Veteran actor Tsang found dead in quarantine hotel

Veteran actor Kenneth Tsang Kong died yesterday in a quarantine hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, where he was isolated after flying in from Singapore on Monday. He was 87.

Sources said Tsang tested negative for Covid on Tuesday.

The actor's ex-wife, Barbara Tang King-pik, said Tsang had told their daughter he felt unwell on Tuesday night and asked her to deliver medicine to him in Kowloon Hotel on Nathan Road.

Tsang's son-in-law dropped the medication at the reception, Tang said, adding she did not know if they were delivered to his room.

"[Yesterday morning] my daughter called him and he didn't answer, so we asked [hotel staff] to knock on his door," Tang told a television interview. "No one answered after 15 minutes. We requested them to open the door but they said they had to ask the Department of Health."

Tang said when the department instructed hotel staff to enter the room, they found Tsang lifeless.

An autopsy will be conducted.

It is understood that Tsang had been on a solo trip to Malaysia and Singapore to meet friends.

He suffered from hypertension and had to take medication to control his blood pressure. He also used a walking stick.

Tsang was born Tsang Koon-yat in Shanghai in 1934. His family moved to Hong Kong in 1949. He could speak fluent English and starred in many local and Hollywood movies in a career that spanned more than 60 years.

He joined show business when he was a secondary five student, but he felt he was an incompetent actor and eventually pursued a degree in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.

After graduation he returned to Hong Kong and worked for several years as an architect.

But Tsang found the job boring and returned to acting.

Since the 1960s, Tsang starred in more than 100 movies, including Hollywood box-office hits Rush Hour 2 in 2001 and Die Another Day in 2002.

He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2016 for his role in local movie Overheard 3. He was honored as "the nation's favorite movie and television star" in the Huading Awards in 2014 and received a lifetime achievement award in Chicago's Asian Pop-Up Cinema festival in 2019.

Tsang became a household name for his performance in TVB dramas, including The Legend of the Condor Heroes in 1983 and The Final Verdict in 1988.

Another Tsang signature was a TV advertisement for Japanese hair-dye brand Bigen, which he shot in 1976 and is still being aired up to now.

In 2015, he starred in TVB's variety show Four Amigos Bon Voyage - with fellow veteran actors Bowie Woo Fung, Patrick Tse Yin and Joe Junior. It was about four elderly men traveling.

Tsang was married three times. His first wife was the late actress Lan Di, with whom he had a son. They parted ways after 10 years of marriage.

Tsang's daughter with Tang was a columnist and model. The couple divorced after being together for 10 years.

In 1994, Tsang married Taiwanese actress Lisa Chiao Chiao.

Tsang's younger sister was Jeanette Tsang Yi-cheng, a famous actress with the stage name Jeanette Lin Chui.

Lin's daughter is singer-actress Linda Wong Hing-ping, who is now in Taiwan for her father Jimmy Wang Yu's memorial service today. He passed away in Taipei earlier this month.

Wong said she was shocked and saddened by her uncle's passing.

Tributes have poured in for Tsang. Joe Junior said Tsang was like a big brother to him and that he was in disbelief when he learned about his death.

Singer-actor Louis Koo Tin-lok said Tsang was a good actor across many generations.

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com