Clarence Fok
Clarence Fok Yiu-leung (Chinese: 霍耀良; Jyutping: fok3 jiu6 loeng4; 10 June 1955 – 1 February 2024) was a Hong Kong film director and actor. He was perhaps best known for directing the international cult classic Naked Killer (1992).[1]
Life and career
Fok was born in 1955 in Hong Kong.[2] He graduated from the Department of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.[3] He received training as a production assistant at Rediffusion Television in 1978, gaining television production credits on In Cold Blood (1980).[3][4] The following year, he joined TVB, where he helped write and direct several series including The Passenger (1979), The Bund (1980), and Five Easy Pieces (1980).[3][4]
Fok started directing feature-length films while at TVB. His first released movie was Job Hunter (失業生, 1981), a youth drama starring Leslie Cheung and Danny Chan.[3] His next project, The Man from Vietnam (1982), was his actual directorial debut completed two years prior.[3]
He was once asked by producer Mario Kassar to direct Basic Instinct 2.[5][6]
On 1 February 2024, Fok died at the Shatin Hospital in Hong Kong. He had been reportedly living with kidney cancer and heart disease.[7] His death was announced in March 2025 by Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers spokesperson Tin Kai-man, who had received word from Fok's family about his death the previous month.[8]
Awards
Fok was nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Let's Make Laugh II (1985).
Filmography
As director
- Special ID (2013)
- Dating a Vampire in Bed (2006)
- Don't Open Your Eyes (2006)
- Martial Angels (2001) (as Clarence Ford)
- Snakeheads (2001)
- Queen of Kowloon (2000)
- Don't Look Back... Or You'll Be Sorry in Bed (2000) (as Clarence Ford)
- Century of the Dragon (1999)
- The H.K. Triad (1999)
- Her Name Is Cat (1998) (as Clarence Ford)
- Cheap Killers (1998)
- On Fire (1996)
- Thunder Cop (1996)
- Passion (1995)
- The Black Panther Warriors (1993) (as Clarence Ford)
- Remains of a Woman (1993)
- Naked Killer (1992)
- Gun n' Rose (1992)
- Crying Freeman: Dragon from Russia (1990)
- Chicken à la Queen (1990)
- The Iceman Cometh (1989)
- They Came to Rob Hong Kong (1989)
- The Greatest Lover (1988)
- Before Dawn (1984)
- Wrong Wedding Trail (1984)
- On the Wrong Track (1983)
- Job Hunter (1981)
As actor
- Body Weapon (1999)
- Project A, Part II (1987) (as Clarence Fok)
- Enchanting Night (1987)
- Armour of God (1987) - Singer
- Let's Make Laugh II (1985)
- Police Story (1985)
Notes
References
- ^ Strauss, Neil (19 June 2009). "Hong Kong Film: Exit the Dragon?". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
- ^ Stokes & Braaten 2020, p. 152.
- ^ a b c d e "Clarence Fok biography" (PDF). Hong Kong Film Archive. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ^ a b "《赤裸羔羊》導演霍耀良病逝 罹患腎癌心臟病 終年68歲". Ming Pao. 7 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ^ Source: interview on Naked Killer DVD
- ^ "Asia-AICN #24: Player of All Players; Time & Tide; Journey to the West; Last Scene; What I Need..." Ain't It Cool News. 28 September 2000. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ^ 許 Hui, 育民 Yuk-min (6 March 2025). "導演霍耀良逝世終年68歲 《赤裸羔羊》大尺度海報掀話題" [Film director Clarence Fok dies at age 68: The large-scale posters of Naked Killer stirred conversations]. HK01 (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ^ Lin, Edith (6 March 2025). "Tributes paid as death of Hong Kong director Clarence Fok belatedly confirmed". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
Cited literature
- Stokes, Lisa Odham; Braaten, Rachel (2020). "Ford, Clarence (Fok Yiu-leung) (1960–)". In Woronoff, Jon (ed.). Historical Dictionary of Hong Kong Cinema. Historical Dictionaries of Literature and the Arts (2nd ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-2062-0. LCCN 2019039260.
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External links
- Clarence Fok at IMDb