Samuel Hui
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Sam Hui in the 1982 movie Aces Go Places |
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| Born: | September 4, 1948 (age 58) Hong Kong |
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| Occupation: | Film Actor, Musician |
Samuel Koon-kit Hui (許冠傑, Jyutping: heoi2 gun3 git6; pinyin: Xǔ Guànjié; born September 4, 1948), usually known as Sam Hui, was a star in Cantopop and movie industry in Hong Kong's 1960s to 1990s. He graduated from the Arts Faculty of The University of Hong Kong & St Francis Xavier's College in late 1960's to early 1970's. He and his brothers Michael and Ricky made several comedy blockbusters in the 1970s. Many credited Sam for popularising Cantonese music into Cantopop that we are familiar with today, incorporating a hitherto then unknown practice of blending Western music and instrumental treatment into the Cantopop mainstream.
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[edit] Film & singing career
He started his career as a host to a youth music TV show on TVB. At the time, he was the lead musician of his band named The Lotus. In the early years of his career, he sang Western songs from Britain and the U.S.. He started on Cantonese songs when he wrote and sang the theme songs for the comedy movies produced by his brother Michael Hui.
His music appealed to the Hong Kong masses and working class people with its simple lyrics and light-hearted nature which was the rage in Hong Kong music in the late 1970s. He penned most of the compositions and personally wrote most of the humorous lyrics that generally encompassed current issues in Hong Kong such as the song 话知你97 (Could Not Care Less About 1997) which literally encourages the Hong Kong public to throw caution to the wind and enjoy their life instead of worrying about the imminent takeover from China in 1997.
On a personal note, he was closer to elder brother Ricky Hui than to Michael Hui as they were said to have parted in high dudgeon since falling out with each other after their pre-1985 successes. However, in Michael's 'Chicken and Duck Talk' 1988 Sam appeared in a short 3-minute cameo. Then in 1990, the three brothers reunited in 'Front Page', a lampoon on Hong Kong's sometimes overly enthusiastic entertainment news industry.
Sam also collaborated with several popular singers like Leslie Cheung both musically and on the silver screen culminating in the hit single co-written by both Sam and Leslie Cheung titled 沉默是金 Silence is Golden which Leslie Cheung also sung in solo form and is a track in his album Hot Summer. They also collaborated in "I've Never Been Afraid", which was a fast catchy number. Sam also starred in the Aces Go Places series of Hong Kong action–comedies in the 1980s, with Karl Maka.
He had a farewell concert in 1993 where he invited many other music celebrities and officially declared that he would not be active in the movie industry nor in Cantopop in the future. He was once seriously injured while filming an action movie in Tibet due to lack of oxygen, thereafter falling very ill and many of his fans pointed out that this near fatal accident may have been pivotal on his decision to call it quits as they believed that he was haunted by a spirit.
Despite all of these 'retirement' reiterations, Sam came back for a short stint in the movie Winner Takes All co-starring Nicholas Tse and Ruby Lin. This, he maintained then, was a result of desiring to do something which was closer to his heart and was something not easy to ignore.
[edit] Retirement
Apparently, the life as a retiree from the entertainment industry in Hong Kong proved to be too uncomfortable for someone who was widely acknowledged as the "God of Song" in Hong Kong. He decided to come out of his retirement recently in 2004 and held many concerts where he was still warmly received from musically fickle Hong Kong public where every concert had a sold-out turnout. In these concerts, he cited the recent deaths of close colleagues, Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui in 2003 influenced his decision to retract his earlier retirement affirmation.
[edit] Perfomance
He recently performed in a concert in Kuala Lumpur on February 19 and February 20, 2005 with his sons and his brother Ricky Hui but has not made active plans for any follow-ups. Even more recently, he performed in Vancouver on 15 December 2005.
[edit] Personal Life
Married to Rebecca "Rebu" (nee Fleming) with sons Ryan and Scott.
