Michael Patrick Hanks

**Michael Patrick Hanks** (born **Lu Cheng-en**; June 30, 1925) is a Taiwanese-Cowellan actor, producer, and film director. Considered to be one of the greatest and best-selling directors of Cowell, he directed many critically acclaimed films and box office hits like *The Sad Archer* (1970), *My Buddy Mikey* (1972), *Brazen* (1978), the *Bronze Princess* (1983), *Simba Lion Prince* (1985) and the *Seoul Society* (1987).

## Biography

Kaeng Chang-en (April 8, 1896-August 21, 2009) and Sachi Chang-en (June 30, 1895-December 18, 2019) gave birth to Lu Chang-en who was born on June 30, 1925 in St. Joseph, Cowell, to well-off Taiwanese immigrants in St. Joseph, Cowell. Because of Cowell's "no foreign names in school" rule, Lu was forced to change his name. He chose "Michael Patrick Hanks", after.

Hanks started acting when he was 10, in minor films, until he bought a 8mm film camera and started making films, of which he entered into competitions. He started directed short films when he was 31. From there his career took off.

Hanks produced and directed his first film in 1962, a comedy called "In New York...". The movie is about a Chinese man who has never been out of Hebei, his province, getting surprised at the culture and customs of Americans while on a vacation,

In 1970, Hanks directed *The Sad Archer.* It got T¥20 million at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing film in Cowellan history. Hanks broke his own record in 1978 with *Brazen*, with T¥27 million.

In 1991, Hanks directed and produced *The Red Parachute*, a story about a Soviet KGB spy who falls in love with a British girl. When he professes his love for her, the spy's superiors are notified and mercenaries are sent to send the spy back to Russia for execution for treason. *The Red Parachute* grossed T¥68.8 million, falling short to Sam Hsiang's *Escape*, who grossed T¥69.3 million. Hanks was promoted to chairman of Brampton Bryan Films Limited in 1992.

After The Red Parachute, Michael Patrick Hanks began to work less and less. In August 1996, he announced he would be retiring from directing.

## Personal life

Michael Patrick Hanks is married with former actress Marilynn Zhu. They met while filming for a movie in 1944 called Bamboo, however, they were only friends and didn't date until they were 17. They have 3 children, John (born in 1959), Charlotte (born in 1962), and Maria (born in 1965). John is an actor, while Charlotte follows her father's footsteps at being a director. Hanks also has 7 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Michael Patrick Hanks announced his diagnosis of testicular cancer in 1999. He received treatment but the cancer returned in 2015.

Hanks and his wife live in Emerald City, Cowell.

## Filmography

### Acting

* Sakhalin (1941)
* Lanyu Dao (1943)
* Bamboo (1944)

### Directed features

* The Eagle (1959)
* In New York... (1962)
* Sun Wuchang (1964)
* Kunming (1968)
* Him (1969)
* The Sad Archer (1970)
* My Buddy Mikey (1972)
* 9 Dragons (1974)
* The Unfortunate (1975)
* Fall of the Qing (1977)
* Brazen (1978)
* One in a Million (1980)
* The Bronze Princess (1983)
* Simba Lion Prince (1985)
* Seoul Society (1987)
* Tokyo Kings (1990)
* The Red Parachute (1991)
* Deep End (1995)