Richard Ng Man-tat (, 2 January 1952 – 27 February 2021), commonly called Uncle Tat (), was a Hong Kong actor originally from Fujian. He was a veteran in the Hong Kong film industry, with dozens of awards, including Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in A Moment of Romance. Ng was best known for his comedic roles alongside Stephen Chow and was a versatile actor with many memorable performances throughout his career. Early life Richard Ng Man-tat was born on Gulangyu island in Xiamen, Fujian, on 2 January 1952. He had an older sister and two younger brothers. Ng's family migrated to Hong Kong when he was five. The family relied on his father's monthly income of to survive. Ng studied at Aberdeen Technical School, where he took a mechanical course to help provide for the family. Career Early acting career and bankruptcy Ng noticed TVB's Chinese Folklore, which had an actor, Lin Wei Tu (), who was Ng's coworker at the factory where he was working. Ng thought he met the requirements of being an actor and signed up for TVB's acting classes in 1973. In 1974, he graduated fifth in his batch of trainees, alongside veteran actor Chow Yun-fat, and debuted when he was 22. He was one of the seven from his batch to sign an acting contract with TVB. Ng's breakout film was the 1979 edition of the television series Chor Lau-heung in which he played Wu Tit-fa. This role allowed him to become one of the more sought-after actors of that time. However, he became caught up in the fame and fortune that he gained, and starting gambling. By 1980, he owed to loan sharks and was declared bankrupt. TVB then minimised his appearances. Ng wanted to borrow money from his friends, including Chow, but he was turned away by them, and then considered suicide as a possible recourse. After some consideration, Ng decided to restudy and improve his acting skills, reading up on Konstantin Stanislavski's An Actor Prepares and Zheng Junli's The Birth of a Role (角色的誕生). To pay off his debts, two-thirds of Ng's salary was used for repayments. While repaying his debts, Ng was cast in 1981's , in which his efforts were recognised, thus enabling him to continue acting in films and television series. The debts were paid off by 1984. Acting career