Yuen Siu-Tien 袁小田 - stuntman - actor - martial arts director

Yuen Siu-Tien 袁小田 was born in Beijing in 1912 where he became an expert of Beijing Opera 京劇 specialized in Martial Roles or Wusheng 武生. In 1937, Yuan Siu-Tian went to Hong Kong invited by the popular Cantonese Opera 粵劇 star Sit Kok-Sin 薛覺先 and was responsible for directing the 'Northern Style' 北派 martial art scenes within Cantonese Opera of that time.

In 1939, Yuen Siu-Tien joined the film industry to work as a stunt double. He would often serve as a stand-in for female movie stars. In the late 40s, he started to be credited as an actor as well as a martial arts director. By the late 50s, he was also working as guest master in some of the Beijing Opera schools of Hong Kong, such as the Chinese Drama Academy 中國戲劇學院 led by Yu Jim-Yuen 于占元, where he and his older sons would join the class.

In the 60s, Yuen Siu-Tien became an important figure of the classic Wong Fei-Hung 黃飛鴻 film series, playing a myriad of secondary roles, showing off his 'Northern Style' stunts on the screen, crossing hands and weapons with the famed actors Kwan Tak-Hing 關德興 and Shek Kin 石堅 countless times. In 1970, Yuen Siu-Tien retired from the stage and passed on his skills to his successors, who formed the famous Yuen Clan 袁家班.

In 1977, Yuen Siu-Tien acted in the famous films Drunken Master 醉拳 and Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow 蛇形刁手 and unexpectedly became very famous. His personification of Beggar So 蘇乞兒 became highly popular and a trademark for others to imitate. After that, he still managed to perform in a good number of films until his last days.

Yuen Siu-Tien died in Hong Kong in 1979, right before the film Magnificent Butcher 林世榮 was about to be produced. His character was replaced by veteran actor Fan Mui-Sang 樊梅生.

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