Lai Man-wai (; September 25, 1893 – October 26, 1953), also romanised as Lay Min-wei or M.W. Ray, considered the "Father of Hong Kong Cinema", was the director of the first Hong Kong film Zhuangzi Tests His Wife in 1913. In the film, Lai played the role of the wife, partly due to the reluctance of women to participate in show business at the time.

Born in Yokohama, Japan, of Xinhui, Guangdong origin and raised in Hong Kong, he joined Sun Yat-sen's Kuomintang party in 1911 and helped make anti-warlord movies.

Biography

thumb|Lai Man-Wai (left), with photographer Liang Linguang (middle) and director [[Hou Yao (right), in the 1920s]]

Lai was born in 1893 in Yokohama, Japan to Chinese parents. He grew up in Hong Kong.

  • A Page of History (1941). Documentary. Lai Man-wai followed Sun Yat-sen during the 1920s.

References

Further reading

  • His Origins in Xinhui - https://www.southcn.com/news/gdnews/sh/hrjnh/fyrw/200409020627.htm