Bolo Yeung is a Chinese actor, former competitive bodybuilder, and martial artist. He is mainly known for playing the characters Bolo in “Enter the Dragon”, Chong Li in “Bloodsport”, and Chang Lee in “Bloodfight”.
Since the nineties, kung fu films have been a hit, with producers scrambling to find the perfect people to play certain roles. During the initial rise of Kung fu films, Bolo Yeung was one of those who played a part.
Bolo Yeung is known for several films, but he is cast to play the villain who has to die through satisfyingly devious means in most of them. He did not particularly mind, though, and at the height of his career, he was friends with Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme, both of whom he met on movie sets.
Bolo was poised to make major career moves alongside his friend, Bruce, but the unfortunate circumstance of Bruce’s death put a pin in his plans. Where is this martial arts legend now? We will find out, but first, here are ten quick facts about Bolo Yeung.
Top 10 facts about Bolo Yeung
- Bolo Yeung was born on 3 July 1946 and is now 75 years old in 2021.
- He began his martial arts training at the age of 10, and this had a significant effect on how good he eventually became at the sport.
- Bolo Yeung’s real name is Yang Sze, and he earned the name ‘Bolo’ after appearing in “Enter the Dragon”, opposite Bruce Lee, where he played a character that went by that name.
- Yeung is a former Mr Hong Kong Bodybuilding Champion, holding on to the title for ten years after winning consecutively from 1967.
- In the 1960s, Yeung swam from China to Hong Kong to escape communism.
- He was supposed to move to America with Bruce Lee in 1973, but his plans fell through after Lee died, and he did not get another chance until 1990.
- Bolo Yeung is married to a woman whose name has remained unknown all these years, but they have three children— David Yeung, Debbra Yeung, and Danny Yeung.
- Two of Bolo Yeung’s children also built careers in bodybuilding and have become champions at it.
- Yeung and Bruce Lee were very close, and he continues to remember him by keeping memorabilia of the late actor.
- Yeung is reportedly worth an estimated 1.5 million dollars.
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Early life
Bolo Yeung was born Yang Sze on 5 July 1946 to a local businessman and his wife in Guangzhou Suburbia, a suburb of Canton in Mainland China. His parents’ and siblings’ names and identities have not been revealed to the public.
Yeung developed an interest in martial arts from a very young age, and this interest was identified and cultivated. His parents had him start martial arts training at the tender age of 10, a decision that would contribute to his incredible skill at the sport. He particularly developed a love for Tai-Chi.
He started his martial arts training in Canton and had the opportunity to train under several knowledgable kung fu masters. After training for a while, he had built his bulk and then decided to try his hand at bodybuilding.
He competed in several bodybuilding contests, winning a lot of them. Bolo became Mr Hong Kong Bodybuilding Champion, winning the title in 1967 and holding on to it for ten years before someone else came around and took his crown. That is not all, though; he is also a former Mainland China powerlifting Champion. Bolo Yeung’s best deadlift exceeds 700 pounds—how incredible is that!
During his bodybuilding career, he found acting, fell in love with it, and then had the opportunity to meet and befriend some of the icons of the action film industry.
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Career
Bolo Yeung’s film career started in 1970 when he played Unicorn Du Kuo Lung in “The Wandering Sportsman”. Except for a handful of films where he played the good guy, Yeung has always played the villain, something that he has said that he has no problem doing.
“It’s work, whether I’m the hero or the villain. I’m not a kid anymore, where nervousness keeps me from sleeping,” he said.
Because of his beefy physique (thanks to bodybuilding), he was chosen to play the bad guy in Shaw Brother films like “The Heroic Ones”, “The Deadly Duo”, “Angry Guest”, and others. He eventually left Shaw Brothers in 1971, but the reputation for playing bad guys stuck.
Yeung appeared in several movies before meeting Bruce Lee while the two were filming a Winston Cigarettes commercial. They became fast friends, and Lee invited him to appear in the film “Enter the Dragon” (1973), where he played the character of Bolo and subsequently earned his name, Bolo Yeung.
While filming “Enter the Dragon”, Lee and Yeung’s friendship became stronger. They would often get together to train and talk about martial arts.
“During the filming, Bruce and I worked very closely on technique training. We experimented, trying to decide what worked and what wouldn’t. You see, Bruce was always learning, always experimenting, always changing,” Bolo said.
In fact, the two became so close that in 1973, they were supposed to travel to America together. However, a few weeks before the film was released, Bruce Lee died. Many years after his death, Yeung said in an interview: “There will never be another Bruce Lee; I am privileged to have had the honour of calling him my friend.”
In the 1970s and 1980s, Yeung starred in several more movies, but his biggest movie was the box office success “Bloodsport”. The film was shot on a budget of 1.5 million dollars ($1.5 million) and grossed 50 million dollars ($50 million). Van Damme and Yeung became friends on the film’s set, and Van Damme eventually invited Yeung to star in his next film, “Double Impact”.
In 2007, Yeung made a rare appearance in the film “Blizhniy Boy: The Ultimate Fighter”, which was directed in part by Yeung’s longtime friend, Jalal Merhi. Due to legal issues, however, the film has not been released.
In 2019, the Cinemax film “Warrior” used Bruce Lee’s initial writings for the series and included a character called, Bolo, which is a homage to Yeung’s character in “Enter the Dragon”.
Personal life
About his personal life, Yeung once said: “There are plenty of times people will come up to me for an autograph and tell me they enjoyed my work on Enter the Dragon. But people just know me from the movie, they don’t really know who I am.”
This is a fair statement because there’s a lot to know about this talented actor. In the 1960s, Yeung swam from China to Hong Kong to escape Communism. It was here that he achieved his major accomplishments.
Yeung became a bodybuilding teacher in the 1960s and is also versed in Wing Chun. He was incorrectly described in the blurb for “Enter the Dragon” as a south-east Asian Shotokan karate champion when he never practised Karate.
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Bolo Yeung’s children
Bolo Yeung has three children, namely, David Yeung, Danny Yeung, and Debbra Yeung. Of the three, his eldest, David, followed in his footsteps by becoming a bodybuilder. However, he could not take his career to the next level due to back and knee problems.
Now, David is a coach who helps beginners and professionals build body strength. Bolo also goes to the gym with his son, and they train and lift weights together.
His daughter, Debbra, is also a bodybuilding champion. His other son, Danny, seems to have veered off the entertainment path and become an entrepreneur.
Latest news – where is Bolo Yeung now?
Bolo Yeung is now 75 years old, but even at that, he still trains frequently with his son at their favourite gym. He lives in Los Angeles, California, but still retains his interests in bodybuilding and weightlifting.
He is the Hong Kong Gym Business Association chairman and the Team Manager of the Tapei international Bodybuilders Squad.
Yeung has not forgotten his old friend, Bruce Lee, and he still has memorabilia from their time together. For example, he kept the barbell that Bruce Lee had in his Golden Harvest office and a rare business card from Bruce Lee’s production company, Concord.
Bolo Yeung net worth
Bolo Yeung has over 100 production credits to his name, and this is where the bulk of his earnings came from.
Besides being an actor, Yeung also earned some money from his skills as a weightlifter and bodybuilder. Thanks to all of that, Yeung acquired quite a nest egg and is now worth 1.5 million dollars ($1.5 million), according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Conclusion
Bolo Yeung is a martial arts star who has achieved great success in his acting career and made several friends along the way. Bolo’s early life couldn’t have been easy, seeing as he had to swim for hours to escape China, but he made that risk worth it.
Although he was stereotyped as a villain in many of the films that he played, Yeung never let that get to him and instead, he focused on doing his best work. He has lived his life doing things that he loves, and now, his children are carrying the torch for him, forging careers in bodybuilding.
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