Yuen Shun-yi
| Sunny Yuen Shun-yi | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | 袁信义 |
| Chinese name | 袁信義 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 袁信义 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Yuán Xìn Yì (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | Jyun4 Seon3ji6 (Cantonese) |
| Pe̍h-ōe-jī | Oân Sìn Gī (Hokkien) |
| Ancestry | Shanghai, China |
| Born |
12 June 1953 Beijing, China |
| Other name(s) | Yuen San-yee |
| Occupation | Martial arts actor |
| Parents | Yuen Siu-tien |
| Also known as | Ugly Yuen |
| Yuen Shun-yi | |||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 袁信义 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 袁信義 | ||||||||||||||||
| Hanyu Pinyin | Yuán Xìn Yì | ||||||||||||||||
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Sunny Yuen Shun-yi, also credited as Shun-Yee Yuen (born 12 June 1953) is an Chinese actor, stuntman and stunt coordinator. He is the brother of Yuen Woo-ping and Yuen Cheung-yan. He is also the son of Simon Yuen Siu-tien.
Early life
In his early life, he was born in Beijing, China. He began training martial arts and Kung Fu with his father Simon Yuen Siu-tien at an early age. In his early life, he also appeared in some movies with Hong Kong famous actors.
History
Yuen joined the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School in Hong Kong, in 1961. He was enrolled for a period of seven years, beginning at the age of 9, after his grandparents heard about the school from their friends. The opera school was run by Master Yu Jim Yuen and as was customary for all students, Yuen adopted the given name of his sifu as his family name whilst attending. At the age of 14, Yuen was selected by a teacher who had connections to the Hong Kong film industry to perform stunts on a movie.
This brief foray into the industry piqued his interest in film and he took particular interest in the operation of film cameras.As the eldest of the troupe, Hung would give his opera school brothers pocket money from his earnings, endearing him greatly to his young friends. Shortly before leaving the Academy at the age of 16, Yuen suffered an injury that left him bedridden for an extended period, during which time his weight ballooned.
Among the exercises featured in the film are numerous acrobatic backflips, and hours of handstands performed against a wall. Despite some of the more brutal exercises and physical punishments shown in Painted Faces, Yuen and the rest of the Seven Little Fortunes consider the film a toned-down version of their actual experiences.
Acting career
In 1970, Yuen began working for Raymond Chow and the Golden Harvest film company.[4] He was initially hired to choreograph the action scenes for the very first Golden Harvest film, The Angry River (1970).[7] His popularity soon began to grow, and due to the quality of his choreography and disciplined approach to his work, he again caught the eye of celebrated Taiwanese director, King Hu. Hung choreographed two of Hu's films, A Touch of Zen (1971) and The Fate of Lee Khan (1973).
As Yuen's fame grew, he used his newly found influence to assist his former China Drama Academy classmates, as well as the former students of "rival" school, The Spring and Autumn Drama School. Aside from regular collaborations with Chan, others such as Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Lam Ching-ying and Mang Hoi also began to make regular appearances in his films.