Lam Pou-chuen (; 10 October 1951 – 2 January 2015) was a

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 ...

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

who was best known for voicing the character

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

for the Hong Kong version of the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

for over thirty years in addition to being the Cantonese voice of

Sammo Hung Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a figh ...

in many of his dubbed blockbusters.

Life

Lam was born in

Portuguese Macau Macau was under Portuguese Empire, Portuguese rule from the establishment of the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 until its Handover of Macau, handover to China in 1999. It comprised the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of ...

but moved to Hong Kong as a teenager. He first worked as an office boy for a bank, but after being impressed by the voice acting of

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

he applied to be a voice actor at Hong Kong's

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 ...

in 1971. Lam voiced the title character for ''Doraemon'' since the very first episode was broadcast by TVB in 1981. He continued to be the voice of Doraemon throughout the decades, only being briefly replaced in 1992 when he went over to the rival station

Asia Television Asia Television Limited (, also known as ATV) is a digital media and broadcasting company in Hong Kong. Established as the first television service in Hong Kong as Rediffusion Television () on 29 May 1957, it shifted to terrestrial televis ...

for a short period. Lam's continuous involvement sets Hong Kong's ''Doraemon'' apart from the original Japanese production which went through a re-launch in 2005, resulting in a complete change of voice cast. Lam and other cast members at the time reprised their roles when TVB started to broadcast the new 2005 series. Like his Japanese counterpart, the actor's Doraemon voice is instantly recognisable in Hong Kong and from time to time appears on variety shows and TV commercials. Other prominent roles in animation that Lam had voiced include

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

Amuro Ray is a fictional character introduced in Sunrise (studio), Sunrise's 1979 anime series ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. As the first protagonist in the franchise, Amuro is a mechanic who becomes the pilot of the mecha known as RX-78-2 Gundam to protect h ...

in ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also retrospectively known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Na ...

'', Genzo Wakabayashi in ''

Captain Tsubasa is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi. The series mainly revolves around the sport of association football focusing on Tsubasa Oozora and his relationship with his friends, rivalries with ...

'', Hiei in ''

Yu Yu Hakusho is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Togashi. It tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a teenage delinquent who is struck and killed by a car while saving a child's life. After several tests presented to him ...

'' and

Squirtle Squirtle (), known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was designed by Atsuko Nishida. Its name was changed from Zenigame to Squirtle during the English localization of the series in orde ...

in ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

''. Outside animation, he was also the voice of the corrupt

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

official

Heshen Heshen (; ; 1 July 1750 – 22 February 1799) of the Manchu Niohuru clan, was an official of the Qing dynasty. Favored by the Qianlong Emperor, he was described as the most corrupt official in Chinese history, having acquired an estimated 1.1 ...

in the 2001 Chinese television series '' The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan'', which remained his favourite role. He was also the usual voice for

and

George Clooney George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist. Known for his leading man roles on screen in both blockbuster and independent films, Clooney has received numerous accolades, including two Ac ...

in Cantonese dubs of their films. Lam died at the age of 63 on 2 January 2015 in Hong Kong. He was suddenly felt into coma and reported to have been found unconscious at home. Finally, he was confirmed dead with

Myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at Nethersole Hospital. He was known to be suffering from

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

which might be caused heart attack . His last work was the 3D feature film ''

Stand by Me Doraemon is a 2014 Japanese animated science fiction comedy-drama film based on the ''Doraemon'' manga series and directed by Ryūichi Yagi and Takashi Yamazaki. It was released on 8 August 2014. It is the highest-grossing film of the Doraemon franchise ...

'', which had yet to be released in Hong Kong at the time of his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Pou-chuen 1951 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Hong Kong male actors 20th-century Macau people 21st-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century Macau people Deaths from cardiomyopathy Doraemon Hong Kong male voice actors Macau emigrants to Hong Kong