How a BBC report helped an HK star find his long-lost brothers

A decades-long search for his father finally came to an end this month for one of Hong Kong’s most famous actors in an emotional meeting with his two half-brothers, who had never even known of his existence until a few weeks ago.

Born to a British father and ethnic Chinese mother, 56-year-old Anthony Wong is the celebrated star of such Hong Kong classics as Infernal Affairs and Hard Boiled. Despite his success as an actor, Anthony always felt there was something missing from his personal life.

When he was only 4 years old, his father, who had been a government official in Hong Kong colonial government, walked out the door. Anthony never saw him again, only receiving a few sporadic letters which stopped coming when he was 12.

Over the years, Anthony tried time and again to locate his father, but to no avail. Armed only with a name, Frederick William Perry, and a few old family photos, he was featured last month in a BBC Chinese video report about his search.

That report ended up making its way to John and David Perry, a pair of 74-year-old British twin brothers living in Australia, who realized that the man holding as Anthony as a baby was their own father.

It turns out for a brief time during the 1960s, Frederick William Perry had two families that didn’t know anything about each other. Both John and David said that their father, who died in 1988, had never said even a word about Anthony. “We were quite amazed about the whole thing,” John told the BBC.

After learning the truth, the twins planned a trip to Hong Kong. Anthony described how he felt meeting his two long-lost half-brothers at the airport: “I looked at them. It didn’t feel like we were strangers. We felt very familiar with one another.”

“After all this, I feel I’ve completely changed. Some emotions have awakened inside me. I now have something to be happy about,” Anthony said after spending time with John and David, explaining that he finally felt as though he was able to make peace with his past.

“Dad used to say in his letters that if I was a good boy, he would take care of everything for me. I think he knows I’ve become a good boy since then and he’s sent two brothers to me.”

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