Cantonese opera master Lam Ka-sing dies in Hong Kong, aged 82

Cantonese opera master Lam Ka-sing (1933-2015)

Lam Ka-sing, a household name in Cantonese opera for more than seven decades in film and on stage, died on Tuesday, aged 82.

Lam, who had Parkinson’s disease, passed out after eating dinner at his Waterloo Road home and later died at Kwong Wah Hospital.

Born as Lam Man-shun in Hong Kong in 1933, Lam and his family fled to Guangzhou during the Japanese occupation of the city during the second world war. There he and his sister were attracted to Cantonese opera and studied under veteran actor Tang Chiu Lan-fong, who taught the young Lam singing and acting, including many old plays.

After the war, Lam returned to Hong Kong and studied under Cantonese opera guru Sit Kok-sin, who took in the then 15-year-old as his last student.

Lam began a 20-year film career with an appearance in 1947’s Prostituting to Raise the Orphan. His last big screen appearance in Justice Bao, released in 1967, was his 302nd film.