Cao Dahua

Cho Tat Wah (15 September 1915 – 10 January 2007) was a Hong Kong Cantonese-language film actor, active in the 1950s–1960s, known as the "Iron Man of the Silver Screen" and a hero-role specialist.

He often played detective roles in Cantonese-language films and famously portrayed Lung Kim-fai in the Buddha’s Palm series, earning nicknames like "Detective Wah" and "Detective Cho." After starring in the "Mad Mission" comedies, he became affectionately known as "Uncle Wah."

Career

At age 15, he traveled alone to Shanghai to film the silent movie "Gallant of the East." In 1936 he returned to Hong Kong to star in "Bandit of Shandong," and by 1939 he led in "The Chaste Woman."

After World War II, he founded Union Film Company and produced martial arts titles such as "The Seven Swords and Thirteen Heroes." Over a prolific career with more than 700 films—nearly 200 in martial arts—he also appeared in detective and spy movies. Between 1949 and 1965 he played Liang Kuan, Wong Fei-hung’s senior disciple, in over 70 Wong Fei-hung films. His breakout role was Lung Kim-fai in the Buddha’s Palm series. From the 1970s through 2004 he took recurring roles in TV dramas produced by Commercial Television, ATV, and TVB.

Honors

In 2001 he received the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2003, alongside Sek Kin, he was honored with the Professional Spirit Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and had his handprints placed on the Avenue of Stars.

Personal Life

By 1960 he owned assets worth over HKD 1 million, half a street of property, ran a film studio, and he was the first person in Hong Kong to own an automatic Dodge car. He later lost his fortune gambling in Macau.

In 1990, he took on Andersoon as his only apprentice and retired, emigrating to the UK with his wife and son. He returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to work with TVB. In 1997, due to his wife's kidney illness, they resettled in the UK. After his wife's death in 2000, he briefly returned to Hong Kong to work with ATV. In August 2006 he suffered a serious fall at his Mong Kok flat and was hospitalized for two months.

On 11 November 2006, accompanied by Andersoon, he flew to the UK for medical treatment, and visited his daughter in Shanghai during that period.

Death in the United Kingdom

In early January 2007, he was admitted to a London hospital for stomach issues. Diagnosed with a severe gastric ulcer that led to internal bleeding, he passed away on 10 January 2007 at 6 am from complications including heart disease, aged 91. TVB confirmed his death on 15 January 2007, citing his goddaughter Chan Po‑chu.

A simple Christian funeral was held in a small UK chapel. On 17 January 2007 at 7:25 pm UK time, he was cremated and interred beside his wife.

Family

• Younger sister Cho Yi‑wan (1918–20 November 1948), also an actress.
• Wife Zhu Qihua (3 March 1919 – 20 July 2000), died from diabetes and kidney failure. They had one daughter and one son; the daughter lives in the United States, and the son, Hardy (Cho Lap‑to), runs a restaurant in the UK.
• Godchildren: Chan Po‑chu, Michelle Yim, Andersoon, and Alex Man.

Legacy

He was closely associated with Wong Fei-hung films, frequently portraying senior master Liang Kuan, and became a cultural icon embodying the upright detective and police archetype in Cantonese cinema. He often co-starred with Yu So-chau, forming one of the era's most beloved on-screen duos. He was later parodied in "Fight Back to School 2," with Ng Man-tat playing "Cho Tat Wah" opposite Deanie Ip’s character "Yu Lien."