Former Actor Lawrence Yan Passes Away, Aged 59

Former ATV actor and leading man Lawrence Yan (甄志強), who at the height of his fame was as popular as TVB’s top siusangs, has passed away. The news was confirmed in a social media post by his widow Fang Xinyuan (方心媛), who revealed that he left peacefully on October 21.

Known by his moniker “Siu Keung”, Lawrence joined ATV, Hong Kong’s second largest television station in the year 1993. The former model took part in many drama productions where he held multiple leading roles, including that Southern hero Zhan Zhao in the classic costume drama Heroic Legend of the Yang’s Family <碧血青天楊家將>. The tall and hunky actor was nicknamed Best-looking Zhan Zhao.

Pivoted to F&B Business in Mainland China

In 2003, Lawrence joined rival station TVB but sadly his career failed to take off, receiving few onscreen opportunities, which he admits left him dispirited.

After his contract ended in 2009, the actor chose to leave for China where he started his own food & beverage business, but failed to achieve success. Nevertheless, he led a comfortable life. In recent years, he returned to Hong Kong, but would sometimes return to his apartments in Zhongshan and Shanghai. There were rumors that he experienced heart issues after a game in Shanghai and failed to be resuscitated.

Avid Golfer 

In 1989, he became the top middleweight member of the Hong Kong Taekwondo Team and represented Hong Kong that same year at the 9th World Taekwondo Championships held in Korea. In 2002, he obtained the Level 1 Instructor qualification from the United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF), and was selected among the top eight Asian golf coaches to compete against the European team at the World Golf Teachers Cup the following year.

Faced Public Scrutiny for Alleged Romance with Socialite 20 Years Older

In the late nineties, Lawrence was rumored to be romantically involved with Kathy (趙金卿), a socialite who was 23 years his senior. Their alleged romance was the talk of the town but led to vicious talk of Lawrence being a soft rice king, putting much pressures on him. With less public appearances, the media reported that the two had broken up. Asked about the romance again many years later on a television show, Lawrence boldly replied, “What’s wrong with me dating?”, but admitted to being unhappy because of gossip. Lawrence later added that his income back then was actually not shabby at all, drawing $200k based on his earnings at ATV alone, without taking into account his other income sources.

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