Early life and education
Chung King-fai was born in Thailand, [2] to a family of Chinese expatriates, with ancestral roots in Taishan, Guangdong. [3] His great-grandfather was a dockyard merchant. [3] His father graduated at Lingnan University, Guangzhou, and worked as an accounting clerk at Alexandra Building in Hong Kong. [4] His mother, surnamed Cheung, was from Shanghai. [4] While Chung was two months old, his family moved to Hong Kong and settled on Stone Nullah Lane in Wan Chai. He attended a rooftop kindergarten. [2] At around the age of four, due to the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, his family travelled by train to Shanghai, Nanjing, and Anhui to seek refuge. [2] From 1942 to 1947, he lived in the Shanghai French Concession [4] and completed primary four, attending the primary section of the McTyeire School, a school for affluent families. [4]
In 1947, Chung returned from Shanghai to Hong Kong. He was admitted directly into primary five at Pui Ching Middle School. While studying form six, he won the overall championship at the inter-school athletics meet. [2] At the same time, he was actively involved with the school's drama society, [2] serving two terms as its chairman. He won the Best Actor award at the Inter-School Dramatic Competition [a] in 1953 for The Cheats of Scapin and again in December 1954 for The Lost Silk Hat . [4] He had a strong interest in dance and drama, [4] [6] though his academic performance was average. [2]
Between 1955 and 1957, as Hong Kong did not yet have a performing arts academy and others were unsupportive of a career in the arts, Chung enrolled in the English Department of Chung Chi College, Chinese University of Hong Kong. [7] In 1958, he went to the United States and entered Oklahoma Baptist University directly into the second semester of the third year in Speech and Drama, with a minor in English. [8] Chung was later admitted to the Yale School of Drama for a three-year Master of Fine Arts programme, [1] and graduated in 1962. [8] [2] He was the only Asian among more than 170 students. [2]
Career
Chung King-fai returned to Hong Kong in 1962 after completing his studies in the United States. [9] Invited by Dr. Maurice J. Anderson, then founding vice-president of Hong Kong Baptist College, he served as an assistant lecturer in English Language and Literature for three years, during which he taught drama. [10] [11] In June 1964, he directed the College Dramatic Society's production of Death of a Salesman, which was financially successful with nearly HK$40,000 in profit. [12] In 1965, Chung was granted a World University Service Staff Training Fellowship to pursue further studies at New York University in Dramatic Arts for ten months. [11] [13] In the same year, senior TVB executive Steve Huang Shih-chiu sent him a formal invitation through Yao Ke [b] . Chung continued teaching at Hong Kong Baptist College for another year and officially joined TVB in June 1967. [8] He was appointed senior screenwriter and was promoted to programme manager in October that year. [8] In 1971, he proposed to the TVB senior management to establish an one-year artiste training program to address the shortage of performers, and served as an instructor for the first four intakes. [8] [14] Following Robert Chua's transfer in November 1973, Chung temporarily held both roles of programme manager and production manager. [15]
In August 1975, Rediffusion Television (now Asia Television) reached an agreement with Chung for him to join immediately after his contract ended with TVB. [16] [17] TVB reassigned him to assistant general manager. [18] In February 1976, Chung was appointed director of Chinese programming at Rediffusion Television, [19] also the role of assistant general manager from December 1976. [20] In August 1977, he became deputy general manager. [21] In February 1982, Chung initially planned to resign to pursue personal interests and to establish his own company, but was ultimately persuaded to stay and take over the responsibilities of Lee Sil-hong. [22] [23] [24] He eventually stepped down on 1 March 1983. [25]
In 2005, Chung participated in a Hong Kong government-funded TV advertisement campaign, "Our Home, Our Country", to promote the Chinese national anthem by providing narration that explained its historical background. [26]
