Dean Shek

Early life

With ancestral roots from Tianjin, China, Shek was born on 17 October 1950 in Beijing, before moving to Hong Kong at the age of 3. There, he attended the Shung Tak Catholic English College before studying filmmaking, acting and voice acting at Shaw Brothers Studio's actors training program in 1968.

Acting

Shek began his career as a contracted actor at Shaw Brothers Studio in 1968, making his first brief appearance in the film Twin Blades of Doom (1969). He received more substantial roles at Shaws, in musicals such as The Singing Killer, romantic films including A Time For Love (1970), comedies such as The Human Goddess (1972) and martial arts films such as The Fists of Vengeance (1972).

Shek left Shaw Brothers in 1973. The same year, he appeared in Master with Cracked Fingers, the first film to feature Jackie Chan in a starring role. He made his directorial debut in 1975 with The Monk, and worked as assistant director on Black Alice (1975), A Queen's Ransom (1976), Iron Fisted Monk (1977).

Throughout the late 1970s, Shek continued to work with the likes of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung on period kung fu films including Broken Oath (1977), Warriors Two (1978), Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978), Drunken Master (1978), Odd Couple (1979) and Dance of the Drunk Mantis (1979).

Shek is credited as producer on 22 films, most of which were for the production company Cinema City & Films Co., which he co founded with Karl Maka and Raymond Wong in 1980. Throughout the 1980s, he appeared in action, crime and comedy films such as Aces Go Places and John Woo's A Better Tomorrow 2 (1987). He also directed four films during the period, which were The Perfect Wife?! (1983), A Family Affair (1984), Kung Hei Fat Choy (1985) and The Family Strikes Back (1986), which were all box office hits.

Final film and retirement from acting

Shek played his final role as Uncle Choi in the 1991 action film, The Raid.

In 1992, Shek retired from acting at the age of 42, after working as a producer in 1992 fantasy horror film, Angel Hunter.

Recently, Shek made a return to acting with a cameo appearance in the 2016 film, The Bodyguard, which is directed by and starring Sammo Hung, and also produced by and guest starring Andy Lau.

Personal life

In 1979, Shek married Taiwanese actress Lau Chun-yue. Shek's three main personal hobbies are cigar, golf and coffee.

After retiring from the film industry, Shek ventured into and found success in the real estate industry.