Bill Lake: A friend recalls his life in Sai Kung

Another Sai Kung old-timer, Bill Lake, passed away recently. His long-time friend Chris Davis remembers:

In recent years Bill has been less active around Sai Kung, especially since he became unwell. An illness he dealt with stoically. However, in the 1980’s and early 1990s Bill was a regular customer at what was then the Newcastle (now Starbucks) and the early days of the Duke of York. In addition to his extensive knowledge of Hong Kong during the World War 11 years, Bill did research in other areas. He did a lot of the research for the Hebe Haven 50th anniversary book.

In the 70s and 80s Bill featured in a lot of local films and TV programmes, possibly more than 200, according to friends. Sometimes he played a part that required a gweilo to speak Cantonese, which Bill did, but usually he played the part of an immoral miscreant or misbehaving gweilo cop. Bill played a passably convincing portrayal of Peter Godber, the notoriously corrupt British police superintendent whose multi-million dollar bribery shenanigans in the early 1970s is said to have led to the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

In the late 1980s I spent a couple of nights on set with Bill at the TVB film studios. What stood out was not only did Bill take his acting part very seriously, during breaks, actors and actresses, including TVB celebrities and technicians working in other parts of the studio took the time to seek Bill out for a chat. It was obvious they held Bill in high regard. A nice touch in an industry that’s often about me, me, me!

Separately, in the 1980s and 90s when Bill was working as a painter and decorator, for folk he considered friends, if they moved into a new home that needed a coat of paint, Bill would turn up with his paints and brushes and spruce that place up with a coat of Artex, including a choice of swirls, stipples, or spikes—at no cost.

When it came to personal accomplishments, by far the most important for Bill was seeing his son Dougie and his daughter Odette carve out successful career paths for themselves. A proud parent, “Mission accomplished”, Bill said, reflecting his time in the military, shortly before he passed away.