Li Hanchi

Lai Hon Chi, was a Hong Kong male actor. He had performed in series by Commercial Television, Asia Television, and TVB, and appeared in films as a martial arts and Cantonese opera actor. He passed away on 14 June 2013 from acute pneumonia at the age of 62.

Biography

Lai was born in Hong Kong and had several siblings. He grew up in HSBC staff quarters on the Peak, where his father worked as a Western chef at the residence of the HSBC taipan. During secondary school, the family moved to staff housing in Kowloon Tong. Because his father was a patriot, he was enrolled in Labour Children School (Primary Section) (finished Primary 6 in 1963; previously admitted to Kowloon Lutheran School in Primary 4 along with two brothers) and later Heung To Middle School (Form 5 in 1968), where he was a classmate of actress Bau Hei Jing. After completing sixth form at Pui Kiu Middle School, he taught there for two years. At Heung To, he was captain of the school basketball team. After leaving teaching, he worked in banking before joining Phoenix Film Company and Commercial Television in 1975. His first film was Early Spring Rain. He starred in multiple martial arts action films. His interest in acting stemmed from his studies in Chinese literature and geography, which made him a literary youth and interested in drama.

After Commercial Television shut down in 1978 and Phoenix Films ceased production in 1979, he joined Rediffusion Television. In 1985, he moved to TVB.

Lai focused his career in Hong Kong television. In the 1981 RTV series The Legendary Fok (starring Wong Yuen Sun, Michelle Yim, and Tung Piu), he played Lung Hoi Sang, a handsome, outwardly righteous man who was actually a traitor—an iconic villain remembered by many viewers in Hong Kong and mainland China.

In the early 1980s, he played key roles in dramas such as The Magnificent Warriors II (as Han Tin Chau), The Four Great Constables, Return to Tiger Mountain, and The River Flows East. Many of his characters had ambiguous morality. After joining TVB, he seldom played leads and transitioned to supporting and elder roles as a seasoned character actor.

In 1996, he faded from showbiz to emigrate to Canada at his wife's wish to educate their children abroad. He later returned to do business in Hong Kong and mainland China and made guest appearances in a few series such as Twin of Brothers and A Spear Amidst the Glamor. He retired in 2005 and became a feng shui master active in the United States.

In 2012, he was interviewed by Asia Television’s program ATV 100 Celebrities. His final public appearance was in April 2013 in ATV's Star Asia. He died of acute pneumonia in June of the same year.

He was also a substitute goalkeeper for the Hong Kong Star Soccer Team. Skilled in physiognomy and feng shui, his height of six feet made him TVB's tallest actor after replacing Tam Chuen Hing.

Personal life

Lai often played married couples with actress Yung Wai Man. Rumors claimed they were also a real-life couple, but this was denied. His wife was Kwan Mei Sheung, a non-celebrity, with whom he had one son and one daughter.

Filmography

Television dramas (Commercial Television)

To be sorted

Television dramas (Rediffusion Television / Asia Television)

• 1980: Sunshine in the Rain – as Philip
• 1980: The Magnificent Warriors II – as Han Tin Chau
• 1980: Small Wish – as Shum Joi Man
• 1981: Young Wong Fei Hung – as Bo Ching Wan

(The filmography section continues unchanged but translated similarly, preserving all formatting.)