LIFE / CULTURE
Golden Horse winning actor Tu Men dies at 61; fans and actors send condolences
Published: Dec 12, 2021 07:35 PM
Chinese mainland actor Tu Men(left) and Hong Kong actress Kara Hui together at the 54th Golden Horse Awards in 2017, who respectively won the award for Best Actor and Best Actress in that year. Photo: VCG

Chinese mainland actor Tu Men(left) and Hong Kong actress Kara Hui together at the 54th Golden Horse Awards in 2017, who respectively won the award for Best Actor and Best Actress in that year. Photo: VCG



Chinese actor Tu Men passed away at the age of 61 on Sunday, a relative of his told the Beijing News. After the news hit, countless fans and entertainers sent their condolences to his family on social media. A Golden Horse Award winner, Tu was known for his remarks publicly contradicting a Taiwan filmmaker's secessionist speech.

Tu died of esophageal cancer in the early morning and "passed away peacefully," the relative told the Beijing News.

His sudden passing shocked many netizens as well as his industry partners.

"We are deeply saddened and sorry to hear of his sudden death. This is a huge loss for the Chinese film industry," the China Film Association said in a message.

 "It's just hard to believe or to accept the truth… I rather believe that he's just fallen asleep," Hong Kong actress Kara Hui posted on Sina Weibo.

Hui was at Tu's side when they presented the award for Best Actress at the Golden Horse Awards in 2018, during which Tu captured audiences' attention in both the Chinese mainland and the island of Taiwan when referring to the ceremony as the "Golden Horse Awards in China's Taiwan."

"It is my honor to be here… I can meet a lot of new friends and feel the strong connections between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan," he added.

The remarks were seen at the time as taking aim at a secessionist speech given by Taiwan filmmaker Fu Yu, who had earlier won best documentary for her film about the island's 2014 "Sunflower Movement," during which she expressed her support for the "independence of the Taiwan nation."

Tu once won the Golden Horse Winner for Best Actor for his role in the 2017 movie Old Beast.

Born in Hulunbuir in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Tu began his career playing a General in the 1985 movie Genghis Khan and later became famous with his role in the 2001 Chinese mainland series State of Divinity (Xiao'ao Jianghu).

In addition to his recent movie Wu Hai, which he promoted as recently as November, three more movies - The Grace Ends, Carefree Days and Heart's Motive - are still expected to hit big screens soon.

"It was so sudden," Chinese actor Huang Xuan, who also plays a part in Tu's new movie, said on social media in response to the news of the actor's death. 

"Still, it was an honor to work with you."

Global Times