Danny Lee Sau-yin is a Hong Kong actor, film producer, screenwriter, director, action director and presenter. He is known for frequently portraying Hong Kong police officers in films such as Law with Two Phases, The Killer and The Untold Story.
Early years
Lee did not do so well in school and sometimes skipped classes to help support his family by working. While growing up, he held policemen in high regard and so upon completing high school, he was enrolled into the police force but could not complete the courses during his years of his training. He then decided to pursue a career in acting.
Career
Lee entered the Shaw Brothers Studio-TVB Acting School in 1970. Since Lee was a black belt judoka and karateka, he was cast as Zhang Shun by director Chang Chen in the 1972 film The Water Margin. The next year, Lee made his starring debut with River of Fury. He then went on to star in Shaw Brothers' 1975 Hong Kong tokusatsu-style superhero movie and camp classic The Super Inframan playing the Chinese superhero himself. After Bruce Lee's death Lee portrayed the Bruce in Bruce Lee and I. During this time, Lee also acted in 1977's The Mighty Peking Man. In 1979, he began working in the crime film genre, with The Brothers, a remake of an earlier Bollywood film, Deewaar, about two brothers on opposing sides of the law. In The Brothers, Lee played the role of a police officer, with a police persona he would carry over to his later films. The Brothers later inspired A Better Tomorrow, which involves a similar plot about two brothers. Still being offered roles in martial arts films, Lee decided in 1978 to form his own production company. One of the earliest products from his company, 1981's The Executor which was the first on-screen pairing with Lee and future star Chow Yun-fat. In 1982, Lee directed his first films, One Way Only, and Funny Boys and then followed it up in 1984 with Law with Two Phases. The movie featured Lee as a hot-headed but just policeman. In later years, Lee has received numerous awards from police organisations for his dedication to showing realistic police procedures and donating money to the families of slain officers. Law with Two Phases also inspired other directors. Some of the elements used in the shootouts were used by John Woo in his 1986 film A Better Tomorrow and Law's documentary-like look inspired Kirk Wong to continue with a similar style. Both directors subsequently asked Lee to work with them. Lee then appeared with Chow Yun-Fat in Ringo Lam's 1987 gangster piece City on Fire where he plays a criminal, and later appeared in John Woo's benefit project for Chang Cheh, Just Heroes. Lee's next project with Woo was, 1989's The Killer. Lee worked with Kirk Wong again in 1994 with Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, where once again, he plays a cop. Besides cop versus criminal thrillers, Lee acted in comedies too, including Chase A Fortune and Big Score. He also directed two police comedies Cop Busters and Oh My Cops starring Kent Cheng and Wong Ching. In 1987, Lee formed his second production company, Magnum Films, producing movies such as The Untold Story, Dr. LambWater Tank Murder and Twist. In the late 1980s, Lee was also one of the producers to back Stephen Chow, who was at the time a small-time dramatic actor, but who would then go on to stardom after appearing in a series of "mo lei tau" comedies. Lee also directed Chow in one of his first comedies, 1990's Legend of the Dragon. Lee returned to the big screen in the 2008 Hong Kong action filmFatal Move. He also made an appearance in Jingle Ma's action comedy Playboy Cops. Though his on-screen output has slowed down in recent years, reduced to mostly cameo appearances in movies like Young and Dangerous 5 or low budget movies, Lee continues with his behind-the-scenes work.
