King Hu

King Hu worked between 1932 and 1997 across film director, screenwriter, actor, film actor and director. The registers place that work in wuxia. This article rests on 1 published texts and 8 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

The recorded working language is Chinese. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are wuxia. Distinctions recorded are Golden Horse Award for Best Director, Golden Horse Award for Best Art Direction, Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement and Golden Horse Award for Best Costume and Makeup Design.

• Name — King Hu • Birth Name — Hu Jinquan • Born — 29 April 1932 • Birthplace — Beijing, Republic of China • Died — 14 January 1997 • Place of death — Taipei, Taiwan • Occupation — * Film director • screenwriter • editor • actor • production designer • Years Active — 1956–93 • Spouse — Chung Ling (鍾玲) • Awards — See below Hu

Hu Jinquan was born in Beijing to a well-established family originating from Handan, Hebei. His grandfather was the governor of Henan in the late Qing dynasty. His father had studied in Japan and was the owner of the local coal mine, and his mother was a concubine. His uncle was a high-ranking official in the Republican government. Several of his brothers held high positions in the Communist government. Hu grew up in Beijing as a child, and emigrated to British Hong Kong in 1949. At first he wanted to study in the United States, but could not raise the money for tuition. He then worked for the local Voice of America in Hong Kong. After moving to Hong Kong, Hu worked in a variety of occupations, such as advertising consultant, artistic designer and producer for a number of media companies, as well as a part-time English tutor.

In 1958, he joined the Shaw Brothers Studio as a set decorator, actor, scriptwriter and assistant director. He acted in the classic 1959 film The Kingdom and the Beauty. Under the influence of Taiwanese director Li Han-Hsiang, Hu embarked on a directorial career, helping him on the phenomenally successful The Love Eterne (1963).

Though critically hailed, Hu's later films were less commercially successful than his first two films. After his late comedy masterpiece All the King's Men, he moved to California in the early 1980s. Late in his life, he made a brief return from semi-retirement in The Swordsman (1990) and Painted Skin (1992), but neither achieved the renown of his first two, financially successful wuxia films.

Hu loved Peking opera and was a trustee of a Peking opera institution. He promoted many young Peking opera pupils into the film industry, such as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung. Hu was multilingual and was known to be fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, and adept in Korean and Japanese.

Hu spent the last decade of his life in Los Angeles. He died in Taipei of complications from angioplasty. At the time of his death, Hu was attached to direct The Battle of Ono, a project he had spent decades working on. He is buried in Whittier, California.

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Editor — Other — Notes • 1960 — The Enchanting Shadow — Assistant director • 1963 — The Love Eterne • 1964 — The Story of Su San • 1965 — Sons of the Good Earth (大地兒女) • 1966 — Come Drink with Me (大醉俠) • 1967 — Dragon Inn (龍門客棧) — Also art director • 1970 — Four Moods (喜怒哀樂) — Segment: "Anger" • 1971 — A Touch of Zen (俠女) • 1973 — The Fate of Lee Khan (迎春閣之風波) • 1975 — The Valiant Ones (忠烈圖) • 1979 — Legend of the Mountain (山中傳奇) — Also art director & costume designer • Raining in the Mountain (空山靈雨) — Executive — Also art director • 1981 — The Juvenizer (終身大事) • Heaven's Blessing (天官赐福) • 1983 — The Wheel of Life (大輪迴) — Segment: "Part 1" • All the King's Men • 1990 — Song of the Exile (客途秋恨) • The Swordsman (笑傲江湖) — Also art director • 1992 — Painted Skin (畫皮之陰陽法王)

• Year — Title — Role — Notes/Ref. Reference • 1956 — Red Bloom in the Snow (雪裡紅) • Golden Phoenix (金鳳) • The Long Lane (長巷) • 1958 — Humiliation for Sale • 1959 — The Kingdom and the Beauty — Ta Niu • 1960 — Qi ren yan fu — Long Yu-sheng • 1962 — Hong lou meng — Bei Ming • 1963 — Love Parade — Fu Li-fu • Empress Wu Tse-Tien — Zhao Dao-sheng • 1974 — The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go — Ito Suzuki

King Hu is established in FAST under 1758910. Recorded as film actor. Hu received Golden Horse Award for Best Costume and Makeup Design in 1983. Hu received Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1997. Hu received Golden Horse Award for Best Art Direction in 1979. Recognition and collections. Hu received Golden Horse Award for Best Director, Golden Horse Award for Best Art Direction, Golden Horse Award for Lifetime Achievement and Golden Horse Award for Best Costume and Makeup Design.