Mr David Chiang

1947-

Actor

Actor David Chiang, né Keung Wai Nin, was born to actor parents Yan Hua and Hong Wei. He became a child actor from the age of four, appearing in Little Angel of the Streets (1957) and Young Vagabond (1958) among other films under the screen name Yan Wei. He changed his name to David Chiang starting with Street Boys (1960). In 1965, he began training as a martial arts extra under action choreographer Lau Kar Leung, and subsequently worked as a stuntman and extra. During the shooting of Golden Swallow (1968), his consummate skills and professionalism impressed director Chang Cheh, who subsequently cast him in the leading role in The Wandering Swordsman (1970), a film tailor-made for him. In 1970, he was named Best Actor at the Asian Film Festival for Vengeance. Chiang also played key roles in action and martial arts titles such as Have Sword, Will Travel (1969), The Heroic Ones (1970), The New One-armed Swordsman (1971), The Blood Brothers (1973) and The Generation Gap (1973). The Empress Dowager (1975) saw him departing from his heroic persona to play a young eunuch. Chiang is also a filmmaker, and his credits include The Legend of the Owl (1981), Silent Love (1986) and The Wrong Couples (1987).