Betty Lai Siu-man, also known by her stage name Ban Ban and previously as Bun Bun, is a semi retired Hong Kong actress and singer.

Background

Lai was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

on 23 June 1953. she is of Meixian and

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

ancestry. Her elder sister is Sylvia Lai Sui-pun. In 1966, Lai, her elder sister, and the other four male singers formed a musical band named ''BumbleBee'' to promote their traffic and road safety song in Hong Kong. In 1967, She took the stage name previously as Bun Bun (), but soon changed to Ban Ban (), while her sister took the stage name of Sum Sum (). In 1972, Ban Ban and Sum Sum formed a musical duo called Sum Sum Ban Ban (), and both hosted in the variety show ''

Enjoy Yourself Tonight ''Enjoy Yourself Tonight'' or ''EYT'' is a popular variety show that was produced in British Hong Kong. It first aired on TVB Jade on 20 November 1967. The show lasted 27 years with its last broadcast on Friday, 7 October 1994. During the 1980s ...

'' () in 1973. In 1979, they released their first studio album ''Star, Moon, Sun'' (). In 1983, Ban Ban gained her first acting role in the

TVB Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB; zh, t=電視廣播有限公司) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong. The company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Canton ...

wuxia ( , literally "martial arts and chivalry") is a genre of Chinese literature, Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fantasy literature, its popularity ha ...

drama ''

The Legend of the Condor Heroes ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' () is a wuxia novel by Chinese writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the first part of the ''Condor Trilogy'' and is followed by ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'' and ''The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber''. I ...

'', gaining her some fame to receive future acting and hosting roles. She and Sum Sum left TVB to join

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

to further pursuit their acting and singing careers. In 1985, she was invited by

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

to host its New Year's Gala. Ban Ban was married to actor

Austin Wai Austin Wai Tin-chi (13 August 1957 – 4 October 2012) was a Hong Kong actor and choreographer. He was the elder brother of actress Kara Wai. He had notable roles in the martial arts films like ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'', '' 5 Superfighter ...

in 1996, and they have a son, Wai Kin-ho (). She starred her last role in ''Forever Love Song'' () before leaving the entertainment industry in 2000. Lai and Wai divorced in the following year and her son left with her. She allowed her son to be filial to his father. In October 2012, Lai was notified of her ex-husband Wai's death; she signed in grief and said life is unpredictable. She later starred in her minor role as Madam Shen () in the 2015 Chinese television drama ''Fu Rong Jin'' ().

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ban, Ban 1953 births Living people Hong Kong people of Hakka descent People from Meixian District Hong Kong film actresses Hong Kong television actresses 20th-century Hong Kong actresses 20th-century Hong Kong women singers Cantopop singers Hong Kong Mandopop singers