Bolo Yeung
楊斯
Hong Kong actor and bodybuilder, holder of the Mr. Hong Kong title for ten years, known as Bolo in Enter the Dragon (1973) and Chong Li in Bloodsport (1988).
Quick Facts
Hong KongBiography
Bolo Yeung, Chinese 楊斯 (Yeung Sze), was born on 3 July 1946 in Meizhou in Guangdong Province and moved to Hong Kong in his youth. He is an action film actor and bodybuilder.
He began training in martial arts, taijiquan and Wing Chun, at the age of ten. In 1970 he won the Mr. Hong Kong title in bodybuilding and held it for ten years. Thanks to his physique he received villain roles in films of the Shaw Brothers company.
He met Bruce Lee while shooting a cigarette commercial and they became close friends. He gained international fame in the role of “Bolo” in Enter the Dragon (1973) alongside Lee. In 1977 he debuted as a director with the film Fists of Justice.
In the West he was popularised further by the role of the villain Chong Li in Bloodsport (1988) alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme; the film, with a budget of 1.5 million dollars, became a box-office success. He also appeared in the Hollywood film Double Impact (1991) and with the director Jalal Merhi made Fearless Tiger (1991) and the Tiger Claws series. Sources give the number of his films differently, some over a hundred, others over forty. He lives in the USA and chairs the American Chinese Bodybuilding Federation.
Associated Martial Arts
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.