  yuen woo-ping (; born 1945) is a chinese martial arts choreographer and film director, renowned as one of the most successful and influential figures in the world of hong kong action cinema. he is one of the inductees on the avenue of stars in hong kong. yuen is also a son of yuen siu-tien, a renowned martial arts film actor. ==life and career== yuen was born in guangzhou, china. he achieved his first directing credit in 1978 on the seminal snake in the eagle's shadow, starring jackie chan, followed quickly by drunken master. the films were smash hits, launching jackie chan as a major film star, turning seasonal films into a major independent production company, and starting a trend towards comedy in martial arts films that continues to the present day. yuen went on to work with such figures as sammo hung in magnificent butcher (1979), yuen biao in dreadnaught (1981), donnie yen in iron monkey (1993), and jet li and michelle yeoh in tai chi master (1993), and wing chun (1994). yuen's works, particularly his action choreography on fist of legend (1994), attracted the attention of the wachowskis, who hired him as the martial arts choreographer on the matrix (1999). the success of this collaboration, plus his action choreography on the following year's hit crouching tiger, hidden dragon, made him a highly sought after figure in hollywood. he went on to work on the matrix sequels and kill bill (2003). more recent action choreography duties in hong kong cinema have included kung fu hustle (2004), starring stephen chow, and fearless (2006), starring jet li. yuen also 
1945_births Action_choreographers Best_Action_Choreographer_HKFA Cantonese_people Chinese_choreographers Film_actors_from_Guangdong Film_directors_from_Guangdong Hong_Kong_film_directors Hong_Kong_male_film_actors Living_people Male_actors_from_Guangzhou