2013 video, which had noise cancellation. This implies that the leaker had access to the original unedited video, and that the most probable leaker was the interviewer herself.[19][20]
Death
On 3 November 2018, Lam was found dead in her apartment at Leung Ma House (Ma Hang Estate) in Stanley, Hong Kong.[3][5] Police noted that she was found in a decomposing state, and she was last seen alive on 31 October.[2]
In the evening of 9 November, a requiem mass was held for Lam at St. Anne's Church celebrated by Dominic Chan Chi-ming, the vicar general of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. Hundreds of fans came to pay tribute to Lam. Some actors and actresses who played in The Greed of Man attended the mass. Dicky Cheung read the Scripture and Maggie Chan Mei-kei gave a speech. Father Chan said that he had met Lam five years earlier, and that Lam had suffered a lot.[21][22]
Lam was cremated on 15 November 2018,[23] and her ashes were interred at the St. Raphael Catholic Cemetery in Cheung Sha Wan[1].
Filmography
Film
Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | The Unwritten Law | 法外情 | Annie | |
1986 | Witch from Nepal | 奇緣 | Ada | |
1987 | Happy Go Lucky | 開心快活人 | Mina | |
1989 | They Came to Rob Hong Kong | 八寶奇兵 | May | |
1991 | The Tigers | 五虎將之決裂 | Wah's Wife | |
1992 | The Unleaded Love | 花貨 | Mary | |
1993 | The Bride with White Hair | 白髮魔女傳 | He Ehua | |
Flirting Scholar | 唐伯虎點秋香 | Tang's wife | ||
1994 | A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box | 西遊記第壹佰零壹回之月光寶盒 | Chunsansiniang/ Spider goblin | |
A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella | 西遊記大結局之仙履奇緣 | Spider goblin | ||
1999 | Aids Heart | 愛滋初體驗 | Ah Qian | |
2002 | Troublesome Night 16 | 陰陽路十六之回到武俠時代 | Pan Jinlian |
Television
Year | English title | Chinese title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1984 | It's a Long Way Home | 家有嬌妻 | Poon Ching-man | |
Rainbow Round My Shoulder | 畫出彩虹 | Mak Yim-wan | ||
The Return of Wong Fei Hung | 寶芝林 | Au-yeung Ching-ching | ||
It Takes All Kinds | 超越愛情線 | Chung Suet-yi | ||
The Return of Mischievous Lots | 扭计雙星 | Joe | ||
N/A | 城市小品 | Fong Ching-nung | TVB Sitcom | |
1985 | Deadful Melody | 六指琴魔 | Tam Yuet-wah | |
1986 | Heir to the Throne Is... | 真命天子 | Ho Fa | |
A Taste of Bachelorhood | 鑽石王老五 | Ku Tung-sam | ||
Turn Around And Die | 英雄故事 | Tung Man-ching | ||
Next Year Next Kins | 愛情寶盒 | Joanne | ||
1989 | I Do I Do | 花月佳期 | Monica | |
Looking Back in Anger | 義不容情 | Mui Fan-fong | ||
War of the Dragon | 還我本色 | Yiu Shul-ching | ||
The Vixen's Tale | 萬家傳說 | Lau Tsz | ||
Battle of the Heart | 摘星的女人 | Tang Yingxin | ||
The Final Combat | 蓋世豪俠 | Xue Yan | ||
The Mamasan | 霓虹姊妹花 | Elaine | TVB Telemovie | |
1990 | Lovers at the End of an Era | 末代兒女情 | Ma Suxin | TTV Drama |
1991 | Fame or Shame | 情危夜合花 | GiGi | TVB Telemovie |
Sergeant Talkie | 妙探對講機 | Yu Kam-man | TVB Telemovie | |
N/A | 半生緣一世情 | Li Xiuru | TTV Drama | |
The Poor Rich Man (TVB) | 橫財三千萬 | Ha Hiu-man | ||
1992 | The Greed of Man | 大時代 | Law Wai-ling | |
1993 | The Iron Body Guard | 大刀王五 | Wang's wife | |
The Art of Being Together | 奇情小男人 | Yuan Tianlan | ||
1994 | Wounded Tracks | 傷城記 | Xue Ling | TCS Telemovie |
Crime and Passion | 新重案傳真 | Ting Lan | ||
2004 | Love In A Miracle | 愛在有情天 | Sze Yu | ATV Drama |
References
- "墳場研究 Cemetery Study". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
- Leung, Rachel. "Former TVB actress Yammie Lam, 55, found dead in Hong Kong flat". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- 【藍潔瑛逝世】友人上門揭發 55歲藍潔瑛倒斃赤柱公屋住所. 香港01 (in Chinese). 3 November 2018.
- "Fans sound fund-scam alert after death of beloved star - The Standard". www.thestandard.com.hk. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- Jan Lee (3 November 2018). "Former Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam found dead at home". The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- "【藍潔瑛逝世】曾遭台灣圈中大嫂毆打 狄鶯:腳踹過去就飛很遠". HK01 (in Chinese). 3 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- 孫安佐之母狄鶯自述毆打藍潔瑛的過程 on YouTube
- "许纯美怒骂李明依 大闹《快乐星期天》节目现场". sina (in Chinese). 2005-05-28. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
- "藍潔瑛屢受情傷 遭男友悔婚:愛情對我是奢侈品". hket.com. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- "【藍潔瑛逝世】情路精彩卻坎坷 梁朝偉倪震周星馳拜倒裙下". HK01. 3 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- Disturbed Yammie Nam Wanders in Night Gown; Pedestrians Call Police
- "Fans sound fund-scam alert after death of beloved star". The Standard. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- JayneStars - Admitted Raped by entertainment "Big Brother"
- Chow, Vivienne (11 January 2018). "Hong Kong Star Eric Tsang Denies Rape Allegations – Variety". Variety.com. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- Sina Daily News, Dec 2013, accessed in Jan 2018 (Chinese)
- "被指性侵女星 曾志偉:要讓造謠者付出代價". BBC News (in Chinese). 17 January 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- "韩颖华指控曾志伟:性侵不止一次 曾迷晕7名模特". Sina (in Chinese). 10 January 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- Chow, Vivienne (17 January 2018). "Eric Tsang Sues Sex-Harassment Accuser Grace Han". Variety. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
- HK01 article, Jan 2018, (Chinese).
- audio analysis (Chinese)
- "Fans pay tribute to late Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam at memorial service". South China Morning Post. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- "【藍潔瑛逝世】赤柱追思彌撒 鄧萃雯張衛健《大時代》演員齊送別". HK01. 10 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
- "(in chinese) 缺席蓝洁瑛追思会遭抨击 曾华倩:沉默不代表我不在意". 中國報 China Press. Retrieved 14 November 2018.