Dick Wei

Dick Wei (Chinese: 狄威, born April 15, 1953) is a Taiwanese actor, director and writer who specializes in martial arts and action films.

Dick Wei
Born
Tu Jilong (涂吉龍)

(1953-04-15) April 15, 1953
Zhutian, Pingtung County, Taiwan
OccupationActor, action director
Years active1966 - present
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Tu.

Early life & career

A Hakka, he was born in the town of Pingdong in southern Taiwan[1] and began studying martial arts in Junior High School, winning numerous competitions.[2] Later, he served in the Taiwanese army, attaining the rank of Captain, and was an instructor in unarmed combat, especially Tae Kwon Do.[3]

His first films were made while he was still in the army (mostly low budget Taiwanese productions). His earliest movie appearance may be a brief fight scene with Ti Lung in the Shaw Brother's Iron Chain Assassin from 1974.

Discovery

While operating a martial arts studio in Taipei, he was spotted by Chang Cheh, who persuaded him to have a screen test which was shown to Sir Run Run Shaw. He later signed with the Shaw Brothers and moved to Hong Kong in 1977. Here he made several films under the name "Tu Lung". These included The Five Venoms, Kid With a Tattoo and Kid with the Golden Arm.

From the Shaw Brothers he moved to Golden Harvest where he joined Sammo Hung's team of actor/stuntmen along with such notables as Yuen Wah and Lam Ching-ying. The characters he played many include "Lo San Pao" (the pirate king in Project A), Bandit number 6 in Millionaire's Express, and one of Frankie Chan's henchmen in The Prodigal Son. Sammo also used him to help train Joyce Godenzi (the future Mrs. Hung) for the movie Eastern Condors. He was also involved in Michelle Yeoh's training when she first began to make martial arts movies. Yuen Biao included him as a co-star in two of his projects - The Champions and Rosa.

Later roles and directing

He moved on to play a variety of honorable villains and driven cops in films with stars such as Cynthia Khan and Cynthia Rothrock (whose jaw he is reputed to have broken). Other notables he has worked with include Chow Yun-fat, Chow Sing Chi and Simon Yam. Later, he was the action director and co-star on one of Jet Li's earlier films, Dragon Fight.

More recently he has moved back home to Taiwan where he has turned his hand to directing and producing. He is working in Taiwanese television and has starred in a number of movies, including some made-for-television. It is rumored that he is currently (2009) involved in a Magnificent Seven type project along with such veteran film actors as Leung Kar Yan.[4]

Selected filmography
  • Long hu kong shou dao (1973)
  • Nu han meng niu (1974)
  • Fa qian han (1977)
  • Brave Archer (1977) - Yang Tieh-hsin
  • Chinatown Kid (1977) - Kung Fu Student
  • Sheng si dou (1978)
  • She diao ying xiong chuan xu ji (1978)
  • Shaolin Handlock (1978) - Li Pai
  • Five Venoms (1978) - Master
  • The Avenging Eagle (1978) - Han Sung
  • Yi tian tu long ji (1978)
  • Invincible Shaolin (1978) - South Shaolin teacher #1
  • Crippled Avengers (1979) - Tien Nan Tiger #1 of the Southern Sky
  • Lun Wenxu zhi dou Liu Xiankai (1979)
  • Jiao tou (1979)
  • Kid with the Golden Arm (1979) - Sand Palm Fighter
  • Qi sha (1979) - Yang security agent
  • Di san lei da dou (1980) - Jin Cha
  • Cha chi nan fei (1980)
  • Wan ren zan (1980) - Suen-Heng
  • Tong tian xiao zi gong qiang ke (1980) - Captain Fang
  • Qing xia zhui feng jian (1980)
  • Lian cheng jue (1980)
  • Guangdong shi hu xing yi wu xi (1980) - Wang Teng Ko
  • Lightning Kung Fu (1980)
  • Dai dai feng liu dai dai chun, Di san zhi shou (1981) - Cheng Pei
  • Prodigal Son, The (1981) - Mr Suen
  • I.Q. ben dan (1981)
  • Carry On Pickpocket (1982) - One of Chou Meng-Sheng's henchmen #5
  • Winners and Sinners (1983) - Tar's Top Henchman
  • The Champions (1983) - King
  • Project A (1983) - Lor Sam Pau
  • Pom Pom (1984) - Scarman
  • The Owl vs Bombo (1984) - Au Gung's Man
  • My Lucky Stars (1985) - Gang Member
  • Ching fung dik sau (1985) - Fight champion
  • Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) - Warehouse Thug #3
  • Heart of Dragon (1985) - Kim's Man #1
  • Yes Madam (1985) - Dick
  • Ping an ye (1985) - Allan Lee
  • Dong fang wu shen (1985)
  • Millionaire's Express (1986) - Mountain Bandit
  • Qi yuan (1986) - The Warrior
  • Rosa (1986) - Thug in Suit
  • Hao xiao zi di er ji (1986)
  • The Seventh Curse (1986) - Huh Lung
  • Yong chuang jiang wu (1986)
  • Feng chen shi san yi (1986)
  • Yi ben wu yan (1987) - Mak Chi-Chieh
  • Eastern Condors (1987) - General's elite soldier
  • Project A Part II (1987) - San Pau (uncredited)
  • Moh go yat jeung (1987) - The Monster
  • Return of the Kickfighter (1987) - Bad Brother
  • Guo bu xin lang (1988) - Thug in white Suit
  • Xiu xiu gui (1988) - Lama
  • Dragons Forever (1988) - Thug Leader
  • Long hu zhi duo xing (1988)
  • Ging wan gam man yeh (1988)
  • Lie ying ji hua (1988) - Lung
  • Huang jia shi jie zhi III: Ci xiong da dao (1988) - Diamonds' Fence
  • Sha chu Xiang Gang (1988) - Lok Han
  • Tong gen sheng (1989) - Killer from Vietnam
  • Pedicab Driver (1989) - Wei
  • Ao qi xiong ying (1989) - Popeye
  • Mu zhong wu ren (1989) - Bull
  • Fei yue wei qiang (1989) - Chiu Ying-Kau
  • Miracles (1989) - Tiger
  • Dragon Fight (1989) - Wong Wai
  • Zuan shi nu (1989)
  • Huang jia fei feng (1989) - Ah-Wai
  • Wu hui xing dong (1990)
  • Xian fa zhi ren (1990)
  • Wu ming jia zu (1990) - Wai
  • Die xue jiang nu (1990)
  • Lan du cai shen (1990) - Gang boss
  • Zi dan chu zu (1990) - Dick
  • Yellow Rain (1990)
  • Du lang (1990)
  • Da ge rang wei (1991)
  • Lit foh ching sau (1991)
  • Mo yu fei long (1991) - First Guide
  • Sha ru di yu (1991)
  • Nu gui sheng si lian (1991)
  • Mei dai mei xiao (1991)
  • Guan ren gui shi (1991)
  • Pu Jing da jie an (1992) - Tank
  • Bun ngo lai yan (1992)
  • Hong tian huang jia jiang (1992) - Sama
  • Wu ye qing ren (1992)
  • Xue ran hong chen (1992)
  • Tou se yi hung mou (1992)
  • Nu du shen (1992)
  • Hei jie wu nan (1992)
  • Hei dao nu ba wang (1992)
  • Du ming xi yang (1992)
  • Du ming shuang xiong (1992)
  • Bu gan ji mo de nu ren (1992)
  • Jing ji xing you xi (1993) - Big Brother Chung
  • Qing she sha shou (1993)
  • Feng qing wan zhong ye mei gui (1993)
  • Supercop 2 (1993) - Ah Shuen
  • Yuk fung (1993) - Yin
  • Lian se liang (1993)
  • Xin da xiao bu liang (1994) - Chang Tung-Pin
  • Xiang jiao jing qi an (1994) - Kao Tien-Yun
  • The Deadly Warrant (1994)
  • Gun gun hong chun (1995) - Chen Wei
  • Mr. X (1995) - Officer
  • Bian cheng xiao xiong (1995)
  • Yan pei go jang haai (1996) - Police Captain
  • Han fu gang (1996)
  • Sang yat doh luen si (1997) - Argentina
  • Jietou han jiang (1997)
  • X dang an Sha wu she (2001)
  • Ji Fei Gou Tiao (2016) - Kung-Fu King

References
  1. Encyclopedia of Asian Stars
  2. Japanese Dick Wei fan website
  3. Article in "The Best of Eastern Heroes" by John Brennan
  4. Asian Film Bulletin
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.