No one expected that the person who was once called the “martial arts king”, “box office superstar” would have to live in poverty when he was old.
For many young viewers, Vuong Vu is probably a rather strange name. But in the 60s – 70s – 80s of the last century, he was hailed as a monument by “where can I win”, continuously winning big with his film works.
Young Vuong Vu (Photo source: Sina)
Glorious career
Wang Yu was born in 1943 in Shanghai with the name Wang Zhengquan. He studied karate and tai chi. When he was just 20 years old, Vuong Vu was discovered and led by director Truong Triet. Immediately, he joined Thieu Thi Brothers Film Studio (Hong Kong) and quickly impressed by his handsome appearance and excellent performance in action and martial arts films. After only 4 years of working in the profession, Vuong Vu has been hailed with the title “Doc Ti Dao Vuong” of the martial arts film village thanks to his starring role in the famous movie Doc Ti Dao.
With a series of impressive works such as Long Ho Dou, Kim Yen Tu, Blood Tich Tu, Vo Hiep … Vuong Vu is hailed as the first martial arts king of the Chinese language film village. He was also the box office superstar who received the biggest salary for a time, before Bruce Lee broke the record, because his works always won big in terms of revenue. Especially in addition to acting, Vuong Vu also encroached on the director and screenwriter with the most outstanding work, Long Ho Dou (1970). In addition, he also participated in martial arts directing for many famous works.
Image from the movie Doc Ti Dao (Image source: Weibo)
Famous Hong Kong directors such as Tu Khac, Tran Kha Tan, Khuong Dai Ve, or other stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Hong Kim Bao are more or less influenced by Vuong Vu. Even after he retired from acting, he was still respected, hailed as a monument of martial arts movies. In 2019, Vuong Vu was honored at the Golden Horse Awards with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Noisy love stories
In addition to his illustrious career, Vuong Vu is also known as the “love martial arts king”. His first wife was Lam Thuy – a movie star in the 1950s-1960s. The two met while filming the same movie, when Lam Thuy was married and had a child with director Tan Kiem. Even though he knew it was illegal, Vuong Vu still pursued his senior, making Qin Kiem angry, and public opinion could not help but be indignant. In 1969, Lam Thuy – Vuong Vu got married, despite the noise. Since then, the actress has rarely acted in films, giving birth to three daughters. Thought they would be together forever, who would have thought they divorced in 1975.
Lam Thuy – Vuong Vu (Image source: Sina)
A year later, Vuong Vu was caught in rumors of dating Lam Thanh Ha – a famous beauty at that time. It is known that Lam Thanh Ha actively pursued her senior and was criticized by the public because she was the leading beauty in the entertainment industry and fell in love with a divorced man with 3 children. Their love affair did not last long because Lam Thanh Ha’s mother tried to forbid it.
In 1981, Vuong Vu took another step with Vuong Khai Trinh – a flight attendant. Not long after, he lost business, Khai Trinh insisted on a divorce, but Vuong Vu did not agree. Unable to divorce, Vuong Khai Trinh still openly had an affair and was stigmatized by Vuong Vu on television. In 1999, the two officially divorced in a row, after Vuong Vu called the police to catch Khai Trinh in bed with other people. At the age of 70, Vuong Vu stirred up public opinion again when he revealed that he loved a girl 40 years younger than him. The two even intend to get married, but their family forbids them.
Vuong Vu at the age of 70 (Photo source: Sina)
Loss and sickness
In 1990, Vuong Vu invested more than 51 million USD in business but lost. Since then, his career began to decline, although he tried to get back up, he continued to fail and fell into poverty. From the 2000s onwards, although he still acted in films, Vuong Vu’s works were no longer as noticeable as before.
Old age and weak health, Vuong Vu began to have a series of health problems. He suffered from dementia, could not walk, talk, had to have a nasogastric tube inserted to maintain his life after two strokes in 2011 and 2016. Look at these rare images of Vuong Vu before he died. passed away in 2019, the audience couldn’t help but feel sorry for a martial arts legend.
Vuong Vu died in 2019, after 5 years in a wheelchair (Photo source: Sina)
Synthesis from Sina
