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Michael Hui

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Michael Hui
Hui at the 2022 Hong Kong Film Awards
Born (1942-09-03) 3 September 1942 (age 82)
Panyu, Guangdong, China
Occupations
  • Actor
  • playwright
  • director
  • producer
Years active1968–present
Spouse
Cheng Kit-ying
​
(m. 1972)​
ChildrenHui See-wai (son)
Hui See-hang (daughter)
Parent(s)Hui Sai-cheung (father)
Lee Sin-wan (mother)
AwardsHong Kong Film Awards – Best Actor
1981 Security Unlimited

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese許冠文
Simplified Chinese许冠文
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXǔ Guànwén
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationHéui Gun Màhn
JyutpingHeoi2 Gun3 Man4
Musical career
Also known asCool-faced comedian, Mr. Boo! (in Japan)
OriginHong Kong
In this Chinese name, the family name is Hui.

Michael Hui Koon-man (born Chinese: 許冠文; 3 September 1942) (also known as Mr Boo!) is a Hong Kong actor, comedian, scriptwriter and director. He is the eldest of the four Hui brothers (together with Ricky, Sam, and Stanley) who were prominent figures in the Hong Kong entertainment industry during the 1970s and the 1980s. Michael Hui is considered by many critics to be one of the foremost comedians in the Hong Kong film industry.

Education

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

Career

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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, 5 of them 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 capitalized 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) satirizes 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.[1] 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.

Organized by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC), the 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards was held on Oct 30, 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.[2]

Filmography

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Hui in 2005
Hui in 2024

Acting roles

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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
TBD Raging Havoc 怒火漫延

Films directed, written or produced

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Year Film Director Writer Producer Notes
1974 Games Gamblers Play Yes Yes
1975 The Last Message Yes Yes
1976 The Private Eyes Yes Yes
1978 The Contract Yes Yes
1981 Security Unlimited Yes
1984 Teppanyaki Yes Yes
1986 Happy Din Don Yes Yes
1986 Chocolate Inspector Yes Yes
1988 Chicken and Duck Talk Yes
1989 Mr. Coconut Yes
1990 Front Page Yes Yes
1992 The Magic Touch Yes Yes Yes
1993 Allways On My Mind Yes

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
1982 Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor Security Unlimited Won[3]
2022 Hong Kong Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award - Won[4]
2023 Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Where the Wind Blows Won[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 【專訪】許冠文--創作歷程一路逆風 (in Cantonese). am730. 11 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021.
  2. ^ "The 15th Hong Kong Arts Development Awards Commends Outstanding Artists and Organisations". Hong Kong Ars Development Council. 2021-05-30
  3. ^ "List of Awardees of The 1st Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  4. ^ "The 40th Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  5. ^ "The 41st Hong Kong Film Awards". Hong Kong Film Awards. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
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