Simon Yam

Simon Yam (born 19 March 1955), also known as Yam Tat-wah (任達華), is a veteran Hong Kong-based actor and film producer. He received international acclaim for his performances in international film festival hits and box offices such as Naked Killer, SPL (aka Kill Zone), Election, Election 2 (aka Triad Election), Exiled, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, The Thieves.

Background

Yam started off as a model before becoming an actor in the mid 1970s. He then signed with the Hong Kong television network TVB, starring and co-starring in a number of television series prior to "apply his trades" in the film industry in 1987. His elder brother is Yam Tak-wing, a retired former Deputy Commissioner of Hong Kong Police.

Career

In 1989, he starred in the Japanese-Hong Kong co-production of Bloodfight. This was the first of its kind in which English was spoken throughout the entire film. In 1992, Yam gained critical acclaim for his role as the maniacal Judge in the crime film Full Contact, where he faced off in a bloody battle against Chow Yun-fat's character. In 1993, he starred as "Dhalsim" in the action-comedy film Future Cops, a parody of Street Fighter directed by Wong Jing. In 1996, Yam began his role as Chiang Tin-Sung, the leader of the Hung Hing triads in the first three instalments of the Young and Dangerous film series.