Lee Hoi-chuen

On 7th of February 1965, three days after his 64th birthday, Hoi-Chuen passed away. His demise came a week after the birth of Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee.

His body was taken to Seattle, United States of America, and buried at the ‘Lake View Cemetery’ in King County, Washington. His son, Bruce Lee, and grandson, Brandon Lee, have also been buried near his grave.

His sons, Bruce Lee and Robert Lee were his greatest legacy. Both his children contributed immensely to the world of cinema and music respectively.

Hoi Chuen Lee was born Lee Moon Shuen on 4th February, 1901 at Shangcunzhen, Guangdong, China. His father was Hou-Chen Lee and he grew up with his elder brother, Fun-li Lee.

Hoi Chuen Lee began his own family after marrying the gorgeous Grace Lee Ho and thereafter moved to Hong Kong. They had their first son on 23rd October, 1939 and named him Peter Jung Sum Lee.

The following year they travelled to San Francisco on a US tour for a Cantonese Opera Company. In 1940, while on tour, Grace gave birth to their second child who eventually grew up to become a famous martial art actor, Bruce Jun Fan Lee, better known as Bruce Lee.

When Bruce was three months old, the couple returned to their home town in Hong Kong. Eight years later on 16th December 1948, Grace and Hoi-Chuen were blessed with their third son, Lee Jun-Fai. He later came to be known as the lead vocalist of ‘The Thunderbirds’ band.

In his early twenties Hoi-Chuen took keen interest in theatre and operas. Blessed with a powerful voice and a classic vocal range, he was recruited into some of the most famous opera concerts and became an integral part of the industry.

With theatres and opera houses filling up owing to his talent, he met with Christine Marcella DeVillier and signed a management deal with her. What followed was a gradual entry into films and art movies.

Hoi-Chuen was a born performer and bagged a debut role in the Cantonese film ‘Robbing the Dead’ in 1939. He was cast in a supporting role in the film and acted alongside Li Haiquan, Lin Meinei and Zhu Puquan. The film was directed by Feng Zhigang.

After the film, Hoi-Chuen travelled to San Francisco for opera shows at the ‘Mandarin Theatre’ and returned after 15 months. Upon returning to Hong Kong he hardly received any film offers and thus continued to work in the theatre until 1947.

Around the time of the birth of Robert Lee, offers for films began pouring in for the Cantonese actor. In 1947, he worked in three hit movies ‘Christmas Tree’, ‘Hundreds of Birds Adoring a Phoenix’ and ‘Feed the Scholar’.

In 1948, he worked in ‘Wealth Is like a Dream’, ‘A Golden World’, ‘Five Rascals in the Eastern Capital Part 1 & 2’ and ‘The Outstanding One’ amongst many other films.

The following year he played Smallpox Hoi in ‘Full Happiness’, a fortune teller in ‘Trashy Heaven’, Chun Pak-Cheung in ‘Golden Turtle from Hell’ and Cheung Si-Ma in ‘Loosing the Red Sack’.

He became a famous actor by 1950 working in almost all hit films. He was cast in the King-fu colored movie ‘How Ten Heroes of Guangdong Slew the Dragon’ and took guest and supporting roles in ‘The Story of Tung Siu-Yen’ and ‘Life’s Blesing Complete.

In 1950, his performance was appreciated for his role as Hung Pak-Ho in ‘The Kid’, Chiang Ping in the film ‘The Haunt of the Eastern Capital’ and for the movie ‘The Net of Justice’.