Kick'em In The Ghoulies

        Born 7th January 1952  - present  

                Hong Kong actor, martial artist, producer and director

 When your dealing with a icon of action cinema who has starred in over 75 films and been involved in over 250 films where do you start ?.

From the beginning I suppose!

Every one in the world now knows the name Sammo ,as soon as you here it you Know  people are talking about one of the most prolific martial art stars / Directors of our time.

Often referred to as 'The Portly Kicker'' one thing for sure his size does not stop  him being one of the most agile and competent martial artists on the planet , but i'm sure he wouldn't hurt you .

Born Hung Kam Po in Hong Kong, both of his parents worked as wardrobe artists in the local film industry and guardianship was thrust upon his grandparents.

Hung's ancestral hometown is Ningbo, Zhejiang Province.

His grandmother was archetypal martial-arts actress Chin Tsi-ang and his grandfather was film director Hung Chung-Ho. And it was his grandparents that enrolled Sammo in to Master Yuen Jim Yu Peking opera school after hearing about it from friends.

So from the age of nine sammo was enrolled for a period of seven years to study martial arts,acrobats,acting,singing and more.

It was here he met his life long brothers Jackie Chan /Yuen Biao / Yuen Wa and  Corey Yuen Kwei.

We all have heard of the grueling time the students at the school had with 18 hour training sessions , beatings and scraping to eat and clothing themselves.

At the age of 14 Sammo was selected by a teacher to do stunts for the Hong Kong film industry , it was this that sparked his interest with film and camera's .

The reason Sammo is so Heavy (being polite ,don't want Sammo coming round and beating me ) is that he got injured while at the school and could not train , his parents and grandparents brought him sweets and food to eat , he eventually put on weight and whilst there never lost it .

Sammo begun working in film from the early sixties and had starred in 30 wuxia films by 1974.But it was from 1970 when he started to work for Raymond Chow that Sammo would shine . He did the choreography for Golden Harvest 'Angry River' in 1970 and then 'A Touch of Zen '' for King Hu in 1971 and ''the Fate of Lee Khan'' in 1973.

Also around this time Sammo went to Korea to study Hapkido from a master there .

Remember he starred in two films with Angela Mao about Hapkido ,the first 'Lady Whirlwind' and the second 'Hapkido'. Also in 1973 he got to star in Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee , who he fought in the opening scene .

With the death of Lee in 1973 ,the gap left in the Hong Kong Cinema industry was huge and even though many imitators rose from behind the curtain , it was Sammo that would send Hong Kong Cinema in a new direction along with his brothers Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao and other new wave directors  like Yuen Woo Ping and John Woo.

He made the first Kung Fu comedy ''The Iron Fisted Monk'' in 1977. And was the main man behind getting ''The Game of Death ''(Bruce Lee's last film ) edited and together , filming new fight scenes and action directing ready for the cinema , at the request of Raymond Chow.

Game of Death was released in 1978. He then directed his second feature 'Enter the Fat Dragon in 1979 in which he plays a man that idolizes Bruce Lee, and does a fantastic impersonation of the Little Dragon. He used this in two further films , the brilliant Shanghai Express where he faces of against Cynthia Rothrock , and again in the comedy Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon who he starred with Karl Maka.

Sammo also made two films based on Wing Chun , The second film  starred his buddy and rival from the The Spring and  Autumn Drama school ( a rival Peking opera school in Hong Kong) the great late Lam Ching-Ying.

Warriors Two and Prodigal Son  are classic Old School flicks that show Wing Chun in a intricate manner. With Warriors Two Sammo starred alongside super Kicker Casonova Wong , who took on the role of a student in Wing Chun. 

Then came Prodigal Son with whom he starred with Lam Ching-Ying. The two played Wing Chun masters battling each other over who should teach a young student (Yuen Biao). The film was such a hit that it shot Yuen Biao to fame overnight along with Lam Ching-Ying who had been seen in the background of many films , but this was set to change due to Sammo.

Of note Lam Ching-Ying was close to Bruce Lee as well and was involved in all his films either as a character , assistant action director as well as being Bruce lee's personal assistant.

Still making films under the Bojon Label Sammo would make and star in Encounters of the Spooky kind 2, Slickers vs Killers , Pantyhose Hero and Don't Give a Damn in 1995.

But it was in 1991 that Sammo parted company with Golden Harvest after 21 years with the company.

Over the next few years Sammo would star and produce quite a few films but none of them would have the great spark that the 80's gave him , with the demise of D&B in 1992 a void was left for hard core action . Hong Kong action was becoming more mainstream now as people across the world started to look at these Asian made films.

So even though he dd action direct the likes of Ashes of Time and , Blade of Fury and Thunderbolt with Jackie Chan it was not till really in 1997 that Sammo would team up again with Jackie and direct him in 'Mr,Nice Guy ' Which was one of Jackie's more Western flavoured pictures and was a hit , plus the fact that the one man that can direct Jackie better then Jackie is Sammo Hung. 

After this he action directed the 6th in the series of Once upon a time in China, which saw the return of Jet Li in the role after he had left the series after making part 3.

He also action directed a couple of Jean Claude Van Damme films to in 97-98.

Since then Sammo  has been in demand ,he has either starred in or action directed or directed many films. He starred alongside JACKIE again in a brief role in Around the World in eighty Days action directed Jackie in the Medallion , a film penned by Bey Logan.

Action directed Stephen Chows Kung Fu hustle but was uncredited as he left the production before it was finished and Yuen Woo Ping finished of.

Add to that great films like Shao Pao Long and Fatal Move in 2005 and 2007 and it looks like there' no stopping him. 

Then with Ip Man he action directed Donnie Yen in one of his best films .Then starred in Kung Fu chefs with Vanness Wu,which i liked no matter what any body says ,i know it was more cooking then fighting ,but it was fun. Ip Man 2 , gave Sammo a Co-starring role as well as being the fight director.

Shorlty after this he starred in Ip man The Legend is Born where he plays the teacher of Ip Man , Chan Wah Shun.

Then you have not to forget Sammo has made some TV movies in China called the Dragon Laws series,which were filmed in 2003,and starred in Chinese TV series Wing Chun (2006) and Shaolin Temple ( 2008)

Sammo has been married twice and has three sons and a daughter all from his first marriage .

His first wife Jo was his child hood sweet heart from Martial arts training school and they were divorced in 1994.

He then married model and actress Joyce Mina Godenzi in 1995.

She had also starred in Sammo's films like Eastern Condors and had a short career in film with films like She Shoots Straight and License to Steal with Yuen Biao.

In August 2009 while filming Ip Man 2  Sammo fell ill and was taken to Hospital , after heart surgery he was released and resumed filming a short time after. The problem lay at Sammo's bad eating habits and love of Cigars. It looks like he will have to look after himself a bit better now as where would we be with out Sammo to watch over us.

Of course over the years Sammo has been behind the camera in his later years. 

He's constantly action directing the new wave of stars and empowering them with his Knowledge and wisdom.