This is the 55th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.
An enduring name in Hong Kongโs entertainment industry, Adam Cheng Siu-chau has been a prominent actor and singer for the past five decades.
Beginning his career in the 1960s, he went on to make a name for himself as a suave leading man, particularly in wuxia period dramas. Among his most popular television shows are The Legend of the Book and the Sword (1976), The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber (1978) and Chor Lau-heung (1979).
For many people of his generation, it is Chengโs starring role in the series The Greed of Man (1992) that left the most lasting impression โ it even gave rise to a stock market phenomenon called the โTing Hai effectโ.
Born in 1947, Cheng was passionate about performing from a young age. As a teenager, he sang at a playground and was later noticed by a Hong Kong film studio. From there, he began playing supporting roles in various films, such as A Sweet Girl, The Black Killer and I Love A-Go-Go, all in 1967.
โIn those days, I only earned HK$50 a month,โ Cheng told the Post in 1979.