Wang Luoyong (; born 24 December 1958) is a Chinese actor who has appeared in American films. He first appeared in '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story'' as Ip Man. He had recently appeared in CCTV's ''

The Legend of Bruce Lee ''The Legend of Bruce Lee'' ('' Chinese'': 李小龍傳奇) is a 2008 Chinese biographical television series based on the life story of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. The 50-episode series was produced and broadcast by CCTV and began airing ...

'' as Shao Ruhai, a master of

Hung Ga Hung Ga Kuen (Cantonese) or Hongjiaquan (Mandarin) ( zh, 洪家拳, link=no, meaning "fist of the Hung family") - alternatively shortened as either Hung Ga () or Hung Kuen () - is an ancient southern Chinese martial art, which roots lie in th ...

and the first to train

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...

(played by

Danny Chan Danny Chan Pak-Keung (; 7 September 1958 – 25 October 1993) was a Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor. One of the first Cantopop idols in Hong Kong, he gained fame alongside performers Alan Tam, Anita Mui, and Leslie Cheung, who wer ...

). His character "Shao Ruhai" is partially based on

James Yimm Lee __NOTOC__ James Yimm Lee (January 31, 1920 – December 30, 1972) was an American martial arts pioneer, teacher, author, and publisher. James Lee is known for being a mentor, teacher and friend of Bruce Lee. Early life Lee was born on January 31 ...

. He is also the first Chinese

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

singer.

Early life and education

Wang was born in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

, on 24 December 1958, where his parents came to for participating in the construction of key projects. The art enlightenment teacher was his uncle, who taught Wang to play the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. In 1971, he forced to take part in the

Down to the Countryside Movement The Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement, often known simply as the Down to the Countryside Movement, was a policy instituted in the China, People's Republic of China between the mid-1950s and 1978. As a result of what he p ...

, and he was admitted to the Shiyan Peking Opera Troupe. In the troupe, due to he liked the sound of the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

in ''

Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy ''Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy'' ( Chinese: 智取威虎山; pinyin: Zhì Qǔ Wēi Hǔ Shān) is a Peking opera play and one of the eight model plays allowed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The plot is based on parts of the popul ...

'', he asked to learn to play it, and he was arranged to study in Hubei Song and Dance Troupe. During that time, he was admitted to

Wuhan Conservatory of Music The Wuhan Conservatory of Music () is a provincial public college in Wuhan, Hubei, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Hubei and sponsored by the Hubei Provincial People's Government. In 1958, the school's predecessor, Hubei Arts College ...

and learned to play the French horn, compose music and other skills. Later, he was accepted to

Shanghai Theatre Academy Shanghai Theatre Academy () is a municipal public college for dramatic art education in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. History On December 1, 1945, the Shanghai Municipal Experimental Drama ...

. After graduating in 1986, Wang pursued advanced studies in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He applied to study at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, but was not accepted because of his poor English. For living expenses, he had to do odd jobs to earn money, washing dishes, delivering takeout, weeding, etc. Later, he was admitted to the Department of Drama and Performance,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, earning a master's degree in 1989. After university, he was recruited by the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Acting career

Wang became widely known to audiences with ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

'' (1992). Since 1993, he played a number of minor roles in various television series including '' Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story'' (1993), ''

Vanishing Son III ''Vanishing Son'' is an American action television series that was part of Universal Television's Action Pack. Starting as a series of four television films in 1994, the full series of 13 episodes debuted in syndication on January 16, 1995. '' ...

'' (1994), ''

Daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunlig ...

'' (1996), ''

Rollerball Rollerball may refer to: * Rollerball pen, a type of ballpoint pen and ink * Roller ball (pointing device), a trackball-device invented by Ralph Benjamin * ''Rollerball'' (1975 film), a science fiction film based on the short story "Rollerball Mu ...

'' (2002), ''

Avatar Avatar (, ; ) is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means . It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearance" is sometimes u ...

'' (2004), and ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses d ...

'' (2006). Wang returned to China in 2001. In 2003, Wang appeared in ''Tracks In The Snow Forest'', based on Qu Bo's novel of the same name, as Yang Zirong. Wang starred as

Guo Jing Guo Jing is the fictional protagonist of the wuxia novel ''The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' by Jin Yong. He also appears as a supporting character in the sequel, ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', and is mentioned by name in ''The Heaven Sw ...

in the 2006

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 ...

television series ''

The Return of the Condor Heroes ''The Return of the Condor Heroes'', also called ''The Giant Eagle and Its Companion'', is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). It is the second part of the '' Condor Trilogy'' and was preceded by '' The Legend of the Condor Heroes'' and foll ...

'', adapted from Hong Kong novelist

Jin Yong Louis Cha Leung-yung (; 10 March 1924 – 30 October 2018), better known by his pen name Jin Yong (), was a Hong Kong wuxia novelist and co-founder of '' Ming Pao.'' Cha authored 15 novels between 1955 and 1972 and became one of the most pop ...

's novel of the same title. In 2008, he was cast as Shao Ruhai in ''

'', in which

Danny Chan Kwok-kwan Danny Chan Kwok-kwan (born 1 August 1975) is a Hong Kong actor and martial artist. He is known for resembling Bruce Lee in appearance and has portrayed Lee in the 2008 television series '' The Legend of Bruce Lee'', the 2015 film ''Ip Man 3'', ...

played

. Wang portrayed

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

in the historical television series ''

The Legend of Yang Guifei ''The Legend of Yang Guifei'', also known as ''The Secret History of Concubine Yang'', is a Chinese television series loosely based on the romance between Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty and his consort Yang Yuhuan. The series was directed b ...

'' (2009). In 2016, Wang's big break came when Zhang Yongxin cast him in the historical war television series ''

The Advisors Alliance ''The Advisors Alliance'' is a 2017 Chinese two-part television series based on the life of Sima Yi, a government official and military general who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period of China. The series starred Wu Xiu ...

'', in which he played

Zhuge Liang Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...

, a role which brought him much publicity. Wang appeared in ''

My People, My Country ''My People, My Country'' () is a 2019 Chinese anthology drama film, consisting of seven segments directed by seven directors, Chen Kaige, Zhang Yibai, Guan Hu, Xue Xiaolu, Xu Zheng, Ning Hao, and Wen Muye. It stars many of China's top actors, ...

'', a seven-part anthology

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

released in 2019 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

Filmography

Film

Television

Drama

Variety show

References

External links

Luoyong Wang Biography (1958–)
*
HKMDB entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Luoyong 1958 births Living people American actors of Chinese descent Chinese male stage actors Male actors from Luoyang Wuhan Conservatory of Music alumni Shanghai Theatre Academy alumni Boston University alumni Chinese male film actors Chinese male television actors