Chinese Name: 龍劭華
Year of Birth: 1953
Date of Death: September 14, 2021
Place of Birth: Taichung City, Taiwan
Did You Know?
Lung Shao-hua entered the show business at the age of 16. When he first started, he was overjoyed to get even a line or two in a script. He would practice in front of the mirror all night, but when he came in the next day to do the scene, he would get his scenes deleted by the director for being "unclear in his enunciation." He continued working until he was 30, neither particularly succeeding nor failing. At one point, he spent half a year on NT$500, living off of instant noodles.
Lung Shao-hua was born in 1953 in Longjing District, Taichung, as Chen Kun-chang (陳坤倉). From birth, he lived with his adoptive parents, and at the age of six, he was taken by his adoptive father to take an examination for child stars. At the age of 16 or 17, he attended Wang Haojie's (王豪傑) Golden Age Film and Drama School (金年代影劇學校) for a year of training, making his debut under the stage name of Xia Chunqiu (夏春秋) and really beginning to realize his dream of becoming an actor.
At first, Lung focused on Mandarin-language dramas, but later, after signing a contract with Taiwan Television for Taiwanese actors, his on-screen performances turned to being mainly in Taiwanese. His appearance was not like that of the typical artsy, fey actor of the 1970s and 1980s, cutting a tall, masculine figure with a rugged manner that led to him often playing rough, uneducated, or impulsive supporting characters. Aware that his style of acting was not particularly fitting for the climate, he once tried starting a hotel. The ups and downs of this part of his life would go on to be fodder for his future acting efforts.
After the lifting of martial law in 1987, the strictures on Taiwanese culture and society were gradually eased. In 1990, the feature-length TV series "Love (愛)" took the lead in breaking down the language barrier in Taiwanese primetime television, using twin language tracks with naturalistic pronunciation. The show being so well received soon saw other stations compete to produce and broadcast period pieces with both Taiwanese and Mandarin tracks and depicting social changes and ethnic reconciliation against a backdrop of postwar Taiwan. The popularity of period dramas and bilingual vocal tracks marked a turning point for Lung, a fluent speaker of Taiwanese. He first appeared in his mentor Lin Fudi’s adaptation of Wang Benhu's novel of the same name, "Grassland Scholars (草地狀元)" (1991) and "Xiamen Bride (廈門新娘)" (1992).
In 1994, he performed in Hsu Chin-Liang's (徐進良) "The First Day Hand in Hand (牽手出頭天)" as a speculator who abandons his wife and daughter to go to the United States for gold, a despicable and unpleasant interpretation of a real villainous character. Coupled with a sparkling performance alongside him from Chen Meifeng, who played the wife, he turned from three guest appearances to a total of seven episodes, becoming the first choice for the male anti-heroes on the small screen. He later went on to co-star again with Chen Meifeng in two more major period dramas, "Taiwan Water Margin (臺灣水滸傳)" (1994) and "Romance of Taiwan (臺灣演義)" (1996).
In July 1996, Lung Shao-hua became the first-generation male host of the variety show "Guess Guess Guess (我猜我猜我猜猜猜)." In March 1998, he resigned from the position, feeling he wasn't a good fit for hosting work. Since then, he has focused on dramatic performances. He also helped his son, Chen Wei-tso (陳威佐), get started in show business with a role in the idol drama "High 5 Basketball (High 5 制霸青春)." In 2005, Lung Shao-hua published his semi-autobiographical book, "The Prodigal Son of the Stage (戲臺上的浪子)." In 2011, he was nominated for the Golden Bell Awards for the show "A Life to Change (路邊董事長)." Despite being a hot prospect for the award, however, he was beaten by Wilber Pan (潘瑋柏), who won for his role in "Endless Love (愛無限)."
In 2013, Lung won Best Actor in a Mini-series/Television Film at the 48th Golden Bell Awards for his role in "Laba Hong's Melody (喇叭宏的悲喜曲)." In 2016, he won Best Actor at the Asian Television Awards for "The Taste of Dang Liang’s Family (党良家之味)," and in 2019 he took the 54th Golden Bell Award for Best Actor for "A Taste to Remember (菜頭梗的滋味)." He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 36th Golden Horse Awards with the film "March of Happiness (天馬茶房)" and won Japan's highest honor at the Independent Film Award for the TV movie "Lethe (忘川)."
On September 15, 2021, Lung Shao-hua passed away from illness at the age of 68. After 42 years of acting, Lung had accumulated some 127 appearances, both leading and guest, on film and television. His last TV works, "Life is Beautiful (美麗人生)" and "The King Of Jiaqing (嘉慶君遊台灣)," will be screened in the near future.