Award-winning veteran Taiwanese actor Wu Pong-fong dead at 55

Taiwanese actor Wu Pong-fong, who once won the coveted Golden Horse Award for best supporting actor, has been found dead in his home. Photo: Facebook/Wu Pong-fong

Taiwanese actor Wu Pong-fong, who once won the coveted Golden Horse Award for best supporting actor, has been found dead in his home.

News of his death broke on Taiwanese media on Tuesday (May 26) morning. He was 55.

According to Taiwanese news reports, while the cause of death is not yet confirmed, Wu's niece found him dead on the floor of his balcony in what is believed to be a case of sudden death. Foul play is not suspected.

Wu, who is unmarried and had no children, reportedly lived alone in a sixth floor apartment in Taipei, while his relatives lived in the same block but on a lower floor.

Friends of Wu said he appeared normal in the days before his death and did not seem to be suffering from ill health.

He was even slated to start filming on a new mini-series, going for costume fittings before his untimely death.

The veteran of Taiwanese film and television had plenty of accolades to his name.

Wu won the Golden Horse Award, often known as the Oscars of Chinese-language cinema, for his supporting role in Seven Days In Heaven (2010).

In 2011, he won best actor at the Taipei Film Festival for Ranger (2011), a television movie about an ex-convict released from prison.

He has also picked up two Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan's prestigious television awards, for best actor in a miniseries for Imprints Of Ceiba Flowers in 2008 and for The Roar at last year's ceremony.

Wu is known for lending his acting skills to the music videos of popular Taiwanese band EggplantEgg for hit songs such as Back Here Again (2017), which has been seen over 99 million times on YouTube and Waves Wandering (2018), which has also garnered over 66 million views.

Upon hearing news of Wu's death, the three-man band told Taiwanese media through their manager: "We only just found out (about his death) through the news. We're very sad and shocked, we're not yet able to digest this fact yet. We're all just trying to get our thoughts together." – The Straits Times/Asia News Network