The forgotton ones

If you are of my age, I am sure you may know who they are. They are once famous, now they  may be the forgotten ones. In this part of the world, I don't think many people will know them. At most somebody might be able to recognise one or two, definitely not all of them. If you need help, ask your seniors (I mean senior in age only), they might be able to help. Nowadays, there is no one talking about them anymore in the press. You may also not find anything written on them in the magazines as well. Anyway, I will show you some pictures and see if you can tell me who they are, then I will tell you who they are.


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Lin Dai (Chinese name: 林黛 , real name (程月如)

A famous actress of Mandarin films produced in H0ng Kong under the brand name of the Shaw Brothers Studio during the 1950s to 1960s. She won the Best Actress awards for four times at the Asia Pacific Film Festivals for her remarkable performance in firms produced those days.

She committed suicide at home in Hong Kong in 1964 using overdose of sleeping pills and inhalation of methane gas, over trivial matter as reported by the press that time. Her death shocked the Chinese community. Her most well-remembered films are The Lotus Lamp and Blue And Black (I and II).

Bruce Lee (Known by fans as: 李小龍

His real name was Lee Jun-fan, born in 1940 in San Francisco and was raised in Kowloon.  He returned to the US at the age of 18 and began teaching martial arts and also appeared as a co-star in American TV series. He was talent scouted by a File Director, Lo Wei, who took him back to Hong Kong to act in a series of Kungfu movies that elevated the traditional martial arts films to a new level of popularity and acclaim, sparking a surge of craze in kungfu in the west in the 1970s. He was particularly well known for his type of kungfu, fast kicking with a pair of dancing legs. His famous films included The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon and The Game of Death. He died in Kowloon Tong in 1973 at age 32. There was mystery surrounding his death. The largest influence on Lee's kungfu was his study of Wing Chun under the Wing Chun teacher Yip Man in 1954.

Yam Kim Fai: 任劍輝

A famous Cantonese opera actress in China and Hong Kong active in the 50s and 60s. She was most notable for her unique ability to sing in the lower register and her opera voice was indistinguishable from a male one. This allowed her to play either male or female roles, though she usually performed male ones. Yam played the male lead in many Cantonese opera stage productions in Hong Kong, most often opposite Bak Sheut Sin. The two singers reprised many of those roles when the operas were adapted for the screen between 1951 and 1968. She was well remembered for singing together with Bak Sheut Sin at the final scene of Tai Nui Fa, a famous Cantonese drama. In 1989, she died at her home in Hong Kong due to pleural effusion.

Leong Seng Por

A famous Cantonese actor who acted many fatherly roles in hilarious films produced in the 60s and 70s by Shaw Brothers.