The work is well-known to everyone, and this veteran actor has passed away
According to online sources cited by multiple Hong Kong media on the 14th, Zhang Yingcai, a young Cantonese filmmaker, passed away alone in a nursing home on the afternoon of the 14th, without any family to accompany him, at the age of 88. Subsequently, senior voice actor Ding Yu confirmed the death of Zhang Yingcai, and Hong Kong writer Shen Xicheng also posted on social media, saying, "Zhang Yingcai has also left." This has attracted a large number of netizens to mourn.
Perhaps young audiences may be a bit unfamiliar with this name, but when they see this familiar face, they will think of Tai Bai Jin Xing in Journey to the West, Huang Mei Master in Tianlong Babu, Fang Zheng Fang Zhang in Xiaoao Jianghu, and those chivalrous dreams of wandering the world that were built by sitting in front of fans in childhood summers.
Zhang Yingcai plays the role of Master Huang Mei in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"
Formerly a young master of the Shaw family
Filming nearly 200 movies
In 1934, Zhang Yingcai was born in Hong Kong and studied at the Wah Yan College, where he was classmates with film actor Jin Lei.
At the age of only 16, he decided to enter the film industry and was admitted to Yongmao Film Company. At the same time, newly hired actors included the brothers Ruan Zhaohui, Luo Gong, Shangguan Yunhui, and Li Xiangning. Later, Yongmao Film Company was reorganized, and Zhang Yingcai switched to work at Shaw Brothers. In the 1960s, he began to venture into Shaw Brothers Cantonese films and became one of the leading young actors with his tall and handsome image, on par with Hu Feng, Lv Qi, and Xie Xian.
Zhang Yingcai has made nearly 200 movies throughout his life, and the one that propelled his acting career to its peak was the 1964 film "The Market Queen". This comedy tells the story of the wealthy son He Junhua falling in love with "The Market Queen" Ding Cuilan at first sight. Knowing that Lan does not like to socialize with the wealthy, he disguised himself as a chef and often went to the food stall to approach the beautiful woman. After several collaborations and interactions, their relationship grew stronger.
After that, Cantonese films declined, and Zhang Yingcai moved to TVB to develop and also worked as a voice actor. Due to his rich acting experience, he was equally adept at voice acting, fully dedicating himself to fully unleashing the characteristics of his characters.
In addition to working as an actor, Zhang Yingcai is also skilled in oil painting, and his paintings were used in the 1959 film "Love at Independence Bridge".
Zhang Yingcai played the role of Tai Bai Jin Xing in Journey to the West. TVB Drama Review Society Weibo
"The people and stars of that era have all left one by one."
In 2006, Zhang Yingcai officially retired after filming the TVB series "Full of Friends" and "Dad's Closure", fading out of the screen and living a retired life.
Zhang Yingcai's last appearance was a photo posted by Hong Kong actor Lin Jianming on social media in 2018. In the photo, besides Zhang Yingcai and his wife, there were also Miao Qiaowei, Louis Koo, Xie Tianhua, and others. At that time, although Zhang Yingcai had white hair, his spirit was not bad. Afterwards, there was little news about him.
Zhang Yingcai once had a dinner party with Gu Tianle and others. Hong Kong actor Lin Jianming's social media
After the news of Zhang Yingcai's passing was exposed, many netizens left messages in related news to mourn: "Childhood idol, go all the way well, always remember!" "Brother Cai's plays are beautiful, even when he gets old, he looks good when he's filming, and his voice acting is also very impressive." Some people also lamented: "The previous generation of celebrities have gone through a lot." "The people and stars of that era have all left one by one."
Ma Fengguo, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and President of the Hong Kong Membership Association of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, recalled that he had watched many films starring Zhang Yingcai when he was young. "He was a very popular artist in the Cantonese film era, especially in the black and white film era, making contributions to the film industry." Later, he joined the voice acting industry and provided voice acting for foreign TV dramas introduced to Hong Kong, "pioneering one of the voice acting TV dramas in Hong Kong." For Ma Fengguo's generation, this familiar voice has always accompanied them as they grew up.
Nowadays, generation after generation of seniors in the film and television industry are old and passing away, which is sad, but Ma Fengguo does not believe that the stars will dim from now on. After all, every era has different filmmakers working hard to create their own glory. In the 1960s, Cantonese films were flourishing, and more than a decade later, it became the world of Mandarin films. In the 1980s, the new wave was popular, and the film industry declined. In the blink of an eye, television dramas took over.
"Today is a new era, and whether we can create more glory depends on our own efforts," said Ma Fengguo.
