A man dying to act gets his final wish

Veteran Hong Kong actor Law Lok-lam looked like he was having a grave run of bad luck when he died in five different soap operas in a 24-hour period last week. He was terminated in a martial arts fight, vomited blood before dying in another, while shuffling off his mortal coil from illness in yet another soap opera. In two other dramas his passing was discussed.

And it's all good news for the 63-year-old bit-part TVB actor, who's never been more popular. After his knack for being killed off was the subject of an article in his native Hong Kong, it quickly became an international story and his manager eventually had to tell eager journalists that he was too busy for any more interviews.

Also, Law benefited from a superstitious attitude toward death that had the production crews of his soap dramas giving him "red envelopes" of money to ward off bad luck.