Run Run Shaw

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Shaw.
The Honourable
Sir Run Run Shaw
GBM, CBE
Chinese name 邵逸夫
Pinyin Shào Yìfū (Mandarin)
Jyutping siu6 jat6 fu1 (Cantonese)
Birth name Shao Ren Leng (邵仁楞)
Origin Hong Kong
Born approx. (1907-11-23) 23 November 1907 (age 105)[1]
Ningbo, Zhejiang, Great Qing Empire of China
Other name(s) Uncle Six (Luk Suk) (六叔)
Occupation TV producer
Spouse(s) Wong Mei Chun (1937–1987; deceased)
Mona Fong (1997–present)
Children Shaw Vee Meng (邵維銘)
Shaw So Man (邵素雯)
Shaw So Wan (邵素雲)
Shaw Vee Chung (邵維鍾)
Parents Shaw Yuh Hsuen (邵行銀)

Sir Run Run Shaw CBE, GBM (born c. 23 November 1907) is a Hong Kong media mogul.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Shao Ren Leng was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang in 1907, the youngest of the six sons of a Shanghai textile merchant, Shaw Yuh Hsuen (1867–1920).[2] According to A&C Black published Who's Who 2007, he was born on 14 October, but his wife Mona Fong declined to confirm this.[3]

In 2007, his great-nephew said Shaw's birthday was actually 23 November, which corresponded with the 14th day of the 10th month of the Chinese calendar.[1] He received his education in American-run schools.

Career [edit]

At age 19, during his summer holiday, he followed his third elder brother Runme Shaw to Singapore to start a film market and establish the Shaw Organisation. Following that, he developed a deep interest in the movie business. He and his brother founded the South Seas Film studio in 1930, which later became Shaw Studios. In 1967, he launched TVB (Television Broadcasts Ltd.) in Hong Kong, growing it into a multi-billion dollar TV empire ranking today as one of the top five television producers in the world.[citation needed]

Run Run Shaw
Sir Run Run Shaw, Avenue of Stars.JPG
Shaw's star on the Avenue of Stars
Chinese 邵逸夫

In 2000, through his company, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited, he sold his unique library of 760 classic titles to Celestial Pictures Limited. His name is credited even in Western films he has backed, such as in Blade Runner under the The Ladd Company logo. Continuing to show perseverance, Shaw Studios entered a new era with Shaw's majority investment (through his various holding companies) in the US$180,000,000 Hong Kong Movie City project, a 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) studio and production facility in Tseung Kwan O (Hong Kong). The facility features one of the largest, fully air-conditioned and sound and vibration-insulated soundstages in Asia, a full-service colour lab and digital imaging facility, over 20 sound and editing suites, a 400-seat dubbing and screening theatre, executive and production office space, banqueting facilities, and visual effects and animation capabilities. This facility serves as the centre-piece of Shaw Studios and indeed the whole Chinese film industry.[4]

Personal life [edit]

The Run Run Shaw Library at Huangshan University

Over the years, he has donated billions of Hong Kong Dollars to charity, schools and hospitals. His name is on many buildings in Hong Kong and China mainland due to his generous donations. The fourth constituent college of the collegiate Chinese University of Hong Kong is also named after Sir Run Run, whose patronage made the establishment of the college possible.[5] He donated $100 million (Hong Kong dollars) for disaster relief after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. American singer/songwriter Is'real Benton made a contribution to a charity on behalf of Shaw and his friend the late Freddie Fields.[citation needed]

His first wife, Wong Mei Chun (黃美珍), died at age 85 in 1987. Shaw Studios stopped filming that same year.[clarification needed] He remarried in Las Vegas in 1997 to Mona Fong (formerly Fong Yat-wa), the deputy chairman of TVB since 2000.[2] Shaw has four children. His eldest son, Dr. Shaw Vee Meng, heads the Shaw Foundation in Singapore.

Awards [edit]

In 1974, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He received a knighthood in 1977 and the Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in 1998.

The Shaw Prize [edit]

He established an international award, the Shaw Prize, for scientists in three areas of research, namely astronomy, mathematics, and life and medical science. The award is up to US$1 million. The press called it the "Nobel Prize of the East".[6] The first prize was awarded in 2004.

Further reading [edit]

  • 詹幼鵬、藍潮 (1997). 《邵逸夫傳》. 藍潮傳記作品 (in Chinese) (First ed. ed.). HK: 名流出版社. ISBN 962-928-017-5. 

See also [edit]

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References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Zoe Mak (5 October 2007). "Sir Run Run's century clouded in confusion". SCMP (SCMP Group). pp. City1. 
  2. ^ a b Who's Who 2007: an Annual Biographical Dictionary (159th Annual ed.). A&C Black. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7136-7527-6. 
  3. ^ "六叔破例與藝員大合照". Ta Kung Pao (in Chinese) (大公報有限公司). 20 November 2007. p. 娛樂. 
  4. ^ "Who We are – Shaw Studios". Shaw Studios. Retrieved 16 October 2007. 
  5. ^ "International Grant Making Foundations: Philanthropy and the Third Sector". International Grant Making Foundations. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007. 
  6. ^ "Berkeley Lab's Saul Perlmutter Wins Shaw Prize in Astronomy". US Department of Energy. Retrieved 10 October 2012. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Run Run Shaw
Business positions
Preceded by
Harold Lee (利孝和)		 Executive Chairman of Television Broadcasts Limited
1980–2010		 Succeeded by
Mona Fong
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Ng Hong-mun
Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal		 Hong Kong order of precedence
Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal		 Succeeded by
Wong Po-yan
Recipient of the Grand Bauhinia Medal
Authority control
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