Raymond Chow, legendary Hong Kong producer who found Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan dies at 91

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Raymond Chow (鄒文 懐), producer of dozens of classics from Hong Kong who found Bruce Lee, dies at age 91.

Edward Yau, Hong Kong’s economic development secretary, said that Chow created a group of Hong Kong talents and took them to the international stage.

Chow was a journalist who became a publicist for the famous Shaw Brothers Studios, which produced countless films and helped popularize the genre of kung fu action films.

In 1979, frustrated by the low quality of the film, he founded the Golden Harvest Company.

The new studio was a great success when he took Bruce Lee in 1971, after seeing him on a Hong Kong television program.

Golden Harvest had a contract signed by Bruce Lee for three films, which broke the local box office.

The three films were followed by Enter the Dragon, the first martial arts film produced by a Hollywood studio, Warner Bros. It cost $ 500,000 and earned over 40 million.

Lee died a few days before the release of the film in 1973.

The void left by Lee, was filled a few years later, in 1978, by a former stuntman. His name was Jackie Chan.

Chan’s first hit was the Drunken Master movie. Later on Chow and Chan made numerous films that made Chan a super star in Asia.