Chow to receive Asian Film Awards lifetime honor

[March 18, 2011]  HONG KONG (AP) -- Raymond Chow, the veteran Hong Kong producer who introduced Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan to an international audience, will be honored for lifetime achievement at the fifth Asian Film Awards ceremony on Monday.

Organizers of the Hong Kong event said Friday that the 83-year-old filmmaker was "instrumental in making Asian cinema the global cinematic and box office force it is today."

Chow worked at the famed Shaw Brothers studios before leaving to found Golden Harvest in 1970. The breakaway company jump-started Lee's career with hits like "Fist of Fury" and "Enter the Dragon." In 1979, it signed Chan, casting him in his first English-language productions, including the star-studded 1981 action comedy "The Cannonball Run."

Golden Harvest also made the "Once Upon a Time in China" series starring Jet Li.

[Associated Press]

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