Ng Man Tat in Hospital ICU for Liver Cancer
Hospitalized for liver cancer, Hong Kong actor Ng Man Tat‘s (吳孟達) health outlook is grim. Currently in the Intensive Care Unit, the 70-year-old actor received surgery earlier, but the cancer has spread extensively and led to multiple organ failure. Ng Man Tat’s doctor advised his family and close friends to see him for perhaps the last time.
Good friend, actor/producer Tin Kai Man (田啟文) revealed that Ng Man Tat was already diagnosed with liver cancer earlier when he was doing a poster photo shoot for new movie, The Legend of the Shaolin Temple <少林寺之得寶傳奇>. Feeling unwell, Ng Man Tat went for an examination in Macau and was told he had liver cancer.
“Two months ago, Ng Man Tat returned to Hong Kong for surgery and chemotherapy. He hasn’t left the hospital since then,” Tin Kai Man explained. A lot of friends, including Wilson Tsui (艾威), have tried visiting Ng Man Tat during this time as “the outlook is terrible.”
When friends visited Ng Man Tat recently, he kept saying he was in a lot of pain. At that time, he took morphine every four hours to relieve the pain, but it was no longer effective.
Stephen Chow Extends Help
When Ng Man Tat was initially hospitalized, he did not notify any friends. His frequent co-star, Stephen Chow (周星馳), only learned of his illness after reading the newspaper. Stephen reached out to Tin Kai Man to ask about the actor’s current state, and offered to introduce top doctors to treat him. Ng Man Tat’s family declined the offer, as they did not want to transfer him to another hospital for treatment due to his fragile condition.
Dispelling the rivalry rumors between Ng Man Tat and Stephen, Tin Kai Man revealed that Stephen has always cared about his friends, but he just prefers to stay under the radar.
Decline Seven Years Ago
In 2014, Ng Man Tat suffered heart failure due to a virus infection. He immediately quit smoking and stopped drinking. “At that time, I really couldn’t do anything, but my heart still desired to do many things. My health couldn’t hold up…. In the middle of the night, it felt as if it’s my time to go.”
Initially reducing his work to recuperate, Ng Man Tat had to continue working because he still had to financially support his large family. The actor has two ex-wives, a current wife, and five children from his three marriages. In 2019, he filmed Chinese sci-fi film The Wandering Earth <流浪地球> although his “health had never recovered,” making the actor regret taking on the role after only two days on the filming set.
This article was updated on February 27, 2021 at 1:15 a.m. to reflect Ng Man Tat’s rapidly declining health condition and transfer to the ICU.
Sources: Ming Pao, Yahoo, World Journal ; On.cc
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
I hope he gets well soon. Miss seeing him on screen. Was very happy to see him in Netflix OCTB.
On a side note it seems recently we are finding out more and more that Stephen Chow is actually a very good friend to a few… Not like the media portrays him. I was very surprised that him and Tony Leung still keep in touch and are very close still. I guess he is just very low key.
@abcd I agree, I don’t feel Stephen is as bad as people say about him. I remember watching a youtube video of him watching Law Ka Ying do a voiceover for some movie, and you can tell Stephen was not satisfied but he still bit his tongue and said yeah… it’s ok. I think he is a creative person and more introverted so he may not be as friendly as people think. I think I also read that he is stingy or refuses to lend money to friends but I don’t think there is a problem to that. Most of the time, you lend money to people, it damages the relationship because you can’t ask for it back if they don’t pay. And when you do, you are the bad guy. And when you don’t lend because you don’t want this situation to occur, you are still the bad guy. It’s really a lose-lose situation right there.
And as for Ng Man Tat… I hope he recovers and gets well soon. Yeah he may have 5 kids but shouldn’t they all be grown up by now? So their dad has some money from acting all these years but come on, it’s quite sad to still have to provide for your 40 year old kid when you are 70+. Hope his adult kids can be financially independent so their dad can rest and get well soon.
@gnomageddon
I was thinking the same thing. I understand supporting your wife… But your grown up kids? I would hope at this health stage they should be supporting him. Or at least be independent.
Yeah I’m seeing more and more actors speak up for Stephen chow. And I 100 percent agree with the money thing. I don’t like borrowing or lending money either… It can’t really ruin a relationship of any kind.
@gnomageddon Steven Chow seems like an introverted person who loves and hates more intensely than normal people and that’s ok.
i hope to one day see SC and NMD one day mend their relationship. don’t know what exactly happened between them, but they were the dynamic duo.
sorry to say that uncle Tat passed away earlier just now
reported on Apple daily
https://hk.appledaily.com/entertainment/20210227/SBIBH5KXMZBKVNKQIWULFBPQ7U/
@sov1e **criess** a star whom brought so much joy and happiness to my childhood with his presence.. my heart is grieving…
I just received word that he has passed away. 三叔安心上路
A legend has left us. I watched his movies growing up and always liked him. I can’t believe he’s gone already; it’s too soon.
RIP
RIP.
Sad news to hear, RIP. Another piece of the hk golden era movies of the 90’s has left us. His movies with Stephen Chow will always be my favorites.