I grew up on Bruce Lee and the Shaw Bros kung fu flicks -- Kuo Chui (mostly known as playing "Lizard" in Five Deadly Venoms") is also a favorite, as well as Jet Li, Tony Jaa, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao...but my all-time favorite is Sammo Hung.
He was in Enter the Dragon -- the fighter Lee takes on in the beginning of the flick -- and starred in the merely okay Martial Law TV series, but way before that he earned his name almost single-handedly reinventing kung fu cinema with such films as Magnificent Butcher, Prodigal Son and more kung fu flicks than I can count. He was Jackie Chan's "big brother" when they were in the Peking Opera school, and though he's acrobatic and does his own stunts, he's primarily known for his expertise in just about any style of martial arts you can think of, and he's considered a master stunt coordinator, fight choreographer and action director in HK.
And, rumors persist that he and Lee got into it for real on the set of Enter the Dragon -- just a friendly sparring practice behind closed doors -- and that Hung came out smiling. Just a rumor, but, I tend to believe it. But Hung himself was a big Lee fan, and paid his respects in the movie Enter the Fat Dragon where he plays a country boy enamored with Lee who moves to the big city. And his impression is spot-on.
There's a reason they call him the fastest fat man alive; he's a tubby dude, that's for sure, but check out Pedicab Driver, Knockabout, Eastern Condors, My Lucky Stars...hell, just about any movie he's ever done and you'll see just how good this dude is. Modern kung fu cinema owes a lot to this guy.
Oh, and he also made Mr. Vampire and Encounters of the Spooky Kind -- two of the craziest horror/kung fu flicks ever.
