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'Student Prince' dies after heart problem

Former actor Alan Tang Kwong-wing, known as the 'Student Prince', has died at home. He was 62.

The family said he was checked by a family doctor for a heart problem at home in Kadoorie Avenue, Kowloon Tong, yesterday afternoon. He was found collapsed on a bed by a maid around 9.30pm. Ambulance staff confirmed him dead at the scene.

Police found nothing suspicious.

Tang, who earned his nickname for his impressive first starring role, at age 16, in 1963's The Student Prince, established his fame when he moved to Taiwan during the 1970s. There he made over 60 feature films, including dramas and romances. When he returned to Hong Kong in 1977, he formed a production company with his elder brother, The Wing-Scope Film Production, and made triad-genre films, which he acted in or produced.

He left the industry in the early 1990s and turned to the catering business.

But he still showed up frequently on television screens.

In 2008 he hit the news for angrily saying at a vigil for his late close friend and actress 'Fei Fei' Lydia Sum Tin-ha that her former husband, actor Adam Cheng Siu-chow, had been absent when Sum was dying.

Robert Chua Wah-peng, veteran television producer and Tang's neighbour for more than 10 years, said he was overwhelmed with shock at Tang's death. 'He was such a nice man,' Chua said. 'He was such a filial son, who treated his mother so well.' Chua said Tang had been living with his mother, wife, two daughters and more than 10 dogs. 'He was a good-looking man, a mature actor. He was always smiling.'

Tang's daughter said he died peacefully and naturally.

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