HONG KONG, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Hong Kong movie billionaire Run Run Shaw, whose Shaw Brothers Studios turned out kung fu movie hits, died Tuesday at his home, his company said.
He was 106.
The announcement by Television Broadcasts Ltd. did not give the cause of his death.
The New York Times said Shaw and his older brother, Run Me, became Asia's movie pioneers, producing up to 800 films worldwide. Following the death of his brother in 1985, Shaw also moved into television, publishing and real estate.
In recognition of his philanthropy, whose recipients included educational and medical institutions, Shaw was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
The Hollywood Reporter said Shaw was born on Nov. 23, 1907, in Ningbo, south of Shanghai, as the youngest of six sons of textile merchant Shaw Yuh Hsuen.
By the 1960s, he had turned his family's theater chain, film studio and Television Broadcasts Ltd. into a multibillion-dollar empire and helped launch the careers of some of Chinese top stars of today such as Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat, the report said.
Among Shaw's biggest achievements was creating the kung-fu craze in the 1970s.
The Reporter said Shaw also influenced major Hollywood directors including Quentin Tarantino.
Once, when asked about his favorite movies, the billionaire mogul responded: "I particularly like movies that make money," the Times said.
Run Run Shaw and his brothers moved out of mainland China when the country was engulfed by the fighting between the Nationalists and Communists. They first went to Singapore and Run Run Shaw later to moved to the then-British colony of Hong Kong in 1959, while his brother looked after the Singapore end of their business.
