Line #43 Creator/JimmyWangYu


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jimmy_4.PNG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Yes, he still has both of his arms.]]
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4	Jimmy Wang Yu (王羽; born Wang Zhengquan; March 28, 1943 -- April 5, 2022) was a Hong Kong-Taiwanese actor, director and film producer, most popular in the west for his role as the eponymous character in the ''Film/OneArmedSwordsman'' movies as well as ''Film/MasterOfTheFlyingGuillotine''.
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6	Born in a rich family, Wang had a long and colorful life, on and off-screen. Prior to landing his career as an actor, he served in the National Revolutionary Army and was a champion swimmer and athlete. At age 24, Wang landed his StarMakingRole, ''The One Armed Swordsman'', and quickly made himself a popular name amongst the various mega-stars in Creator/ShawBrothers' roster of action icons, most prominently in {{Wuxia}} films.
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8	Wang made his directorial debut with ''The Chinese Boxer'', which is often cited as the defining martial arts film responsible for launching the unarmed combat genre, notably involving overpowered main characters (since in the film, Wang is frequently shown killing people with his bare hands just by punching and kicking), and initiating a phenomenon that filled the ranks of many Chinese martial arts associations across Southeast Asia. But due to Wang's rising popularity, he decided to jump ship from Shaw Brothers, causing said studios to completely blacklist him from making films in Hong Kong. At this point, Golden Harvest studios sees this as an opportunity to hire Wang into their ranks, with Wang's first film he made for Golden Harvest, ''Film/OneArmedBoxer'' combining elements from both ''One Armed Swordsman'' and ''The Chinese Boxer''.
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10	Once the highest paid martial arts film actor prior to Creator/BruceLee, Wang Yu's many controversies and celebrity scandals made him a media sensation, from his lawsuit with Shaw Brothers (due to the above-mentioned contract breaking), his connections to organized crime, to him allegedly killing a man in a nightclub brawl (Wang was acquitted on all counts due to lack of evidence) and his affair with actress Jeanette Lin Chui, who was seven years his senior and resulting in Lin Chui's husband committing suicide.
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12	After retiring from the action film industry Wang only occasionally made public appearances in the news media for interviews or talks.
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14	Jimmy Wang was married twice and had three daughters; the eldest is Linda Wong, who is a singer.
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16	According to Creator/ScreenRant, Jimmy Wang-yu is still the '''[[https://screenrant.com/deadliest-action-stars-body-count-ranked/ deadliest film actor of all time]]''', whose onscreen bodycount reaches up to 2477 victims. The accuracy of its source still remains to be confirmed.
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18	Jimmy Wang Yu tragically died on 5th April 2022 aged 79 in a Taipei hospital; he had been in delicate health ever since his second stroke in December of 2015.
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20	----
21	!! Tropes related to this performer
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23	* BadassInANiceSuit: Some of his films set in contemporary era will have him in a tux.
24	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: Three of Jimmy's movies are titled ''The Invincible'', ''The Sword'', and ''The Invincible Sword''. No, he didn't play the same character in either film.
25	* GoodOldFisticuffs: Uses his fists often in ass-kicking roles.
26	* OneArmedWarrior: Jimmy practically ''popularized'' this trope in ''wuxia'' cinema after starring in the original ''One Armed Swordsman'', to the point where he reprises the role in two sequels and later plays different, one-armed swordfighters in a '''ton''' of movies.
27	* OneManArmy: In 9 out of 10 of his films, Jimmy Wang-yu gets to butcher his way through waves and waves of faceless mooks. This happens in ''Trail Of The Broken Blade'', ''The Assassin'', ''Golden Swallow'', ''The Sword Of Swords'', ''Return Of The One-Armed Swordsman'', ''The Chinese Boxer'', ''The Professional Killer'', ''The Desperate Chase'', ''Rage Of The Tiger'', ''Boxers Of Loyalty And Righteousness'', ''Invincible Sword'' ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrLOyRuebe8 he killed 286 people... onscreen]]), ''Bloody Struggle'', ''Fury Of King Boxer'', ''The Brave And The Evil''... we could spend the whole day making this list, but let's just move on.
28	* RemakeCameo: In ''Swordsman'' starring Creator/DonnieYen, a remake of ''Film/OneArmedSwordsman''.
29	* {{Wuxia}}: Most of the films he made with Shaw Brothers.
30	* TheTriadsAndTheTongs: Wang was an associate, if not an outright made man, of the 'Bamboo Union' Taiwanese triad. He was convicted in 1975 of the wrongful death of two rival Triads, and was charged (but eventually acquitted) of ordering a hit in 1981, allegedly in retaliation for an assassination attempt.
31	** Wang also claimed in a [[https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/10/17/2003383531 2007 interview]] that a high-ranking official in the Taiwanese military dictatorship had unsuccessfully solicited him, in his capacity as a Triad, for the murder of an opposition politician in 1979.
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33	----
34	!! Jimmy Wang Yu's selected filmography
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36	* ''Film/TempleOfTheRedLotus'': a trilogy of martial arts movies made by Shaw Brothers, with Wang starring in all three of them
37	* ''Film/OneArmedSwordsman'': StarMakingRole
38	* ''Film/TheAssassin1967''
39	* ''Film/AsiaPol''
40	* ''Film/GoldenSwallow''
41	* ''Film/TrailOfTheBrokenBlade''
42	* ''Film/TheSwordOfSwords''
43	* ''Film/ReturnOfTheOneArmedSwordsman''
44	* ''Film/ZatoichiMeetsTheOneArmedSwordsman''
45	* ''Film/AManCalledTiger''
46	* ''Film/TheMagnificentTrio''
47	* ''Film/TheChineseBoxer'': Also director
48	* ''Film/OneArmedBoxer'': Also director
49	* ''Film/MasterOfTheFlyingGuillotine'' - also director
50	* ''Film/TigerAndCraneFists'': Best known as the movie that got {{gag dub}}bed into ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist''. He also was the director.
51	* ''Film/TheInvincible''
52	* ''Film/TheSword''
53	* ''Film/TheInvincibleSword''
54	* ''Film/TheDeadlySilverSpear''
55	* ''Film/BloodOfTheDragon'' also known as ''The Desperate Chase''
56	* ''Film/TheBraveAndTheEvil'': Also director
57	* ''Film/BoxersOfLoyaltyAndRighteousness'' also known as ''Shogun Saints''
58	* ''Film/BeachOfTheWarGods'': Also director
59	* ''Film/TheGallantDuo'': A {{Wuxia}} with similarities to ''Film/{{The Killer\|1989}}'', where an assassin (Wang) and an Imperial inspector joins forces to take down a common enemy
60	* ''Film/FuryOfTheKingBoxer''
61	* ''Film/FuriousSlaughter'' and its sequel, ''Bloody Struggle''
62	* ''Film/OneArmedSwordsmen''
63	* ''Film/OneArmedSwordsmanVsNineKillers''
64	* ''Film/OneArmedChivalry''
65	* ''Film/TheProfessionalKiller''
66	* ''Film/RageOfTheMaster'': The climax of this film may have inspired ''Film/KillBill'', with Wang fighting a hundred mooks simultaneously in a setting that resembles House of Blue Leaves
67	* ''Film/RoyalFist''
68	* ''Film/OneBodySpellsCourage'': An AnthologyFilm consisting of three mini-stories set in different time periods (1970s Shanghai, the Ming Dynasty and 1930s China during the revolution). Wang gets to play ''all three roles''.
69	* ''Film/TheManFromHongKong''
70	* ''Film/OnceUponATimeInChina''
71	* ''Film/IslandOfFire''
72	* ''Film/Beheaded1000''
73	* ''Film/{{Requital}}''
74	* ''Film/AQueensRansom'': From the same studios that made ''The Man from Hong Kong'' above, reuniting Wang with Creator/GeorgeLazenby
75	* ''Film/FantasyMissionForce''
76	* ''Film/MillionairesExpress''
77	* ''Film/{{Swordsmen}}'': A remake of ''One Armed Swordsman'', with Wang's role as a RemakeCameo

Context Creator / JimmyWangYu