HKAPA

Mr Adam Cheng Chong-sai, born in Guangdong, discovered his passion for acting when he was young. In the 1960s, he was admitted to an acting course organised by a movie studio at the age of 16, and later joined Kun Fong Drama Troupe. In 1966, he participated in the Hong Kong Drama Competition, in which he won the Best Actor Award for his performance in Lost My Way. He was soon signed up by Kin Shing Movie Studio, and embarked on his performing career.

Mr Cheng joined TVB in 1970. He was initially assigned as a singer to perform in music programmes, and he released his debut album in 1971. Shortly afterwards, he started appearing in drama series. In 1973, Mr Cheng played his first leading role in Romance in the Rain, and also sang its theme song. This was the first time that a TVB drama series had a theme song of its own.

In 1976, Mr Cheng starred in TVB’s first long costume sword-play drama Book and Sword, in which he played a total of three roles (Chan Ka-lok, Chien Lung and Fuk Hong-on), each of which had its own different and distinctive personality. His brilliant performance in this challenging trilogy was pivotal to his career, earning him enormous popularity. Since then, he has starred in several more classics of this genre, including Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, Luk Siu-fung and Chor Lau-heung, establishing his well-mannered and genuine knight errant screen image. His decent and handsome look in period costume has captured the audience’s imagination.

Besides acting in costume sword-play dramas, Mr Cheng has also starred in many other well-received drama series, such as Vanity Fair, The Great Vendetta, Five Easy Pieces, The Final Verdict, The Greed of Man, Instinct and Cold Blood Warm Heart. He has brought many memorable characters to life on the television screen, playing businessmen, gentry and commoners with equal facility. One of his most memorable roles was that of the epic character Ding Hai in The Greed of Man, who was depicted as an insane stock market investor. Contrasting completely with his gentle screen image, this villain role went down a storm with the local audience, and became the talk of the town. The drama series, which was set against the backdrop of Hong Kong stock market, established itself as a classic in local television history, and became a household word.

Mr Cheng has appeared in over 70 local television drama series, 25 overseas television drama series and 65 movies. He is acclaimed as much for his singing as for his acting. He has sung numerous theme songs for drama series and has released dozens of albums. Mr Cheng also has a flair for dance. He has given several concerts and has performed with great success in musicals such as Cryano de Bergerac, The Dark Tales and Only You. Mr Cheng’s versatility, charisma and amicability are keys to his distinguished career.

A tireless learner, and gifted in many fields, Mr Cheng is a legendary actor and singer with a flair for mastering both ancient and modern characters. In 1971, Mr Cheng was named one of its Top Ten Television Stars by Overseas Chinese Daily News. Later in his career, he won numerous television and music awards. In 2006, he was awarded The Golden Needle Award at RTHK’s Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award. In 2012, he received The IFPI Hong Kong 45^th Anniversary Hall of Fame Award.