Helena Law Lan

Law Lan (simplified Chinese: 罗兰 ; traditional Chinese: 羅蘭 ; pinyin: Luó lán ) MH JP (real name Lo Yin-ying (卢燕英 ; 盧燕英 ; Lú Yànyīng ); 13 November 1934), is a veteran Hong Kong actress in both the film and TV industry. She received the Best Leading Actress Award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards.

She first started out in the film industry in 1939, cast in antagonistic roles during the black and white film era. It was during this time that she took the stage name of "Law Lan" based on the advice of her boss, Huang Cho-Han. He thought the name was reminiscent of Shanghai socialites (交際花), and it’s better suited the type of roles that she played.

In 1971, Law Lan joined TVB and took part in numerous drama series. Here, she played a variety of different characters instead of only being cast in antagonistic roles as she had previously. She also took part in the popular nightly variety show, Enjoy Yourself Tonight, which included skits, singing, dancing, and variety games, filmed in front of a live audience.

As well, Law Lan has been popularly cast playing roles as a supernatural medium in over 36 Hong Kong horror movies, despite the fact that she is a devout Roman Catholic. It was her performance as 四婆 (which is fourth granny literally) in the movie, Bullets Over Summer, which garnered her the "Best Actress" award at the 19th Hong Kong Film Award in 2000, making her the oldest winner of this coveted award.

Law's father died during World War II aged 34 after complications from opium withdrawals. She has been living alone since 1994 when her Indian mother passed away , thus saving her from immigrating to Canada.[citation needed ]