Tang Pik-wan

Tang Pik Wan
Chinese name 鄧碧雲 (Traditional)
Chinese name 邓碧云 (Simplified)
Pinyin Teng-Bi-Yun (Mandarin)
Jyutping Dang6 Bik1wan4 (Cantonese)
Birth name Tang Diu Foo (鄧芍芙)
Ancestry Sanshui, Guangdong
Born September 27, 1924(1924-09-27)
Guangdong, Republic of China
Died March 25, 1991(1991-03-25) (aged 66)
Hong Kong
Other name(s) Ma-Da (妈打)or Big Sister Pik (大碧姐)
Occupation Cantonese Opera and television actress
Years active 1940s to 1980s

Tang Pik Wan (鄧碧雲)September 27, 1924 - March 25, 1991, born as Tang Siew Foo, in Sanshui, Guangdong. She was a talented Cantonese opera and television actress.

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Early life

Tang Pik Wan was a Cantonese opera actress since she was 13, when she joined a Cantonese opera. She was a disciple of a few Cantonese opera masters and soon became the head actress for her troupe when she was 15. She was very talented and could almost play any role in the opera, hence earning her the nickname the Multi-role actress. During the civil war, she went to Guangzhou, then later to Hong Kong.

Career

Tang, after she went to Hong Kong, became a movie actress playing various roles in movies since the 1950s, winning acclaim for many of her performances. She and seven great opera actresses later became sworn sisters who went by the nickname "Seven Lotuses". Tang was the Blue Lotus and until 1967, she has acted in more than 250 movies.

By 1968, Tang decided to go as a TV Actress, performing in Rediffusion, ATV and in TVB. As age caught up with her, she became the typical actress for the role as the mother, especially in the 1977 hit A House Is Not a Home and also the 1980s hit The Seasons in which she played the matriarch of the family (hence gaining her the nickname "Ma-Da" (Cantonese pronunciation of mother) "Ma-Da" propelled her to fame and when she continued to take movies and advertisements, she would portray the "Ma-Da" role.

Death

Tang Pik Wan, the multi-talented actress died of a liver malfunction on March 25, 1991. Her family in her name has donated to various charity organizations in Hong Kong. There is a nursery and an old folks centre named after her.

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