Old Friends Remembered: Kelvin Wong (Wong Siu) R.I.P.

Got the confirmation today that an old friend of mine had passed away, he was an actor, a writer, a director and above all a good friend and brother to me. His name was Kelvin Wong (Wong Siu) and he was one of the first people i befriended upon arriving in Hong Kong so many years ago.

I was introduced to Kelvin Wong, by a mutual friend, American wushu maestro Jeff Falcon ( Six string Samurai, Inspector Wears Skirts, Outlaw Brothers), back in 1991 but i'd actually seen Kelvin on the big screen a few times before I met him.

The first time i'd seen him was in Peter Wang's comedy ' A Great Wall' which followed a Chinese American family making the journey to Beijing in 1986 to visit their relatives. Its a very enjoyable movie, and i was really impressed by the character Liu Yida, played by a young actor named Wong Siu who bore a striking resemblence to John Lone.

I had also been impressed in his later turns in both ' Triads: The Inside Story' and his memorable role in the under-rated ' Runaway Blues', where he plays a sharp suited English speaking Mainland Chinese gangster who has come to Hong Kong in search of a better life.

I was introduced to him by Jeff Falcon while he was making Johnnie To's ' Casino Raiders 2', and shortly before he began work on ' Police Story 3: Supercop'  where he played the youngest member of the crime family that Chan & Michelle Yeoh infiltrate. We became firm friends and he took me under his wing as a friend, a mentor and a big brother watching out for me, giving me advice and helping me to find my way.

I got to spend a lot of time on set with him on such films as 'Moon Warriors' where he played the villainous 14th Prince, opposite Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung & Anita Mui, ' Man of the Times', ' Lord of East China Sea 1 & 2' which saw me travelling to Shanghai as his guest, and such projects as 'High Risk' where he was the evil Doctor, and the utterly non-pc but great fun  ' Don't Give A Damn' and ' Best of the Best' a Cat 3 comedy.

Sadly we lost contact for a few years, when we both got busy with other things, but we still managed to keep in contact on a semi regular basis, and then a few years ago he was developing a project and suddenly he dropped out of sight and i had my concerns, and sadly today i was meeting with a producer about another project, and Kelvin's name came up, and i was given the news that he had passed away.

Kelvin Wong, was a very under-rated actor, and director (he helmed several TV series for Chinese TV) and above all a great friend and brother, and his memory shall be respected and live on.

Tonight lets raise a glass my friends, to those who didnt make it. Here's a toast to Kelvin Wong (Wong Siu), my friend, my brother....thanks for everything

謝謝大哥的一切，我將永遠記住你

I always thought of Kelvin whenever i heard the theme from " Runaway Blues' sung by Wang Chieh, its a haunting theme to a very solid movie, and remember Kelvin singing this at karaoke a few times.....If you watch 'A Great Wall' you also get a chance to see one of Kelvin's other skills coming into play, his ability to sing Italian opera.....

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cbf9np2dTg&feature=related