Hong Kong media tycoon Sir Run Run Shaw dies at 106

The King of Kung-Fu film makers, Sir Run Run Shaw, in London with his wife and daughter, after receiving a Knighthood from the Queen.

Hong Kong media tycoon Sir Run Run Shaw, founder of the Television Broadcasts Limited in 1967 – the city’s largest free-to-air television operator – died on Tuesday, aged 106.

Shaw, who served as the Executive Chairman of TVB till 2011, is largely responsible for familiarising the Chinese kung fu films in the West.

TVB Executive Chairman Norman Leung was quoted as saying by huffingtonpost: “He has contributed greatly to TVB. Thanks to his wise leadership, TVB has its status today after 46 years.”

Fondly known as “Luk Suk” or “Sixth Uncle”, he was knighted by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth in 1977. The receiver of the Hong Kong government’s Grand Bauhinia Medal in 1998 died peacefully, surrounded by his family members and the company staffs.

The 1907-born, split up from his brothers to form his own studio called ‘The Shaw studio’ which has since then been responsible for the production of thousands of melodramas, historical epics and kung fu classics and is also the pioneer of Wu Xia or sword-play genre films, known for its action sequences.

Shaw, who had an eye for spotting raw talents and grooming them, turned away a young man who approached him for chances in 1960s dismissing him as too impulsive. He then teamed up with the media mogul’s rival Raymond Chow, former deputy of Shaw, to deliver a smashing hit “The Big Boss” in 1971, a movie that gave the world the martial arts legend Bruce Lee.