‘Rest in eternal peace’: veteran horror actor, filmmaker Simon Loui dies at age 62

Veteran Hong Kong actor and filmmaker Simon Loui Yu-yeung, better known to fans as the “King of Ghosts” for his prolific work in horror films, has died at the age of 62.

Long-time friend and fellow actor Frankie Ng Chi-hung revealed the news to reporters on Friday. He said Loui’s wife, TV and radio personality Ma Li, had confirmed the filmmaker had died in a hospital in Guangzhou on Monday after losing his battle with gastric cancer.

“The family hoped to stay low profile. There was no big announcement,” Ng said. “May he rest in eternal peace, free from all pain and sickness in heaven.”

Ng said he had known of Loui’s past struggles with gastric cancer in previous years, which had been treated, but later learned the condition had come back in recent years.

Loui was born in 1964 and boasted an entertainment career of more than three decades spanning TV, radio and movies, and included his exploits as a filmmaker.

After finishing an artist training course by free-to-air broadcaster TVB in the late 1980s, he started with appearances in TV dramas and variety shows before moving to the film industry in the early 1990s.