Sun Yueh (孫越), an actor who later became a renowned anti-smoking campaigner, passed away in Taipei on Tuesday, National Taiwan University Hospital said yesterday. He was 87.
Sun was admitted to the hospital in mid-March for gallstone treatment.
While hospitalized, he experienced an exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and was transferred to an intensive care unit, the John Tung Foundation said in a statement.
Screen grab from Facebook
Sun was a long-time volunteer spokesman for the foundation, which is dedicated to helping people quit smoking and raising awareness of tobacco hazards.
Sun was born on Oct. 26, 1930, in China’s Zhejiang Province and moved to Taiwan with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in 1949. He started his movie career in 1962.
He quickly became a pillar of the industry and won numerous awards for his work, including a best actor Golden Horse Award for his role in the 1982 film Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing? (搭錯車).
The former chain-smoker quit smoking after he was baptized as a Christian in 1981.
After his retirement in 1989, he became active in anti-smoking campaigns and many other social causes, such as hospice care, suicide prevention and advocacy for abused children.
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