Ken Lo

Early life

Lo was born in Laos in 19 March 1957. He eventually moved to Cambodia with his family but had to escape the Khmer rouge and move to Udon Thani, Thailand in 1975. Five years later, in 1980, he went to Hong Kong and worked as a tour guide. His idol was Bruce Lee which led him to practise Muay Thai and Taekwondo in Thailand. He won the freestyle fighting championships seven times so his chance finally came when he made his debut in Working Class (1985), which was directed by Tsui Hark and starred Sam Hui.

Career

In 1986, Lo met Jackie Chan in a disco in Hong Kong, where he was head of security, and Chan hired him as his own bodyguard. Lo not only became Chan's bodyguard but also acted in many martial arts films. One of his best known roles is "John", the main villain and right-hand man of the British ambassador in Drunken Master II (1994). in which he and Chan engaged in a protracted final fight; Lo stepped in when another actor was injured. That climactic ten-minute fight sequence has become legendary: film critic Roger Ebert called it "one of the most remarkably sustained examples of martial arts choreography ever filmed."

In 2005, Lo acted in the American action film Into the Sun (2005) with Steven Seagal, with whom he was involved in a fight scene. Lo is still very active in Hong Kong cinema.

Personal life

Lo married Hong Kong actress Lai Sok-yin (黎淑賢) and they have two sons. The couple divorced in 2006. His cousin Brian Yu has performed stunts for Mark Chao.