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Veteran actress Lee Heung Kam, known for her roles in TVB dramas, died in a Hong Kong hospital on Monday (January 4). She was 88 years old.
Her friend, fellow actress and opera singer Tam Sin Hung, confirmed the news to the Hong Kong media.
She revealed that the late actress had a hard time swallowing food for the past few days and was on a liquid diet.
She got worse at home on Monday and was rushed to hospital.
“Who would have thought he would leave just hours later,” added Tam.
Reports in the media said that the actress’s health had deteriorated rapidly in the last month and her family members were already mentally prepared for the worst.
Born on January 13, 1932, Lee was a native of Shunde in China’s Guangdong province and spent her childhood in Macau while her father ran a rice business there.
Lee began her acting career at age 16, appearing in dozens of drama series and movies over decades. During the heyday of Cantonese movies, she made a name for herself playing the roles of scheming concubine and empress in period films.
Viewers of TVB dramas may remember her as the ruthless Abbess Miejue in New Heavenly Sword And Dragon Saber (1986), alongside Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Sheren Tang. Or like Chow Yun Fat’s long-suffering mother in the hit melodrama series The Brothers (1980).
Although best known for her TVB dramas, Lee had jumped ship to compete with the Hong Kong television station ATV in 1990. She returned to TVB in 2006.
She was briefly married to Cantonese opera star Siu Chung Kwan, with whom she had a daughter. They divorced in 1957 and her ex-husband and daughter went to Canada.
Her daughter, Siu Ji Wan, said in September last year that her mother suffered from a poor memory.
This was at the funeral of Lee’s fellow veteran actor and frequent acting partner Tam Ping Man, which Lee did not attend. Tam died at the age of 86 in September of last year.
Lee had not appeared in public for several years and reportedly had mobility issues, relying on a wheelchair to get around.
At the time, Siu declared that her mother was in good health and “as happy as a child.”
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