One of Hong Kong’s most well-liked comedians, Lydia Tin Ha Sum, is 77 today, and Google’s Doodle honours her. The Shanghai-born actress, also known by the nicknames “Happy Fruit” and “Fei Fei” (which is Cantonese for “Fat Fat”), is well-known in Chinese communities all over the world for spreading joy and laughter via her performances.
On this date in 1945, Sum was born. The biggest production business in Hong Kong at the time, Shaw Brothers Studio, was where she started her career as an actor as a teenager. She gained her breakthrough role as the host of the well-liked variety show “Enjoy Yourself Tonight” in 1967.
She then played a leading role in the well-known Cantonese movie “The House of 72 Tenants,” which centres on the daily lives of people who dwell in a dilapidated flat. Theatergoers responded favourably to Sum’s accurate depiction of working-class ladies. The movie outperformed blockbuster movies and won the 1973 box office championship in Hong Kong.
Sum later appeared in a similar character in the four-part hit comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World,” which is about a poor family seeking financial success. The iconic movie series continues to spark debate in the media today because it offers a potent commentary on societal inequity.
Aside from Hong Kong, Sum also appeared in the English-language Singaporean sitcom “Living with Lydia,” for which she won the 2003 Asian Television Award for Best Comedy Performance.
Lydia Sum, happy 77th birthday! Chinese communities around the world continue to laugh and enjoy your movies and television series.