With the death of Ricky Hui Koon-ying, 65, on Tuesday, Hong Kong bid farewell to one-third of the Hui brothers trio, collectively regarded as giants of Hong Kong pop culture.
Yet individually each was distinct. Sam Hui Koon-kit, the youngest, was known as 'the god of Canto-pop' for his looks and lyrics in the 1960s and 70s pop scene otherwise dominated by Mandarin-speaking crooners.
Michael Hui Koon-man, the eldest and some say the brains of the trio, earned a reputation as one of Hong Kong's finest comedians and filmmakers. Ricky, it's fair to say, was the loveable underdog.
He was not a leading man with chiselled looks, nor a bona fide pioneer like his brothers.
As a comedian he played the slapstick joker, his list of film credits reading like a compendium of sly insults: Pighead, Homely Cop, Dumb Ying and Hentai Voyeur. As a pop star, he sang about solitude and lovesickness - tunes for the guy who's down on his luck and doesn't get the girl.
But his career propelled him to the heights of stardom, making him a household name during the course of seven albums and more than 60 films spanning four decades.
The third of five children, Ricky came from humble beginnings, raised in a squatter's hut in Diamond Hill then a public housing estate in So Uk, Cheung Sha Wan. Unlike Michael and Sam, Ricky skipped university and ended up as an actor in training at the Shaw Brothers Studio.