Father of Margaret Lee Din-Long and Lee Din-Hing.
Li arrived in Hong Kong in 1948 and began his career as a contract actor and set designer. In
1954, he directed "Blood in Snow" which won critical acclaim and paved the way to his
career with Shaw Brothers. Li made over 70 films in his lifetime and was particularly adept
in Huangmei opera movies. His films "Diau Charn", "The Kingdom and the Beauty" and
"The Love Eterne" won Best Film and Best Director awards at the Asian Film Festival and
Golden Horse Awards. In 1963 he went to Taiwan and set up the Grand Studio which helped
speed up the development of Taiwan's film industry. Unfortunately the studio went into
financial difficulties and closed down later on. Li rejoined Shaw Brothers in 1972 and made
"The Warlord", "Illicit Desires", "The Empress", "Tiger Killer" and other films. In 1983 he
started to make films with Mainland studios and came out with "The Burning of Imperial
Palace", "Reign Behind the Curtain", "Fire Dragon" and so on. Li died of heart attack in
1996, while filming "The Burning of the Qin Palace".
