The curtains fell one final time for Ko Chun-hsiung (柯俊雄), the star of a series of early films aimed at galvanizing patriotic sentiments, who died of cancer at the age of 70 on Sunday.
Born in Kaohsiung on Jan. 15, 1945, Ko’s acting career spanned half a century, highlighted first by his leading roles in adaptations of best-selling romantic novels and then by his portrayal of military heroes in the Second Sino-Japanese War.
In 1967, he became the first Taiwanese to win the best actor award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival for his role in Lonely Seventeen (寂寞的十七歲). He won in the same category at the festival seven years later.
Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times
Ko also won Taiwan’s Golden Horse Award for best actor in 1979 and 1999 for his roles in A Teacher of Great Soldiers (黃埔軍魂) and Cao Cao (一代梟雄曹操) respectively.
The era in which the films were cast was still strongly influenced by the idea that the Three Principles of the People (三民主義) would triumph and unite China, with Ko starring in films seeking to promote nationalism in the roles of army commanders that were not only patriotic, but also loyal to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In 1974, Ko played the role of general Chang Tzu-chung (張自忠) in the film The Everlasting Glory (英烈千秋), which depicted the 1940 Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang during the Second Sino-Japanese War, winning him his second best leading male actor award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival that year.
Ko went on to win a Golden Horse Award for his portrayal of colonel Hsieh Chin-yuan (謝晉元) in Eight Hundred Heroes (八百壯士) in 1976, as well as receiving the Golden Horse best film award for his role in the 1975 film Victory (梅花).
However, Ko did not receive the Golden Horse Award for best male lead until 1978, when he starred in A Teacher of Great Soldiers.
When the reception to Central Motion Pictures’ patriotic movies waned in the late 1980s, Ko sought other roles and found a niche in the antihero role, winning the best actor award for his portrayal of Eastern Han Dynasty warlord Cao Cao (曹操) in the 1999 film of the same name.
Ko developed an interest in politics in the 1990s and, due to having a British-Hong Kong passport, participated in a 1996 People’s Republic of China-convened provisional legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
“The Republic of China should have someone to represent its opinion,” Ko said at the event, despite not being elected to the council.
In 2004, Ko was elected to the legislature as a KMT candidate. He ran for a second term in 2008 as a Taiwan Farmers’ Party candidate, but lost the election and exited the political scene.
Ko was married twice. In 1970, he tied the knot with actress Chang Mei-yao (張美瑤), with whom he had two daughters. Their marriage ended in 2004 after Ko had an affair with clothing designer Tsai Ching-hua (蔡青樺), whom he met on the set of a film. Ko and Tsai married in 2005 and had a son and a daughter.
In 2012, after learning of the death of his ex-wife, Ko broke down in tears and apologized for the mistakes he had made during their marriage, saying: “It was all my fault.”
Ko was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer last year and underwent chemotherapy in May, sources said, adding that his condition remained unstable until he passed away on Sunday night.
Additional reporting by CNA
PLA MANEUVERS: Although Beijing has yet to formally announce military drills, its coast guard vessels have been spotted near and around Taiwan since Friday The Taiwanese military is on high alert and is closely monitoring the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) air and naval deployments after Beijing yesterday reserved seven airspace areas east of its Zhejiang and Fujian provinces through Wednesday. Beijing’s action was perceived as a precursor to a potential third “Joint Sword” military exercise, which national security experts said the PLA could launch following President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visits to the nation’s three Pacific allies and stopovers in Hawaii and Guam last week. Unlike the Joint Sword military exercises in May and October, when Beijing provided detailed information about the affected areas, it
CHINA: The activities come amid speculation that Beijing might launch military exercises in response to Lai’s recent visit to Pacific allies The Ministry of National Defense (MND) yesterday said China had nearly doubled the number of its warships operating around the nation in the previous 24 hours, ahead of what security sources expect would be a new round of war games. China’s military activities come amid speculation Beijing might organize military drills around the nation in response to President William Lai’s (賴清德) recent visit to Pacific allies, including stops in Hawaii and Guam, a US territory. Lai returned from the week-long trip on Friday night. Beijing has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan this year, and sends ships and military planes
Five flights have been arranged to help nearly 2,000 Taiwanese tourists return home from Okinawa after being stranded due to cruise ship maintenance issues, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday. China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) have arranged five flights with a total of 748 additional seats to transport 1,857 passengers from the MSC Bellissima back to Taiwan, the ministry said. The flights have been scheduled for yesterday and today by the Civil Aviation Administration, with the cruise operator covering all associated costs. The MSC Bellissima, carrying 4,341 passengers, departed from Keelung on Wednesday last week for Okinawa,
US president-elect Donald Trump said he would “never say” if Washington is committed to defending Taiwan from China, but “I would prefer that they do not do it [ an attack],” adding that he has a “good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). “I never say because I have to negotiate things, right?” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press host Kristen Welker after saying he would not reveal his incoming administration’s stance on Taiwan’s defense in the event of an attack. Asked the question again, Trump, in a reference to China, said: “I would prefer that they
RSS