Amy Yip | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
葉子楣 | |||||||||||
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| Born | 10 July 1966 | ||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | restaurant owner, former actress | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1984–1997 | ||||||||||
| Partner | Sammy Lui (1992–2018) | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 葉子楣 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 叶子楣 | ||||||||||
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Amy Yip (born 10 July 1966) is an actress who was one of the leading sex symbols of Hong Kong Cinema in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Yip is best known for her roles in Hong Kong Category III films such as Sex and Zen and Erotic Ghost Story. Sex and Zen is the highest grossing Category III movie in the history of Hong Kong box office.
Career
Born in Hong Kong on 10 July 1966, she has family roots in Taishan, Guangdong. Yip first came to notice by appearing in various television series in the mid-1980s. The 1990 film Erotic Ghost Story proved to be a breakthrough role and she became one of the most popular actresses in Hong Kong and many other parts of Asia in the early 1990s. She had large, full breasts which made her much in demand for nude scenes. However she refused to appear fully naked on film.[1]: 36 Her efforts to avoid fully exposing her breasts on screen through clever use of camera angles, whereby the side of her breast is seen, became known as the "Yip tease". However, in Erotic Ghost Story for example, she did show her buttocks in one scene.
She retired from acting in 1997. She expressed regret that, given the nature of her films, there were not many memorable roles during her acting career. The only exceptional movie for her was the 1991 movie Queen of the Underworld which she portrayed Sister Har, a woman who climbed from the lowest depths of society to become the celebrated queen of the night life in the 1960s and 1970s of Hong Kong.
Personal life
In 1990, a Hong Kong man was sent to prison and charged for stealing money. This man said he stole money in order to sustain Amy Yip's luxurious lifestyle. However, Amy Yip said she had only met the man few times and the man was not a close friend.
Yip's long term boyfriend was the orthopedics surgeon Dr. Sammy Sek Chiu Lui (呂錫照); the pair met in 1992.[2] Numerous rumours have surfaced over the years about Yip marrying Lui, and being pregnant. In an interview in early 2006 with an East Weekly reporter, who spotted Yip walking her dog at Repulse Bay, however, she said she was in a steady relationship with her boyfriend of more than 15 years and had no intention of getting married or having children. She added she had food and beverage businesses set up in Hong Kong and Macau that kept her busy and occupied.
When asked if she would consider a comeback into the film business, Yip flatly rejected the idea, saying that she was very happy with her carefree lifestyle and had no desire of returning to filming long hours and traveling intensively for movies and record publicity. She also said that she is content with not showing her breasts to make a living.
In May 2018 an English language book detailing her career in movies and television was released.[3] Her boyfriend Lui died of a heart attack while flying to the United States in November 2018.[2]
Filmography
| Film Roles | |||
| Year | Title | Role | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | 《奸人本色》 | Who is the Craftiest | |
| 《霸王花之中華警花》 | Chinese Police Flower | ||
| 1989 | 《神勇飛虎霸王花》 | The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 | Susanna |
| 《奇蹟》 | Black Dragon | (reception guest) | |
| 《富貴開心鬼》 | Lost Souls (1989 film) | ||
| 《鬼媾人》 | Ghost Fever (1989 film) | Nancy | |
| 1990 | 《監獄不設防》 | Haunted Jail House | 苏东波 |
| 《聊齋艷譚》 | Erotic Ghost Story | 花花(老二) | |
| 《師兄撞鬼》 | Look Out, Officer! | 葉警司 (cameo) | |
| 《救命宣言》 | Doctor's Heart | 咪咪 | |
- Di xia cai jue a.k.a. Underground Judgement 1994
- Bu wen sao a.k.a. Stooges in Hong Kong 1992
- The Prince of Temple Street 1992
- Te qu ai nu a.k.a. China Dolls 1992
- Sex and Zen 1991
- To Be Number One 1991
- Jiang shi fu xing zi a.k.a. Vampire Kids 1991
- Lao biao fa qian han a.k.a. Easy Money 1991
- Liao zhai yan tan xu ji zhi wu tong shen a.k.a. Erotic Ghost Story 2 1991
- Long mao shao xu a.k.a. Lethal Contact 1991
- Nu ji xie ren a.k.a. Robotrix 1991
- Great Pretenders 1991
- Magnificent Scoundrels 1991
- Ye sheng huo nu wang - Ba jie chuan qi a.k.a. Queen of the Underworld 1991
- Zhuo niu zi ku de zhong kui a.k.a. The Blue Jean Monster 1991
- Hua gui zhu zheng ge li a.k.a. My Neighbor's Phantoms 1990
- Huang jia du chuan a.k.a. Raid on Royal Casino Marine 1990
- She Shoots Straight 1990
- Legend of the Dragon 1990 (cameo)
- Tian shi zhuo jian a.k.a. Ghostly Vixen 1990
- Xiao xin jian die a.k.a. To Spy With Love 1990
- Hoi sam gui miu ba a.k.a. Mr Sunshine 1989
- Feng huo shuo ming a.k.a. Club Le TV series 1986
- The Romance of the White Hair Maiden TV series 1986
- Jiu gao man ng TV series
Cultural influence
One of the nicknames for her, boba (which means "champion of breasts"),[4] was adopted as the name of the tapioca pearls in Taiwanese bubble tea during the 1980s.[5]
Nam Kee Pau, a baozi chain in Singapore, sells a large-sized steamed bun named Amy Yip Big Pau.[6]
References
- ↑ Dannen, Fredric; Long, Barry (1997). Hong Kong Babylon: An Insider's Guide to the Hollywood of the East. New York City: Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6267-X. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- 1 2 張哲鳴 (2 June 2020). "【幕後祕辛】葉子楣來台拍片堅上牛郎店 「波霸找鴨」真相曝光" [[Secrets from behind the scenes]: Amy Yip came to Taiwan to film Requital; the truth about "boba" is revealed]. Apple Daily. Archived from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
- ↑ Gower, Chaz (22 May 2018). The Movies of Amy Yip. Self. ISBN 1982967072. Archived from the original on 3 April 2023. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- ↑ Hiufu Wong, Maggie. "The rise of bubble tea, one of Taiwan's most beloved beverages". CNN. Archived from the original on 31 March 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ↑ Nguyen-Okwu, Leslie. "Boba Explained: A Taxonomy of Taipei's Bubble Tea". eater.com. Eater. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
- ↑ Auto, Hermes (2 February 2019). "Teck Kee Tanglin Pau closes, but here are 7 other bao shops to get your fix | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2023.