Sir Run Run Shaw

Truly the end of an era. He will be missed.

Marking the end of an era, legendary Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw has died. He was 107.

Sir Run Run, who founded film company Shaw Studios with his brother Runme, and later television station TVB died at home with his family by his side on Tuesday morning, according to local media reports.

He was survived by two sons and two daughters, as well as his second wife and long-time assistant Mona Fong. His first wife Lady Lily Shaw died in 1987.

Sir Run Run, who was knighted in 1977, was key in the growth of South-east Asia's fledging entertainment industry in its early years.

He and his brother, a pair of entrepreneurial spirits from Shanghai, ventured to the region in the 1920s and first started the Shaw Brothers studio in Singapore in 1924 where they made their own silent films and set up a chain of cinema theatres including Singapore's first air-conditioned cinema at Beach Road. They also established a number of amusement parks including the Great World Amusement Park at Kim Seng Road.

While Runme remained in Singapore, Sir Run Run moved to Hong Kong in 1957 where he oversaw the production of hundreds of movies as head of the Shaw Brothers studio during Hong Kong cinema's golden era from the 1976s to the 1980s. This includes the 1965 kung-fu hit Temple of the Red Lotus and the 1966 King Hu classic Come Drink with Me.

He himself was credited with scripting and directing one movie, a comedy called Country Bumpkin Visits his In-laws, in 1937.

In his later years, he focused his efforts on philanthropy, donating to schools, hospitals and charity. In 2004, he established an international award, the Shaw Prize, for scientists.

SOURCE: STRAIGHTS TIMES