| Lau Kar-Leung | |||||||||||||||||
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| Chinese name | 劉家良 (Traditional) | ||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | 刘家良 (Simplified) | ||||||||||||||||
| Pinyin | Liú Jiāliáng (Mandarin) | ||||||||||||||||
| Jyutping | Lau4 Gaa1loeng4 (Cantonese) | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 July 1936 Guangzhou, Guangdong, China |
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| Other name(s) | Liu Chia-Liang | ||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | director, action choreographer, actor | ||||||||||||||||
| Years active | 1953 - present | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Mary Jean Reimer (1984-) | ||||||||||||||||
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Lau Kar-Leung (simplified Chinese: 刘家良; traditional Chinese: 劉家良; Mandarin Pinyin: Liú Jiāliáng; Jyutping: Lau4 Ga1 Leung4; born July 28, 1936 in Guangzhou, Guangdong) is a famous Hong Kong martial arts filmmaker, choreographer, and actor.
Lau Kar-Leung is best known for his movies which he made during the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. One of his most famous films is The 36th Chamber of Shaolin which starred his martial brother, Lau Kar-fai, as well as Drunken Master II which starred Jackie Chan.
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Before becoming famous, Lau worked as an extra and choreographer on the black & white Wong Fei Hung movies. He teamed up with fellow Wong Fei Hung choreographer Tong Gaai on the 1963 Hu Peng wuxia picture South Dragon, North Phoenix. Their collaboration would continue on until the mid-1970s.
In the 1960s he became one of Shaw Brothers' main choreographers and had a strong working relationship with director Chang Cheh, working on many of Chang's movies as a choreographer (often alongside Tong Gaai) including The One-Armed Swordsman, as well as other Shaw Bros. wuxia pictures, such as The Jade Bow. After a split with Chang on the set of Marco Polo, Lau evolved into a director during the sudden boom of kung-fu movies in the early 1970s. He occasionally did choreography work for non-Shaw movies as well, such as Master of the Flying Guillotine.
After Shaw Brothers collapsed in the 1980s, Lau moved on and continued directing and choreographing movies, among them Drunken Master II. However, the film's star Jackie Chan and director Lau clashed over the style of fighting, resulting in Lau leaving the set before the filming of the final fight scene, which was then taken over by Chan.[1] Most recently, Lau performed acting and choreography work for Tsui Hark's 2005 wuxia movie Seven Swords.
Mark Houghton opened the Lau Family Hung Kuen school Lau Family Hung Gar academy in HK/Fanling with the support of his sifu, Lau Kar Leung. He gave his disciple the permission to spread the art of Lau Family Hung Kuen to chosen students. There are already branches in England,Philippines, and China.
Lau Kar Leung was the third child of Lau Cham (Lau Jaam, 劉湛), a martial art master who studied under Lam Sai Wing, pupil of the legendary Wong Fei Hung.[2] He has a brother who makes a living in the film industry, actor/choreographer Lau Kar Wing, as does Gordon Liu, Lau's pupil and godson to Lau's father, Lau Cham. His nephew Lau Kar Yung (son of his older sister)is also an actor,choreographer and director. Another nephew, Lau Wing-kin (son of Lau Kar-wing) is also an actor, and assisted Lau Kar-leung with directing the action of Seven Swords.
Lau's wife is Mary Jean Reimer whom he married in 1984. A former girlfriend of Lau is Kara Hui.[3] Lau currently resides in Hong Kong with his wife and their daughters Jeanne and Rosemary.