Award-winning actor Chen Sung-young dies at 80
Taiwanese actor Chen Sung-young. CNA file photo
Taipei, Dec. 17 (CNA) Taiwanese actor Chen Sung-young (陳松勇), best known for his award-winning role in "A City of Sadness," passed away Friday at the age of 80.
The legendary actor had struggled with bad health for years, suffering a stroke in 2006 and later dealing with diabetes, kidney disease, and poor eyesight, and had appeared in a wheelchair in most of his public appearances in the past 15 years.
According to local media, he decided to die peacefully in the hospice care ward of Taoyuan Chang Gung Memorial Hospital rather than accept kidney dialysis, which doctors felt would keep him alive.
While Chen's name might not be well known to Western audiences, his face is instantly recognizable to fans of Hong Kong's action cinema.
He appeared alongside Jet Li (李連杰) in two of the Kung Fu star's movies, and starred next to award-winning Hong Kong actors Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) and Tony Leung (梁朝偉).
For his role in the film with Leung, "A City of Sadness (悲情城市)," Chen was named best actor at the 26th Golden Horse Awards in 1989, beating other contenders, including Jackie Chan (成龍).
Following Chen's win, Chan famously tried to "strangle" the late actor as a joke before taking the stage with him to get a chance to touch the award.
The two actors remained in touch after that, with Chen having a cameo in the Hong Kong actor's 1999 attempt at rom-com, "Gorgeous (玻璃樽)."
Chen officially retired from acting in the 2000s though he occasionally appeared on both the big and small screen until fairly recently, with his last onscreen appearance in 2015.
