Chow Chung, a Hong Kong film and television actor, passed away from pneumonia on Friday. He was 92 years old.
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Television actor Erich Chung-kwong, who is a long-time friend of Chung, revealed that the late actor’s family said he had been hospitalized for a month after contracting COVID-19.
“I visited him last month,” Chung-kwong explained. “He still looked OK and was in good spirits. I had thought it was a minor injury and that he would recover soon.”
Actress turned politician, Christine Fong Kwok-shan, also issued a statement about Chow Chung’s death. “Uncle Chung was best remembered for his sense of humour and energetic personality, she wrote. “Even behind the camera, he was always chirpy and effervescent.”
According to local Hong Kong media outlets, the actor entered the entertainment industry in the mid-1950s and was credited for more than 85 films. After acting in movies until the early 1980s, he moved to local broadcaster TVB. His television career took off in the late 1990s, when he appeared in Old Time Buddy – To Catch a Thief.
He went on to appear in various television series, including At the Threshold of the Era, A Step into the Past, Reality Check, Brick Slaves, Dead Wrong, and Watch Out Boss.
He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from TVB in 2016.
Chung officially retired from acting in 2020.
He is survived by three daughters and a son. He was preceded in death by his wife, who passed away from cancer.
Chow Chung Opened up About His Long-Standing Acting Career in a 2021 Interview
Following his retirement, Chow Chung opened up about his long-standing acting career.
“I have been acting for decades, almost 60 years,” he explained. “During which I apparently died many times. [As the Chinese saying goes], ‘Tonight I have passed away, one day you will share the same fate.'”
He further stated, “Death is the fairest thing in the world. It comes for everybody, no matter whether you are rich or poor, smart or dull. It’s something that we all have to face.”
He also pointed out that he would have no regrets if he could die with a smile.