Michael Hui

• Name — Michael Hui • Born — 3 September 1942 • Birthplace — Panyu, Guangdong, China • Occupation — * Actor • playwright • director • producer • Years Active — 1968–present • Children — 2 • Relatives — * Ricky Hui (brother) • Sam Hui (brother)

Hui studied in La Salle College, and then earned a degree in sociology from the United College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

After a spell hosting quiz shows on TVB, Hui gained popularity in the Hong Kong entertainment industry with his variety show stints in the Hui Brothers Show. He then moved from television to film. Hui's first work was in a film by Taiwanese director Li Han-hsiang called The Warlord (大軍閥 or "The Great Regime", 1972), where he played a farcical warlord in post-revolutionary China. In 1974, he set up his own film company, the Hui Film Company, with Golden Harvest, with his brothers Ricky and Sam. Between 1974 and 2000 he created more than 20 comedy films, five of which were Hong Kong's No. 1 box-office hit of the year. The earliest Hui comedies combined episodic gags with the comedic appeal of Michael and his brothers. This usually involved the trio of actors—Michael, Sam and Ricky—pitting their wits against the odds to earn quick bucks and their livelihood. Set in modern-day Hong Kong, with upbeat soundtracks performed by Sam himself, these works became wildly popular amongst the working classes in the 1970s and early 1980s. Games Gamblers Play (1974), The Private Eyes (1976), The Contract (1978) and Security Unlimited (1981) – the last of which won him the first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor – are often seen as the quintessential comedies made by the company. Games Gamblers Play was a huge success when first released and paved the way for Cantonese movies to hold their own against the colonial trend of Mandarin production. In the 1980s, Hui developed a new brand of satirical comedy, one which capitalised on his deadpan comic timing, using a more character-driven storyline. Some of his more renowned works came during this period in the 1980s. Hui frequently acted out the archetypal "ne'er-do-well" driven on by a cash-mad Hong Kong society. Equally caustic and funny, they are set against the backdrop of present-day Hong Kong consumerism. He would make a rare North American film appearance as the Subaru mechanic/engineer with Jackie Chan in the Burt Reynolds comedy The Cannonball Run. In Chocolate Inspector (1986), he plays a chocolate-eating inspector who must solve a kidnap case while his subordinate is involved in a Miss Hong Kong pageant. In Chicken and Duck Talk (1988), opposing restaurateurs come to blows to secure profits. Front Page (1990), which reunited the three brothers, lampoons the Hong Kong press, while The Magic Touch (1992) satirises the Chinese obsession with fortune-telling and wealth. Always on My Mind (1993) continues in this vein of self-deprecating humour: Hui plays the head of a family, a news anchor, who will stop at nothing to grab money. Hui continued acting and producing his own comedies, at a less prolific rate, in the 1990s and 2000s. He wrote a dozen screenplays, but none were produced because he felt dissatisfied. Chinese Box (1997), directed by Wayne Wang, remains Hui's only starring film in the West. He played a talented safe-cracker, who kidnaped a baby for money from triads but was kind-hearted and dignified, in the action-comedy Rob-B-Hood (2006), starring alongside Jackie Chan and Louis Koo. In 2006, he became the host of the quiz show Deal or No Deal. In 2016, he starred in the Taiwanese black comedy film, Godspeed, for which he is nominated the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor. Organised by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC), the 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards was held on 30 October 2021. Hui was one of the recipients of the Award for Outstanding Contribution in Arts, for his active involvements in filmmaking as a director, a screenwriter and actor.

• Illustration — Hui in 2005 • Illustration — Hui in 2024

• Year — Film title in English — Film title in Chinese — Role — Notes • 1972 — The Warlord — 大軍閥 • 1973 — The Happiest Moment — 一樂也 — Ren Letien/Chief Supt/Md Fuyu/Xiao Liu • 1973 — Sinful Confession — 聲色犬馬 • 1974 — Scandal — 醜聞 • 1974 — Games Gamblers Play — 鬼馬雙星 — Man • 1975 — The Last Message — 天才與白痴 — Tim • 1976 — The Private Eyes — 半斤八兩 — Wong Yeuk-sze • 1978 — The Contract — 賣身契 — Sit Chi-man • 1981 — The Cannonball Run — 砲彈飛車 — Driver • 1981 — Security Unlimited — 摩登保鑣 — Chow Sai-cheung • 1984 — Teppanyaki — 鐵板燒 • 1985 — Mr. Boo Meets Pom Pom — 智勇三寶 — Mr. Boo • 1986 — Happy Ding Dong — 歡樂叮噹 • 1986 — Chocolate Inspector — 神探朱古力 — Inspector Chu Koo-lik • 1988 — Chicken and Duck Talk — 雞同鴨講 — Hui • 1989 — Mr. Coconut — 合家歡 — Ngan Kwai-Na • 1990 — Front Page — 新半斤八兩 — Hui • 1991 — The Banquet — 豪門夜宴 — Michael Hui • 1992 — Hero of the Beggars — 丐世英雄 • 1992 — The Magic Touch — 神算 — Hui Wai-kuk • 1993 — Always on My Mind — 搶錢夫妻 • 1995 — Wealthy Human Realm — 富貴人間 • 1997 — Chinese Box — Chang • 2000 — Funny Business — 創業玩家 • 2004 — Fantasia — 鬼馬狂想曲 — Grand Wizard • 2004 — Three of a Kind — 煎釀叄寶 — Dragon Lone • 2006 — Rob-B-Hood — 寶貝計劃 — The landlord • 2012 — The Bounty — 懸紅 — Cho Sai Fung's bounty hunting mentor • 2014 — Delete My Love — Delete愛人 — Rich Ma • 2016 — Godspeed — 一路順風 — Old Hui • 2018 — Agent Mr Chan — 棟篤特工 • 2021 — All U Need Is Love — 總是有愛在隔離 • 2023 — Where the Wind Blows — 風再起時 — George Lee • 2024 — The Last Dance — 破·地獄 — Master Man • The Prosecutor — 誤判 — Grand Judge • TBD — Raging Havoc — 怒火漫延

Michael Hui is recorded as having received Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.