The 83 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", some people think it is a classic, and some people think it is shoddy.
But it is undeniable that this version of the Condor has influenced one or even two generations, and several of its theme songs are very popular today.
Not only that, the 83 version of the Condor also brought fire to a group of actors, and now these people can be described as "old drama bones".
Zeng Jiang, who passed away on April 27, 2022, played Huang Yaoshi in the 83 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", which is also the most well-known role in his acting career, which can be called a "personal business card".
If Huang Yaoshi is Zeng Jiang's business card, then Ke Zhenwei is the business card of Jiang Yi, an old drama bone.
When it comes to the name Jiang Yi, young people may not be familiar with it now, but as long as you see the following stills, you will definitely know who he is.
Ke Zhenwei is just a supporting role in "Shooting the Condor", but in terms of importance and brilliance, it far surpasses other supporting roles, even compared with Huang Yaoshi played by Zeng Jiang.
Everyone will look at me and act", this line has become popular on the Internet in the new era, although it is a bit nonsensical, but it can also indirectly prove that Jiang Yi's evil role of Ke Zhen is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Jiang Yi has acted in a total of four versions of Ke Zhenevil, namely the 83rd version of "Shooting the Condor", the 83rd version of "The Condor", the 94th version of "Shooting the Condor" and the 95th version of "The Condor".
These four martial arts dramas were all filmed by Hong Kong TVB, it is said that Jiang Yi's performance in the 83 version was too good, and the Ke Zhenevil played was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Because he has played four versions of Ke Zhenevil, compared with Zeng Jiang, who is also an old actor, Jiang Yi's image is more familiar to young people today, because many later generations have seen him play the 94 version of "Shooting the Condor" and the 95 version of "The Condor".
But everyone only knows that he has played Ke Zhenevil, and as for more information about actor Jiang Yi, few people know about it, which is not only related to the times, but also related to Jiang Yi's personal low-key.
On March 13, 2013, 77-year-old Jiang Yi died in the hospital, which was the last time he made headlines, and it was also the first time that the public paid attention to his personal life.
At that time, everyone found out that Jiang Yi had never married and had no children in his life, so that he lived alone for a long time in his later years, and after his illness, he had no relatives to take care of, and only a few friends in the circle visited occasionally.
Jiang Yi was born in 1931, most people in that era were conservative, and "unmarried" was by no means as prevalent as now, but why did Jiang Yi never marry for life?
This involves a little-known secret: Jiang Yi is actually a homosexual.
In an interview in the early years, when talking about friends in the circle, Jiang Yi specially mentioned the names of three people, namely Leslie Cheung, Chen Baiqiang and Luo Wen.
At first glance, these three artists don't seem to have much intersection with Jiang Yi, and the age difference is also very big, but coincidentally, all three of them have had "same-sex rumors".
As for Jiang Yi himself, although he did not come out publicly, he indirectly admitted his sexual orientation, and admitted that being unmarried in his life had something to do with it.
Jiang Yi refused to come out publicly because the society at that time was still very conservative and worried that "people's words are terrible", but he never married all his life, and euphemistically admitted his sexual orientation, which also shows his character and courage.
It's just that Jiang Yi's choice not to marry made his old age lonely and desolate.
According to friends in the circle, Jiang Yi had been living with his mother, but when his mother died, he lived alone until he was nearly eighty years old and suffered from lung cancer, and was admitted to the hospital.
In the last years of Jiang Yi's life, he basically spent it in the hospital, he had a few friends in the circle, but everyone had their own families to take care of, and they could only occasionally take time to visit.
Such an ending is embarrassing, and at the same time, it can't help but sigh: If Luo Wen, Chen Baiqiang and Leslie Cheung did not go one step ahead of Jiang Yi, would they, who are also unmarried, have more time to accompany Jiang Yi?
Maybe it will, but it's a pity that these three artists who are much younger than Jiang Yi are all short-lived.
Jiang Yi has been an actor for more than 40 years, in addition to martial arts dramas, he also played the ** boss Chen Wanxian in "The Great Era", and left a famous line: So many people are dead, but I don't see you die.
Interestingly, Jiang Yi's role in "The Great Era" is also related to his real life, because before becoming an actor, Jiang Yi also worked as a ** agent.
Being an actor is only Jiang Yi's second career, ** is his first job, he was the leader of ** back then, and even won the title of "Hong Kong stock nobleman".
Why do you call him "Noble Son"?That's because Jiang Yi was indeed born in a wealthy family.
Jiang Yi's ancestral home is Zhongshan, Guangdong, and his ancestors are local large landowners who have many industries, and real estate alone occupies half of the street.
Therefore, Jiang Yi can be said to have been born with a "golden spoon", and his childhood was carefree, not like Ke Zhenwei he played, who was so poor that he needed to serve dishes to others.
At that time, Jiang Yi also had another name "Deng Zhaoyi", which was his real name, and he was actually surnamed Deng.
Unfortunately, the generosity of the Deng family did not last long, during the Anti-Japanese War, the assets of the Deng family were destroyed, Jiang Yi fled to Hong Kong with his parents, and the family road also fell rapidly.
So when he became an adult, Jiang Yi had to work like an ordinary person to make a living, perhaps because he had seen more capital transactions since he was a child, and Jiang Yi chose to enter the industry**.
When he was young, Jiang Yi was very delicate, similar to the current "cream boy", plus his voice is very thin, which is very suitable for playing the image of a young student in Cantonese opera, and coincidentally, Jiang Yi himself also likes Cantonese opera very much.
So in addition to **, he will also make guest appearances in some Cantonese opera roles, at that time there was a Cantonese opera called "The Edge of the Cabinet", Jiang Yi played a role in it, and he also became popular with this drama.
I don't know if it's for this reason, Jiang Yi discovered his acting talent, which laid the groundwork for his later career as an actor.
Jiang Yi chose to be an actor in order to make a living, and his first owner was Hong Kong Wireless, which was also the first choice of most celebrities at that time.
Wireless is known for its actors for "slamming the door", but it has the most resources, and it follows the wireless mix, so as to ensure the harvest in drought and flood.
But after entering the 90s, wireless's revenue began to decline year by year, and its artists became even more critical, and they often issued "eviction orders" to some old drama bones, and Jiang Yi was also among them.
In order to make a living, Jiang Yi later had to change his owner and join ATV, but unfortunately ATV was also going downhill, so that Jiang Yi got very few resources, which is an important reason why everyone's impression of Jiang Yi still stays on Ke Zhenwei and Chen Wanxian.
It's not that Jiang Yi doesn't have acting skills, but that he lacks resources.
In 2011, in "Eavesdropping 2", Jiang Yi had some cameos, which was his last appearance on the screen, only two years after his death.
According to the director of "Eavesdropping", the third part also wanted to invite Jiang Yi to make a cameo, but unfortunately he was already suffering from cancer at that time and his body couldn't bear it, so he gave up.
Jiang Yi, who has acted in dramas for decades, has never played the leading role, but this does not affect his artistic height in people's hearts, because just the role of Ke Zhenwei is enough to make Jiang Yi a god.
With no children and no daughters, living alone in his later years may be a big regret for Jiang Yi, but considering his special sexual orientation, such an ending can better set off his noble character.
After all, he didn't cheat on marriage for the so-called "inheritance", and he, who is not short of money, can make this choice, even if it is placed at the moment, it is commendable.