100 of the greatest actors and actresses in Chinese movie 100 years
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Born in Shenyang, grew up in Jinan, the daughter of an economics professor. Loved music from childhood, and dreamed of a singing career. After failing to gain entrance to China's top music school in 1985, applied for and was admitted to the Central Drama Academy in Beijing, from which she graduated in 1989. While still a student, was cast as the female lead in Red Sorghum (1988)(aka "Red Sorghum"), the initial directing effort by Yimou Zhang. China's best-known actress in the West, she was named Best Actress at the 49th Venice International Film Festival for her role in The Story of Qiu Ju (1992) (aka "The Story of Qiu Ju"). Made a series of successful films with Yimou Zhang, a collaboration that apparently ended with the breakup of their personal relationship in 1995 and Gong's subsequent marriage to a tobacco company executive.- Producer
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Hong Kong's cheeky, lovable and best-known film star, Jackie Chan endured many years of long, hard work and multiple injuries to establish international success after his start in Hong Kong's manic martial arts cinema industry.
Jackie was born Kong-sang Chan on April 7, 1954, on Hong Kong's famous Victoria Peak, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, and the family immigrated to Canberra, Australia, in early 1960. The young Jackie was less than successful scholastically, so his father sent him back to Hong Kong to attend the rigorous China Drama Academy, one of the Peking Opera schools. Chan excelled at acrobatics, singing and martial arts and eventually became a member of the "Seven Little Fortunes" performing troupe and began lifelong friendships with fellow martial artists / actors Sammo Kam-Bo Hung and Biao Yuen. Chan journeyed back and forth to visit his parents and work in Canberra, but eventually he made his way back to Hong Kong as his permanent home. In the early 1970s, Chan commenced his movie career and interestingly appeared in very minor roles in two films starring then rising martial arts superstar Bruce Lee: Fist of Fury (1972) (aka "The Chinese Connection"), and the Warner Bros. production Enter the Dragon (1973). Not long after Lee's untimely death, Chan was often cast in films cashing in on the success of Bruce Lee by utilizing words like "fist", "fury" or "dragon" in their US release titles.
Chan's own film career was off and running and he swiftly appeared in many low-budget martial arts films that were churned out at a rapid-fire pace by Hong Kong studios eager to satisfy the early 1970s boom in martial-arts cinema. He starred in Shaolin Wooden Men (1976), To Kill with Intrigue (1977), Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (1978) and Magnificent Bodyguards (1978), which all fared reasonably well at the cinemas. However, he scored a major breakthrough with the action comedy Drunken Master (1978), which has become a cult favorite among martial arts film fans. Not too long after this, Chan made his directorial debut with The Young Master (1980) and then "Enter the Dragon" producer Robert Clouse lured Jackie to the United States for a film planned to break Jackie into the lucrative US market. Battle Creek Brawl (1980) featured Jackie competing in a "toughest Street fighter" contest set in 1940s Texas; however, Jackie was unhappy with the end result, and it failed to fire with US audiences. In a further attempt to get his name known in the United States, Jackie was cast alongside Burt Reynolds, Sir Roger Moore and Dean Martin in the Hal Needham-directed car chase film The Cannonball Run (1981). Regrettably, Jackie was cast as a Japanese race driver and his martial arts skills are only shown in one small sequence near the film's conclusion. Stateside success was still a few years away for Jackie Chan!
Undeterred, he returned to East Asia to do what he did best--make jaw-dropping action films loaded with amazing stunt work. Chan and his legendary stunt team were without parallel in their ability to execute the most incredible fight scenes and action sequences, and the next decade would see some of their best work. Chan paired with the dynamic Sammo Kam-Bo Hung to star in Winners & Sinners (1983), Project A (1983), Wheels on Meals (1984), My Lucky Stars (1985) (aka "Winners & Sinners 2"), Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985) (aka "Winners & Sinners 3"). Chan then journeyed back to the United States for another shot at that market, starring alongside Danny Aiello in The Protector (1985), filmed in Hong Kong and New York. However, as with previous attempts, Jackie felt the US director--in this case, James Glickenhaus--failed to understand his audience appeal and the film played to lukewarm reviews and box-office receipts. However, Jackie did decide to "harden" up his on-screen image somewhat and his next film, Police Story (1985) was a definite departure from previously light-hearted martial arts fare, and his fans loved the final product!
This was quickly followed up with the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)-influenced Armour of God (1986), during filming of which Jackie mistimed a leap from a wall to a tree on location in Yugoslavia and fell many quite a few feet onto his head, causing a skull fracture. It was another in a long line of injuries that Chan has suffered as a result of doing his own stunt work, and he was soon back in front of the cameras. Project A 2 (1987), Police Story 2 (1988), Miracles: The Canton Godfather (1989) (aka "Mr. Canton and Lady Rose)", Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (1991) (aka "Armour of God 2") and Supercop (1992) (aka "Police Story 3") were all sizable hits for Jackie, escalating his status to phenomenal heights in Asia, and to his loyal fanbase around the globe. US success was now just around the corner for the hard-working Jackie Chan, and it arrived in the form of the action film Rumble in the Bronx (1995) (though it was actually filmed in Canada) that successfully blended humor and action to make a winning formula in US theaters.
Jackie did not waste any time and went to work on First Strike (1996) (aka "Police Story 4"), Mr. Nice Guy (1997), Who Am I? (1998), which all met with positive results at the international box office. Jackie then went to work in his biggest-budget US production, starring alongside fast-talking comedian Chris Tucker in the action comedy Rush Hour (1998). The film was a bigger hit than "Rumble in the Bronx" and firmly established Jackie as a bona fide star in the United States. Jackie then paired up with rising talent Owen Wilson to star in Shanghai Noon (2000) and its sequel, Shanghai Knights (2003), and re-teamed with Tucker in Rush Hour 2 (2001), as well as starring in The Tuxedo (2002), The Medallion (2003) and the delightful Around the World in 80 Days (2004). Not one to forget his loyal fanbase, Jackie returned to more gritty and traditional fare with New Police Story (2004) and The Myth (2005). The multi-talented Chan (he is also a major recording star in Asia) shows no sign of slowing down and has long since moved out of the shadow of Bruce Lee, to whom he was usually compared early in his career.
Chan is truly one of the international film industry's true maverick actor / director / stuntman / producer combinations - he has done this the hard way, and always his way to achieve his dreams and goals to be an international cinematic star. Off screen, he has been directly involved in many philanthropic ventures providing financial assistance to schools and universities around the world. He is a UNICEF GoodWill Ambassador, and he has campaigned against animal abuse and pollution and assisted with disaster relief efforts to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami victims.- Actress
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Ziyi Zhang is a Chinese actress and model. She is best known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
She made her feature film debut in The Road Home (1999).
For her work in Memoirs of a Geisha she was nominated for an Golden Globe for Best Actress.- Actor
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Tony Leung Chiu Wai was born in Hong Kong on 27 June 1962. He and his younger sister were raised by their mother after his father left them. In 1982, after passing the training courses of TVB, Tony became a TV actor and became famous for his comedy style in such TV shows as Tales of a Eunuch (1983) or The Proud Twins (1979). However, he didn't limit himself to television and began showing his versatility in films like My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) and A City of Sadness (1989). After he starred in several movies directed by 'Kar wai Wong'; such as Chungking Express (1994) and Happy Together (1997), he gained more respect as an actor and finally received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes International Film Festival for his outstanding performance in In the Mood for Love (2000). In addition to his acting career, he is also known as a singer.- Actor
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Chow Yun Fat is a charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian-born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles in the high-octane/blazing guns action films of maverick HK director John Woo.
Chow was born in 1955 on the quiet island of Lamma, part of the then-British colony of Hong Kong, near its famous Victoria Harbour. His mother was a vegetable farmer and cleaning lady, and his father worked on a Shell Oil Company tanker. Chow's family moved to urban Hong Kong in 1965 and in early 1973, Chow attended a casting call for TVB, a division of Shaw Bros. productions. With his good looks and easy-going style, Chow was originally a heartthrob actor in non-demanding TV and film roles. However, his popularity increased with his appearance as white-suited gangster Hui Man-Keung in the highly popular drama TV series Shanghai Beach (1980).
In 1985, Chow started receiving acclaim for his work and scored the Golden Horse (Best Actor) Award in Taiwan and another Best Actor Award from the Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in Hong Kong 1941 (1984). With these accolades, Chow came to the attention of Woo, who cast Chow in the fast-paced gangster film A Better Tomorrow (1986) (aka "A Better Tomorrow"). The rest, as they say, is history. The film was an enormous commercial success, and Chow's influence on young Asian males was not dissimilar to the adulation given to previous Asian film sensations such as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Nearly every young guy in Hong Kong ran out and bought himself a "Mark Coat," as they became known--a long, heavy woolen coat worn by Chow in the movie (although it is is actually very unsuited to Hong Kong's hot and humid climate).
Further hard-edged roles in more John Woo crime films escalated Chow's popularity even higher, and fans all over the world flocked to see A Better Tomorrow II (1987) (aka "A Better Tomorrow 2"), The Killer (1989) (aka "The Killer"), and Hard Boiled (1992) (aka "Hard Boiled"). With the phenomenal global interest in the HK action genre, Chow was enticed to the United States and appeared in The Replacement Killers (1998) with Mira Sorvino, The Corruptor (1999) with Mark Wahlberg, and, for a change of pace, in the often-filmed romantic tale of Anna and the King (1999).
Chow then returned to the Asian cinema circuit and starred in the critically lauded kung fu epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (aka "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). His wide appeal can be seen in his "boy next door" type of personality and his ability to play such a broad spectrum of roles from a comedic buffoon to a lovestruck Romeo to a trigger-happy professional killer. A highly entertaining and gifted actor with dynamic on-screen presence, Chow continues to remain in strong demand in many film markets.- Actor
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Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and European cinema and audiences the way it has over the past four decades. The influence of East Asian martial arts cinema can be seen today in so many other film genres including comedies, action, drama, science fiction, horror and animation... and they all have their roots in the phenomenon that was Bruce Lee.
Lee was born Lee Jun Fan November 27, 1940 in San Francisco, the son of Lee Hoi Chuen, a singer with the Cantonese Opera. Approximately one year later, the family returned to Kowloon in Hong Kong and at the age of five, a young Bruce begins appearing in children's roles in minor films including The Birth of Mankind (1946) and Fu gui fu yun (1948). At the age of 12, Bruce commenced attending La Salle College. Bruce was later beaten up by a street gang, which inspired him to take up martial arts training under the tutelage of Sifu Yip Man who schooled Bruce in wing chun kung fu for a period of approximately five years. This was the only formalized martial arts training ever undertaken by Lee. The talented and athletic Bruce also took up cha-cha dancing and, at age 18, won a major dance championship in Hong Kong.
However, his temper and quick fists got him in trouble with the Hong Kong police on numerous occasions. His parents suggested that he head off to the United States. Lee landed in San Francisco's Chinatown in 1959 and worked in a close relative's restaurant. He eventually made his way to Seattle, Washington, where he enrolled at university to study philosophy and found the time to practice his beloved kung fu techniques. In 1963, Lee met Linda Lee Cadwell (aka Linda Emery) (later his wife) and also opened his first kung fu school at 4750 University Way. During the early half of the 1960s, Lee became associated with many key martial arts figures in the United States, including kenpo karate expert Ed Parker and tae kwon do master Jhoon Rhee. He made guest appearances at notable martial arts events including the Long Beach Nationals. Through one of these tournaments Bruce met Hollywood hair-stylist Jay Sebring who introduced him to television producer William Dozier. Based on the runaway success of Batman (1966), Dozier was keen to bring the cartoon character the Green Hornet to television and was on the lookout for an East Asian actor to play the Green Hornet's sidekick, Kato. Around this time Bruce also opened a second kung fu school in Oakland, California and relocated to Oakland to be closer to Hollywood.
Bruce's screen test was successful, and The Green Hornet (1966) starring Van Williams aired in 1966-1967 with mixed success. His fight scenes were sometimes obscured by unrevealing camera angles, but his dedication was such that he insisted his character behave like a perfect bodyguard, keeping his eyes on whoever might be a threat to his employer except when the script made this impossible. The show was canceled after only one season (twenty-six episodes), but by this time Lee was receiving more fan mail than the series' nominal star. He then opened a third branch of his kung fu school in Los Angeles and began providing personalized martial arts training to celebrities including film stars Steve McQueen and James Coburn as well as screenwriter Stirling Silliphant. In addition he refined his prior knowledge of wing chun and incorporated aspects of other fighting styles such as traditional boxing and Okinawan karate. He also developed his own unique style Jeet Kune Do (Way of the Intercepting Fist). Another film opportunity then came his way as he landed the small role of a stand over man named Winslow Wong who intimidates private eye James Garner in Marlowe (1969). Wong pays a visit to Garner and proceeds to demolish the investigator's office with his fists and feet, finishing off with a spectacular high kick that shatters the light fixture. With this further exposure of his talents, Bruce then scored several guest appearances as a martial arts instructor to blind private eye James Franciscus on the television series Longstreet (1971).
With his minor success in Hollywood and money in his pocket, Bruce returned for a visit to Hong Kong and was approached by film producer Raymond Chow who had recently started Golden Harvest productions. Chow was keen to utilize Lee's strong popularity amongst young Chinese fans, and offered him the lead role in The Big Boss (1971). In it, Lee plays a distant cousin coming to join relatives working at an ice house, where murder, corruption, and drug-running lead to his character's adventures and display of Kung-Fu expertise. The film was directed by Wei Lo, shot in Thailand on a very low budget and in terrible living conditions for cast and crew. However, when it opened in Hong Kong the film was an enormous hit. Chow knew he had struck box office gold with Lee and quickly assembled another script entitled Fist of Fury (1972). The second film (with a slightly bigger budget) was again directed by Wei Lo and was set in Shanghai in the year 1900, with Lee returning to his school to find that his beloved master has been poisoned by the local Japanese karate school. Once again he uncovers the evildoers and sets about seeking revenge on those responsible for murdering his teacher and intimidating his school. The film features several superb fight sequences and, at the film's conclusion, Lee refuses to surrender to the Japanese police and seemingly leaps to his death in a hail of police bullets.
Once more, Hong Kong streets were jammed with thousands of fervent Chinese movie fans who could not get enough of the fearless Bruce Lee, and his second film went on to break the box office records set by the first! Lee then set up his own production company, Concord Productions, and set about guiding his film career personally by writing, directing and acting in his next film, The Way of the Dragon (1972). A bigger budget meant better locations and opponents, with the new film set in Rome, Italy and additionally starring hapkido expert In-shik Hwang, karate legend Robert Wall and seven-time U.S. karate champion Chuck Norris. Bruce plays a seemingly simple country boy sent to assist at a cousin's restaurant in Rome and finds his cousins are being bullied by local thugs for protection.
By now, Lee's remarkable success in East Asia had come to the attention of Hollywood film executives and a script was hastily written pitching him as a secret agent penetrating an island fortress. Warner Bros. financed the film and also insisted on B-movie tough guy John Saxon starring alongside Lee to give the film wider appeal. The film culminates with another show-stopping fight sequence between Lee and the key villain, Han, in a maze of mirrors. Shooting was completed in and around Hong Kong in early 1973 and in the subsequent weeks Bruce was involved in completing overdubs and looping for the final cut. Various reports from friends and co-workers cite that he was not feeling well during this period and on July 20, 1973 he lay down at the apartment of actress Betty Ting Pei after taking a headache medicine called Equagesic and was later unable to be revived. A doctor was called and Lee was taken to hospital by ambulance and pronounced dead that evening. The official finding was death due to a cerebral edema, caused by a reaction to the headache tablet Equagesic.
Fans worldwide were shattered that their virile idol had passed at such a young age, and nearly thirty thousand fans filed past his coffin in Hong Kong. A second, much smaller ceremony was held in Seattle, Washington and Bruce was laid to rest at Lake View Cemetary in Seattle with pall bearers including Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Dan Inosanto. Enter the Dragon (1973) was later released in the mainland United States, and was a huge hit with audiences there, which then prompted National General films to actively distribute his three prior movies to U.S. theatres... each was a box office smash.
Fans throughout the world were still hungry for more Bruce Lee films and thus remaining footage (completed before his death) of Lee fighting several opponents including Dan Inosanto, Hugh O'Brian and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was crafted into another film titled Game of Death (1978). The film used a lookalike and shadowy camera work to be substituted for the real Lee in numerous scenes. The film is a poor addition to the line-up and is only saved by the final twenty minutes and the footage of the real Bruce Lee battling his way up the tower. Amazingly, this same shoddy process was used to create Game of Death II (1980), with a lookalike and more stunt doubles interwoven with a few brief minutes of footage of the real Bruce Lee.
Tragically, his son Brandon Lee, an actor and martial artist like his father, was killed in a freak accident on the set of The Crow (1994). Bruce Lee was not only an amazing athlete and martial artist but he possessed genuine superstar charisma and through a handful of films he left behind an indelible impression on the tapestry of modern cinema.- Actor
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Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens, he was already a national coach, and before he was 20 he had starred in his first movie: The Shaolin Temple (1982), which started the 1980s Kung-Fu boom in mainland China. He relocated to Hong Kong, where he was the biggest star of the early 1990s Kung-Fu boom. His first directorial effort was Born to Defense (1988).- Actor
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Wen Jiang was born on 5 January 1963 in Tangshan, China. He is an actor and director, known for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Let the Bullets Fly (2010) and Devils on the Doorstep (2000). He has been married to Yun Zhou since 2005. They have two children. He was previously married to Sandrine Chenivisse.- Actor
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Leslie Cheung was the youngest of 10 children. His father was tailor to the late William Holden. Leslie's parents divorced when he was young, and he claims this is one reason for his disinterest in marriage. Following graduation from secondary school, he studied at Leeds University in Great Britain. Upon his return to Hong Kong, he entered the 1976 ATV Asian Music Contest, where he took second prize. He went on to perform on stage, television and in teeny-bopper movies. It wasn't until he was cast in the role of "Kit" in John Woo's A Better Tomorrow (1986) that his acting career took off; he has since performed in some of the best-known Hong Kong movies of the last decade, working under the direction of such directors as Kaige Chen, Kar-Wai Wong, Hark Tsui and, of course, Woo. Leslie emigrated to Canada in 1992, but soon returned to Hong Kong, demonstrating his intention to remain past the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China through his purchase of real estate and opening of a coffee shop in the colony.
Leslie jumped from the landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel in the central business district early in the evening on 1st April 2003, leaving a suicide note that was found on the body.- Actress
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Born into a family of doctors and educated in China at the Shanghai Film Academy and the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages, Joan Chen was discovered by veteran Chinese director Jin Xie while observing a filming with a school group. Her performance in Xiao hua (1979) (A.K.A. "The Little Flower") won China's Best Actress award, and resulted in the Chinese press dubbing her "The Elizabeth Taylor of China" for having achieved top stardom while still in her teen years. She came to the U.S. to attend college in 1981, first at the State University of New York at New Paltz, later at California State University at Northridge. She a succession of small parts in movies and T.V., with her first break coming in 1986 when, in true Hollywood legend, producer Dino De Laurentiis noticed her in the parking lot of Lorimar Studios and cast her in Tai-Pan (1986). The film bombed, but it led to her being cast as the ill-fated Empress in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987), which won critical acclaim. This, and her role as enigmatic mill owner Josie Packard in the cult TV series Twin Peaks (1990), are her best-known roles in Europe and North America. However, Hollywood's practice of type-casting East Asians has led to a dearth of major roles for Chen since then, and in recent roles, she has often been cast as a villainess.
After taking a few years off to start a family, Joan returned to the screen in important supporting roles playing women in early middle age, such as the mother of a principle adult character. As a result, her career is flourishing again on both sides of the Pacific. Her two directing efforts were well-received critically, and in a 2008 interview she revealed she planned to direct again but was putting that off until her daughters were grown, since directing took her away from them too much, whereas acting could be done on a part-time basis.- Actress
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Lisa Lu is a Chinese-American actress. She started her career as a teenager, performing in Kunqu theatrical productions, a traditional style of Chinese opera. The Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) ended with a Communist victory. While the new regime financially subsidized China's theaters for most of the 1950s, it started withdrawing its support by the end of the decade and shut them down during the 1960s. Lu migrated to the United States by the late 1950s, in search of more career opportunities.
In 1960, Lu had her first notable film role as Madame Su-Mei Hung, the widow of a Chinese officer, in The Mountain Road (1960), set during World War II. She joins an American unit in an anti-Japanese mission in the Pacific War, and engages in a brief romance with their leader Major Baldwin (played by James Stewart). The relationship ends when Baldwin burns down an entire Chinese village, and creates thousands of casualties among the innocent civilians he treats as collateral damage. The conflict between the two lovers is based on Baldwin's idea that the end (his mission) sanctifies the means, and on her disagreement with his indiscriminate killings.
In 1961, she played the character of Chinese slave girl Su Ling, in an episode of Bonanza (1959). In 1962, she appeared in the Western film Rider on a Dead Horse (1962) and in the crime-drama Womanhunt (1962). She had a hand-full of television appearances for the rest of the decade. In the late 1960s, Lu found more work in Hong Kong films, most notably The 14 Amazons (1972), in which she played the semi-legendary She Saihua, a female general in the army of Emperor Taizong of Song (who reigned from 976-997).
In 1973, Lu appeared in the American horror film Terror in the Wax Museum (1973). In 1975, she starred in Qing guo qing cheng (1975) as the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908, reign as regent 1861-1908). The film depicts the relationship between the powerful regent and her puppet ruler, the Guangxu Emperor (1871-1908, reigned 1875-1908). She reprised her role in the sequel, The Last Tempest (1976).
In 1977, she had a supporting part in the dystopian science fiction film, Demon Seed (1977), in which the computer Proteus imprisons and forcibly impregnates its creator's wife (played by Julie Christie), in an effort to create a human host for its prodigious sentience. In 1979, Lu had a supporting role in Saint Jack (1979). The film depicts the efforts of small-time pimp Jack Flowers (played by Ben Gazzara) to create a lucrative brothel in Singapore, while defying the control of the local organized crime syndicate.
In 1981, Lu played a nun in Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder (1982), set in the Vietnam War, which depicts a cynical and selfish soldier. When a promise to an old friend causes him to offer volunteer service in a local orphanage, the soldier starts caring about people other than himself. The following year, she narrated the documentary film Sewing Woman (1982), about the life of an immigrant worker, Zem Ping Dong, in San Francisco. In 1986, she had a small role in the adventure film Tai-Pan (1986), set in the aftermath of the First Opium War (1839-1842), and depicting a powerful trader and opium smuggler in 1840s Hong Kong. The film was an adaptation of the 1966 novel "Tai-Pan" by James Clavell. It was both a critical and box-office flop.
In 1987, Lu played Empress Dowager Cixi for a third time, in The Last Emperor (1987). Early in the film, the dying Cixi chooses Puyi (1906-67, reigned 1908-12) as the new emperor of the Qing dynasty, despite him being underage and being outranked in the succession order by his father and several uncles. The film covers the consequences of this deathbed decision. In 1988, Lu had a small role in the mini-series Noble House (1988). The series was based on a 1981 novel by Clavell, and served as a sequel to Tai-Pan (1986), although set in 1980s Hong Kong. It features the descendants of the merchant princes of the 19th century, and the efforts of centuries-old companies to adapt and survive in a changing world.
In 1993, Lu appeared in the generational-saga film The Joy Luck Club (1993), which features the lives of a group of Chinese women, from their childhoods in China to old age in the United States, and their relationships with their Chinese-American daughters. She played the mother of General Shi Yan-sheng in Temptation of a Monk (1993), set in 7th century China. After several years of playing mostly bit parts, Lu played a supporting role in the comedy-drama The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006) as the gossipy neighbor of protagonist Ye Rutang (Siqin Gaowa). Lu continued played small roles for the rest of the 2000s.
In 2010, she had a substantial role in the drama film Apart Together (2010) as the aging "widow" Qiao Yu-e, whose husband disappeared in 1949 during the final phase of the Chinese Civil War. Qiao was pregnant at the time. Decades later, her missing husband turns up alive, returning from self-exile abroad. He tries to reconcile with a wife who barely remembers him, and with their son, who has never met him. In 2012, Lu appeared in the romantic drama Dangerous Liaisons (2012) as Du Ruixue, the matriarch of a dysfunctional family. In 2018, aged 91, Lu appeared in the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians (2018) as Shang Su Yi, matriarch of a wealthy and influential Singaporean family.- Actress
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Maggie Cheung was born on September 20, 1964, in Hong Kong, and moved at the age of eight with her family to England. After finishing secondary school, she returned to Hong Kong, where she began modeling and appearing in commercials. In 1983 she participated in the Ms. Hong Kong pageant, winning first runner-up, which proved not to be a detriment since she went on to become a star of both Hong Kong television and film.- Actor
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Stephen Chow was the only boy of his family, and has grown up as a Bruce Lee fan and a martial arts addict. His career started on TV, where he presented a children show ( "430 Space Shuttle" (1983)) and started becoming popular. He got some supporting roles, after that, and won the Taiwanese Golden Horse award for best supporting actor.
He had his first starring role in 1990 in a 'Chow Yun-Fat' spoof: All for the Winner (1990) - "All for the Winner" and started excelling in the comedy genre. In Hong-Kong, his particular nonsense style is called "Mo Lei Tau". It's also on the set of this movie that he encountered his fellow sidekick Man-Tat Ng.
One of the last HK biggest star which have not been bought by Hollywood, even if Miramax (who'll surely release Shaolin Soccer (2001) - "Shaolin Soccer" this year in the USA - after remastering it, ouch.) has probably planned something for him...- Actor
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Andy Lau Tak-wah, (born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter, presenter, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time. In the 1990s, Lau was branded by the media as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop. Lau was entered into the Guinness World Records for the "Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist". By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards. In 2005, Lau was awarded "No.1 Box office Actor 1985-2005" of Hong Kong, yielding a total box office of HKD 1,733,275,816 for shooting 108 films in the past 20 years. In 2007, Lau was also awarded the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" by the Nielsen Company.- You Ge was born on 19 April 1957 in Beijing, China. He is an actor, known for To Live (1994), Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Let the Bullets Fly (2010). He has been married to Cong He since 1987.
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Tony Leung Ka-fai is a four-time Hong Kong Film Award-winning film actor. As he is often confused with actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tony Leung Ka-fai is known as "Big Tony", while Tony Leung Chiu-wai is known as "Little Tony", nicknames which correspond to the actors' respective physical statures.
Leung has been in the film industry for more than 30 years, starring in a variety of roles. His debut film was Burning of the Imperial Palace (1983), where he played the Xianfeng Emperor. He would later work with Chow Yun-Fat in three films, Prison on Fire (1987), A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989), and The Return of the God of Gamblers (1994).
In 1991, Leung went to France to appear in Jean-Jacques Annaud's The Lover (1992), based on Marguerite Duras's novel, as the older lover of a young teen schoolgirl, who was played by British actress Jane March.
Leung's ongoing career has seen him star in films such as The Myth (2005), Double Vision (2002), Everlasting Regret (2005) and Election (2005).- Brigitte Lin is a Taiwanese actress. She is regarded as an icon of Chinese language cinema for her extensive and varied roles in both Taiwanese and Hong Kong films. Lin was born in Chiayi, Taiwan. She was scouted in 1972 on the streets of Taipei by a film producer after she finished women's high school and was preparing for university.
- Xuejian Li was born in 1954 in Shandong, China. He is an actor, known for Hey, Daddy (2015), Yang Shan Zhou (2011) and Roaring Across the Horizon (1999).
- Baotian Li was born on 28 November 1946 in Wendeng, Shandong, China. He is an actor, known for The Nightingale (2013), Feng huang qin (1993) and Shen yi xi lai le (2003).
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With a career that began in her early childhood, Anita Mui is the queen of Hong Kong's pop-music industry. After she won a singing contest in 1982, her life in the limelight began. In the early stages of her career her image was a little bit tomboy-ish and sexy (which was the reason she was called the "Madonna of Hong Kong"), and some of her songs were considered too risqué, with one of them, "Bad Girl", actually being banned from airplay due to its suggestive content. She started her acting career at about the same time, often starring with Anthony Chan, including Huai nu hai (1986) and One Husband Too Many (1988). Other acting partners included Jackie Chan and Leslie Cheung. Both her singing and acting careers were a success. She won an enormous number of "Best Female Singer" and "Most Popular Female Singer" awards in the 1980s, and her acting career's climax was winning "Best Actress" awards (Golden Horse Award and the inaugural Golden Dragon Awards in Taiwan, Hong Kong Film Award, and the Pan-Asia Pacific Film Festival) in 1987 for Stanley Kwan's "Rouge" Rouge (1987). In the early 1990s she announced her "half" retirement from the singing industry. However, by popular demand, she continued to record albums and to act in movies, and by 1994, she engineered a full comeback to great critical and popular acclaim.
She passed away from cervical cancer on December 30th, 2003. Many of her friends were with her in her last hours.- Actor
- Producer
Daoming Chen was born on 26 April 1955 in Tianjin, China. He is an actor and producer, known for Hero (2002), Wo de 1919 (1999) and Infernal Affairs III (2003). He has been married to Xian Du since 1978. They have one child.- Fengyi Zhang was born on 1 September 1956 in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China. He is an actor, known for Red Cliff (2008), Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Temptation of a Monk (1993).
- Siqin Gaowa was born in January 1949 in China. She is an actress, known for The Postmodern Life of My Aunt (2006), The Day the Sun Turned Cold (1994) and Rickshaw Boy (1982). She has been married to Chen Liang Sheng since 1986.
- Actress
- Music Department
Ah-Lei Gua was born on 2 June 1944 in Changsha City, Hunan Province, China. She is an actress, known for The Wedding Banquet (1993), The Rain of Sorrow (1965) and Maiden Rosé (1995).- Xiaoqing Liu was born on 30 October 1955 in Fuling, Sichuan, China. She is an actress, known for Burning of the Imperial Palace (1983), Reign Behind a Curtain (1983) and Hibiscus Town (1987).
- Sihung Lung was born on 1 January 1930 in Suqian, China. He was an actor, known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) and The Wedding Banquet (1993). He was married to Pao Chia. He died on 2 May 2002 in Taipei, Taiwan.
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Sylvia Chang was born on 22 July 1953 in Chiayi, Taiwan. She is an actress and writer, known for Love Education (2017), 20:30:40 (2004) and Passion (1986).- Ruan Lingyu was born Ruan Fenggen on April 26, 1910 in Shanghai, China. Her father died when she was a child and her mother worked as a maid to support them. When she was sixteen Ruan started acting as a way to earn money. She made her film debut in the 1927 Chinese language film A Married Couple In Name Only. Ruan fell in love with Zhang Damin, a gambler who had been disowned by his wealthy family. She would financially support him during their relationship. In 1930 she signed a contract with Lianhua Studios and starred in the film Spring Dream of an Old Capital. It was a huge hit and made her one of China's biggest stars. Her success continued with starring roles in Little Toys, Homecoming, and The Goddess. She was called "China's Greta Garbo". Ruan broke up with Zhang and started dating Tang Jishan, a married tea tycoon. He bought her a mansion in Shanghai and she became his mistress. Her ex-lover Zhang sued her in 1934 claiming she was his wife and owed him money.
The scandal made front page headlines and from then on then tabloid press became obsessed with her personal life. Unfortunately her relationship with Tang was rocky and he started abusing her. She was devastated when he threw her beloved dog out of a window. Ruan was cast in the 1935 drama New Women. It was based on the life of Ai Xia, an actress who had committed suicide. When New Women premiered in February of 1935 there was a backlash from journalists who objected to their negative portrayal. On March 8, 1935 Ruan committed suicide by overdosing on barbiturates. She was just twenty-four years old. A note was found that said "Gossip is a fearful thing". More than one hundred thousand fans attended her funeral. Three female fans were so overcome with grief that they committed suicide during her funeral procession. She was buried at Fu Shou Yuan Cemetery in Shanghai. Two new "suicide" notes written by Ruan were found in 2001. In these notes she writes that Tang broke her heart and Zhang shamed her publicly. - Butterfly Wu was born in 1907 in Shanghai, China. She was an actress, known for Bai she zhuan (1926), Genü hongmudan (1931) and Class Crazy (1933). She died on 23 April 1989 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Shan Jin was born on 9 August 1911 in Hunan, China. He was an actor and director, known for Along the Sungari River (1947), The Storm (1959) and Ballad of the Ming Tombs Reservoir (1958). He died on 7 July 1982 in China.- Yunzhu Shangguan was born in 1922 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. She was an actress, known for Tian tang chun meng (1947), Taitai Wansui (1947) and Li ren xing (1949). She died in 1968 in Shanghai, China.
- Actor
- Director
Yang Yu was born on 4 October 1930 in Shandong, China. He is an actor and director, known for A Hand Cuffed Passenger (1980), Intrepid Hero (1958) and Caravans with Ring (1954).- Lan Yu was born on 3 June 1921 in Xiuyan, Liaoning Province, China. She was an actress, known for Ge ming jia ting (1960), Red Flag on the Green Hill (1951) and The Lin Family Shop (1959). She was married to Tian Fang. She died on 28 June 2020 in Beijing, China.
- Renmei Wang was born in December 1914 in Changsha, China. She was an actress, known for Children of Troubled Times (1935), The Pirates of the Yellow Sea (1938) and Chang hen ge (1936). She was married to Yan Jin. She died on 12 April 1987 in China.
- Danfeng Wang was born on 23 August 1924 in Shanghai, China. She was an actress, known for Tao Hua Shan (1963), Fang mao zi (1952) and Hong lou meng (1945). She was married to Liu Heqing. She died on 2 May 2018 in Shanghai, China.
- Zhe Feng is known for Secret Post in Canton (1958), Raging Fire in the Prison (1958) and Yi fan feng shun (1948).
- Tian Fang was born on 3 January 1911 in Baoding, China. He was an actor, known for The Pirates of the Yellow Sea (1938), Struggle (1933) and Just One Night (1934). He was married to Yu Lan. He died on 27 August 1974 in Beijing, China.
- Yang Bai was born on 22 April 1920 in Beijing, China. She was an actress, known for The Spring River Flows East (1947), Shi zi jie tou (1937) and Dong Mei (1960). She was married to Junxiang Zhang and Junchao Jiang. She died on 18 September 1996 in Shanghai, China.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Hui Shi was born in 1915 in Tianjin, China. He was an actor and director, known for Life of a Beijing Policeman (1950), Wu hai ye hang (1958) and Tian xian pei (1955). He died in December 1957 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Qiong Liu was born on 16 October 1913 in Beijing, China. He was an actor and director, known for Li Huiniang's Revenge (1981), Master Qiao Mounts the Sedan (1959) and Si shen yu shao nu (1987). He died on 29 April 2002 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Daolin Sun was born on 18 December 1921 in Peking [now Beijing], China. He was an actor and director, known for Fei chang da zong tong (1986), Thunderstorm (1984) and Zhan tianyou (2000). He was married to Wenjuan Wang. He died on 28 December 2007 in Shanghai, China.- Yinyan Wu was born on 2 August 1909 in Tianjin, China. She was an actress, known for Shi zi jie tou (1937), Wanjia denghuo (1948) and The Spring River Flows East (1947). She died on 10 April 1991.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Cho-Fan Ng was born in 1910 in Tianjin, China. He was an actor and writer, known for Yi fan feng shun (1951), Huo ku you lan (1961) and Qiu (1954). He died on 23 February 1993 in Canada.- Ping Zhang is known for A Remote Village (1950), Invisible Battlefront (1949) and Chun feng qiu yu (1949).
- Actress
- Art Department
Ruifang Zhang was born on 15 June 1918 in Baoding, Hebei, China. She was an actress, known for Li Shuangshuang (1962), Feng Huang Zhi Ge (1957) and Along the Sungari River (1947). She died on 28 June 2012 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Director
Wei Li was born on 25 October 1919 in Shijiazhuang, China. He was an actor and director, known for Spring in a Small Town (1948), Shan lin zhong tou yi ge nu ren (1986) and Ju Dou (1990). He died on 21 August 2005 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Qiang Chen was born on 11 November 1918 in Ningjin, Hebei, China. He was an actor, known for The Red Detachment of Women (1961), Magician's Adventure (1962) and 2 Young (2005). He died on 25 June 2012 in Beijing, China.- Yan Jin was born on 8 April 1910 in Seoul, Korea. He was an actor, known for The Big Road (1935), Tao hua qi xue ji (1931) and Ren dao (1932). He was married to Yi Qin and Renmei Wang. He died on 27 December 1983.
- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Legendary Chinese actress and singer Zhou Xuan was born on 1 August (year of birth uncertain as either 1918 or 1920) in Jiangsu province, China and originally named Su Pu.
At 3, she was sold by her uncle (by deceit) to the Wang family and thereafter her name changed to Wang Xiaohong. Later she was sent to a Zhou family, and there her name again changed to adopt the new family name. The then Ms. Zhou Xiaohong joined the Mingyue singing troupe in 1932 (when she was around 12 or 13 years of age) where she adopted the stage name "Zhou Xuan" (Xuan meaning "beautiful jade" in Chinese). She started singing on radio and at 14 was selected as the second most popular female singer in China. She soon earned the nickname as "The Golden Voice".
In 1936, she starred in the movie Street Angel (1937)(Street Angel) which would bring her to fame. In the movie, she played a singer and sang what would become 2 of her most popular hits, "The Four Season Song"(Si Ji Ge)and "The Wandering Female Singer"(Tian Ya Ge Nu). She then began to earn a reputation both as an actress and a singer. And went on to make a total of 43 movies in her lifetime.
Reportedly, by her own confession, despite the many movies she acted in, she was unhappy with most of them. Her favorite remained her role in the "Angel". Other major works include, "Recall To Jiangnan", "Night Inn" and "The Secret History of the Qing Dynasty" (info on movie titles from China Radio International).
Her love life however was disappointing. She first married musician/composer Yan Hua and it ended after 8 years in 1941. However, she continued making stage, radio and film appearances during this time, in a total of 16 films between 1939 - 1941.
In 1946, after World War II she moved to Hong Kong to star in "Recall To Jiangnan" in which she played the roles of two different women at the same time. One an innocent country girl, the other a spoiled party-going girl.
From here on, her popularity increased and soon went beyond China and to South East Asia.
Around this time or shortly before, Zhou Xuan met Zhu Huaide, a cloth merchant and lived together in Hong Kong. When she became pregnant and thought of marriage, she began to realize that Zhu was insincere and announced their separation in the press.
She returned to the newly established People's Republic Of China in 1950 to star in "The Peaceful Pigeon", her last movie (one which she would never complete).
Later in Shanghai, she gave birth to her first son, Zhou Min.
Then came the third man in her life -- the art designer for "The Peaceful Pigeon". The love affair ended with her heart broken, and another son, Zhou Wei.
Thereafter, she suffered a nervous breakdown, and was regularly admitted to hospitals and mental institutions. She died on 22 September 1957, officially due to brain encephalitis.
Her songs remain popular to this day and have been remade by many other singers including greats like Taiwanese Queen of Love Songs, Cai Qin, the late Teresa Teng and the late Anita Mui.
Zhou Xuan is estimated to have recorded over 200 songs (114 of them for the movies) and was one of the first Chinese singers to sing with a microphone.
Several of her evergreen songs include "Shanghai Night"(Yeh Shanghai) and "When Will You Come Again" (He Ri Jun Zai Lai).
Her second son Zhou Wei has written a book with his wife, Chang Jing: "Zhou Xuan's Diary", where he provided insights into the legendary singer's life which many didn't know.
Zhou Wei and Chang Jing's daughters have both taken a similar path. The oldest, Zhou Xiao Xuan is a pianist and has worked with the Shanghai Media Company. The youngest, Amanda Zhou, is a former figure skater and now also an actress.
In June 2004, Hong Kong director Kar-Wai Wong announced he has planned a movie biographing this wonderfully talented actress and singer. Award-winning Hong Kong actress Maggie Cheung and Chinese actress Jie Dong have been cast in the starring roles as the elder and younger Zhou Xuan respectively.- Actor
- Director
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Dan Zhao was born on 27 June 1915 in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China. He was an actor and director, known for Crows and Sparrows (1949), Wei hai zi men zhu fu (1953) and Shi zi jie tou (1937). He died on 10 October 1980 in Peking, China.- Kun Xiang was born on 12 January 1915 in Wuqiao, Hebei, China. He was an actor, known for Red Flag on the Green Hill (1951), Loyal Partners (1957) and Xiang si zhai (1948). He was married to Ruan Fei. He died on 15 February 2009 in Beijing, China.
- Actress
- Writer
- Art Department
Yi Qin was born on 31 January 1922 in Shanghai, China. She was an actress and writer, known for Shanghai wu yan xia (1982), The Beautiful Kokonor Lake (2017) and A Japanese Spy (1943). She was married to Yan Jin and Tianguo Chen. She died on 9 May 2022 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Muzhi Yuan was born on 3 March 1909 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. He was an actor and director, known for Street Angel (1937), Dushi fengguang (1935) and Taoli jie (1934). He was married to Chen Bo'er. He died on 30 January 1978.- Actor
- Director
Jin Tao was born on 22 January 1916 in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. He was an actor and director, known for The Spring River Flows East (1947), The Queen of Spades (1978) and Diary of a Nurse (1956). He died on 28 September 1986 in Shanghai, China.- Actress
- Writer
Zongying Huang was born on 13 July 1925 in Beijing, China. She was an actress and writer, known for Crows and Sparrows (1949), Jia (1957) and Xi ying chun (1949). She was married to Dan Zhao, Cheng Shuyao and Yi Fang. She died on 14 December 2020 in Shanghai, China.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
- Xiuwen Shu is known for Xinjiu Shanghai (1936), Storm on the Border (1940) and Chun cheng hua luo (1949).
- Director
- Actor
- Writer
Tian Xie was born on 18 June 1914 in Tianjin, China. He was a director and actor, known for A Sweet Life (1979), Teahouse (1982) and Shui shang chun qiu (1959). He died on 13 December 2003 in Beijing, China.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Fong Pau was born on 13 November 1922 in Nanchang, Jianxi, China. He was an actor and director, known for Hua pi (1966), You nu chu zhang cheng (1960) and Luan dian yuan yang (1962). He was married to Su Liu. He died on 22 September 2006 in Hong Kong.- Born in Beijing in 1915, Li had a miserable childhood - she was a child maid, an adopted daughter, learned Beijing Opera, was admitted to an orphanage. She moved to Shanghai in 1927 and joined a troupe to learn singing and dancing. She became a movie actress in 1931 and appeared in six films by director Sun Yu, among others. What made her unique among her counterparts was her sporty, modern and vibrant appearance. After Japanese army occupied Shanghai, she traveled between Chung King and Hong Kong to make films. She went to the USA in 1946 to study English, music, make-up and was even attached to Hollywood to learn acting. She returned to China in 1947. After China was liberated, Beijing Film Studio signed her as an actress. In 1955, she was enrolled in the newly established Beijing Film Academy and became a professor of the Academy after she graduated.
- Heling Wei was born on 14 January 1907 in Tianjin, China. He was an actor, known for Jia (1957), Bu neng zou na tiao lu (1954) and Huángpu jiang de gùshì (1959). He died on 2 October 1979.
- Actor
- Producer
Xingang Wang was born on 1 January 1932 in Dalian, Liaoning, China. He is an actor and producer, known for Soul Mates (1981), Struggles in an Ancient City (1963) and Hari sa hari, lahi sa lahi (1987).- Yumei Wang was born on 28 October 1934 in Jinan, Shandong, China. She is an actress, known for Tan Si Tong (1984), Wreaths at the Foot of the Mountain (1984) and Er nu qing chang (1996).
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Xiaotang Wang was born on 4 January 1934 in Kaifeng, Henan, China. She is an actress and director, known for Fen Fang Shi Yan (2001), Beacon Fire on a Frontier (1957) and Struggles in an Ancient City (1963).- Actress
Fuli Wang was born on 22 October 1949 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China. She is an actress, known for Ri Chu (1985), Legend of Tianyun Mountain (1980) and Zan men de niu bai sui (1983).- Hua Tian was born on 3 August 1928 in China. She is an actress, known for Loyal Army Brave Hearts (1963), In and Out of Court (1980) and Secret Drawings (1965).
- Xinghuo Zhong was born on 5 February 1924 in Bo District, Anhui Province, China. He was an actor, known for Li Shuangshuang (1962), Yue liang wan de feng bo (1984) and Hi Brothers! (1987). He died on 25 December 2014 in Shanghai, China.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
- Actress
- Executive
Liping Lü was born on 3 April 1960 in Beijing, China. She is an actress and executive, known for The Old Well (1987), City Monkey (2010) and Zao yu ji qing (1990). She has been married to Haiying Sun since May 2002. She was previously married to Wei Tao and Fengyi Zhang.- Actress
- Additional Crew
Yu Zhang was born in 1957 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress, known for Romance on Lushan Mountain (1980), Evening Rain (1980) and Ren Chang Xia (2005).- Rentang Li was born in February 1930 in Fusong, Jilin, China. He was an actor, known for Bei gao Shangang ye (1994), Lei hen (1979) and Yuan shuai zhi si (1980). He died on 24 June 2002 in Shandong, China.
- Moran Li was born on 21 December 1927 in Shangzhi, Heilongjiang, China. He was an actor, known for Jia wu feng yun (1962), Hua yuan jie wu hao (1984) and Xiong ji (1977). He was married to Chao Long. He died on 8 November 2012 in Beijing, China.
- Actor
- Director
Zaibao Yang was born on 25 June 1935 in Su Xian, Anhui, China. He is an actor and director, known for Dai li shi zhang (1985), Blood Is Always Hot (1983) and Yuan Ye (1981).- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Chun-Hsiung Ko was born on 15 January 1945 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. He was an actor and director, known for Love in the Shadow (1977), Huang Bu jun hun (1978) and Wu hu si hai (1992). He was married to Ching-Hua Tsai and Mei-Yao Chang. He died on 6 December 2015 in Tri-Service General Hospital, Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan.- Actress
- Producer
Xijuan Zhu was born in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, China. She is known for The Red Detachment of Women (1961), A Loner (2017) and Empty Nest (2020).- Ziyue Zhao was born on 1 June 1909 in Shanxi, China. He was an actor, known for A Hand Cuffed Passenger (1980), Shanghai gu niang (1958) and At Ten O'clock on the National Day (1956). He died in 1997 in Beijing, China.
- Lirong Zhao was born on 11 March 1927 in Tianjin, Republic of China. She was an actress, known for Guo nian (1991), Journey to the West (1986) and Hong lou meng (1988). She died on 17 July 2000 in Beijing, China.
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Guoqiang Tang was born on 4 May 1952 in Fushan, Shandong, China. He is an actor and director, known for Chang zheng (2001), Yong Zheng wang chao (1997) and Kai Guo Ling Xiu Mao Ze Dong (1999).- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Xia Meng (a.k.a Hsia Moon or Miranda Yang), born Yang Meng in 1933 in Shanghai, China, is a prominent Hong Kong actress and film producer. She was a key figure of Hong Kong's left-wing Mandarin movie scene.
In 1947, Miranda Yang Meng moved with her family to Hong Kong, where she attended Maryknoll Convent School. In 1949, in conjunction with the school's event, she was chosen to play the leading role in the school's English language production of Saint Joan.
Xia Meng joined The Great Wall Studio in 1951 and was given her first role as the title character in Pingqian Li's Jin hun ji (1951) (A Night-Time Wife), rocketed to stardom in her debut. The comedy was a hit and decades later, stands out as a genuine classic of Hong Kong cinema. Many other hits followed. There was the tragic demimondaine of Ri chu (1956) (Sunrise), and, at her best, as the virtuous widow in Xin gua (1956) (A Widow's Tears) (both 1956), and perhaps most remarkably, her gender-bending turn as a man masquerading as a woman in the all-female Shaoxing opera comedy Wong lao hu qiang qin (1960) (The Bride Hunter).
Xia Meng's grace, talent, and beauty has made her the prima donna of Hong Kong's left-wing Mandarin movie scene, and also one of the Chinese-cinemas brightest movie stars in 1950s-1960s. In 1959, Xia Meng emerged as the most celebrated actress in the Hong Kong Top Ten Mandarin Movie Star Election, organized by The Great Wall Pictorial. No doubt she is dubbed as the 'Crown Princess' of Great Wall. (The 'second princess' is 'Hui Shi' (Hwei Shek), while the 'third princess' is Sisi Chen (Sze Sze Chan). Three leading ladies were widely known as Great Wall's Three Princesses)
A rare actress who embodied the beauties of a modern woman and those of a historical maiden, Xia Meng was often described as "the God's Masterpiece," and she was one of the few Hong Kong movie stars whose films were released in the People's Republic of China before the Cultural Revolution. She exuded glamour in a manner that was then no longer permitted among her mainland counterparts.
In 1967, feeling insecure and threatened following the starting of the cultural revolution, Xia Meng, who was pregnant at the time, excused herself from being involved in this grand political movement. Soon after, she finished the screen performance in Ying chun hua (1968) (Oh, The Spring Is Here) in September, she resigned from the studio, and quietly left for Canada even before the film was released. It wasn't until two years later that she returned to Hong Kong, and started the business in garment manufacturing, which she kept a distance from the film industry for about 10 years.
In 1980, Xia Meng returned and formed Bluebird Movie Enterprises Ltd, and produced the debut film _Tou bun no hoi (1982)_ (Boat People) (directed by Ann Hui), a highly acclaimed movie and landmark feature for the Hong Kong New Wave, which won several awards including the best picture and best director in the second Hong Kong Film Award. Two more films were produced before Xia Meng retired.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Xia Meng has a star with hand print and autograph by the name of Miranda Yang on the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, Hong Kong, and in August 2005, China honored 128 movie stars in a commemorative stamp collection marking 100 years of Chinese language cinema, Xia Meng was one of the honorees.- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Han Chin was born on 10 July 1946 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor and director, known for He Never Gives Up (1979), Wu hu si hai (1992) and Qing ben (1983).- Zhenqing Guo was born on 15 August 1927 in Tianjin, China. He was an actor, known for Ying xiong si ji (1954), Breaking with Old Ideas (1976) and Liu hao men (1952). He was married to Xiaogong Li. He died on 24 August 2005 in Tianjin, China.
- Yuling Tao was born on 28 October 1934 in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, China. She is an actress, known for Ren Chang Xia (2005), River Without Buoys (1983) and Sentinel Under the Neon Lights (1964).
- Sound Department
- Actor
- Director
Wei Cui was born on 14 October 1912 in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China. He was an actor and director, known for Zhang Ga the Soldier Boy (1963), Hong qi pu (1960) and Qing chun zhi ge (1959). He died on 7 February 1979.- Actress
Fang Xie was born in 1935 in Hubei, China. She is an actress, known for Lei hen (1979), Qing chun zhi ge (1959) and Two Stage Sisters (1964).- Hong Pan was born on 4 November 1954 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress, known for The Last Empress (1987), Shanghai Fever (1994) and Ren dao zhong nian (1982).
- Actor
- Stunts
- Additional Crew
Zhiwen Wang was born on 25 June 1966 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for The Golden Era (2014), Battle of the Warriors (2006) and He ni zai yi qi (2002).- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jing Ning was born on 27 April 1972 in Guiyang, Guizhou, China. She is an actress, known for 1911 (2011), Pao Da Shuang Deng (1994) and Red River Valley (1997).- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Wenli Jiang was born on 20 June 1969 in Bengbu, Anhui, China. She is an actress and producer, known for Lan (2009), And the Spring Comes (2007) and Nu shuai nan bing (2000). She has been married to Changwei Gu since 1993. They have one child.- Peiqi Liu is known for He ni zai yi qi (2002), The Days Without Lei Feng (1996) and To Die with Honor (2017).
- Xu Zhu was born on 15 April 1930 in Shenyang, China. He was an actor, known for The King of Masks (1995), Lan (2009) and Que li ren jia (1992). He died on 15 September 2018 in Beijing, China.
- Chunli Song was born on 17 February 1951 in China. She is an actress, known for The Days Without Lei Feng (1996), Story of Yanxi Palace (2018) and Jiu xiang (1994).
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Peisi Chen was born in 1954 in Beijing, China. He is an actor and director, known for Soccer Heroes (1987), Bianwai Zhangfu (1993) and Hao han san tiao ban (1998).- Baoguo Chen first made a name for drama series Three Dimensional People (1982), adapted from the best-selling novel. After airing the series was the one of the most popular television show of the year. In 1991, for his performance in Peking Duck Restaurant, Chen nominated Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor. Then Chen collaborated with his wife, Kuie Zhao, in Our Parents (1995), and won Fetitian Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor. 2001 should be a remarkable year for Chen, he played Bai Jingqi, the lead role of phenomenal series The Mansion (2001-2003), Bai Jingqi was regarded as the most classic character of 2000s. As one of the most talented chinese actor, Chen won Feitian Award for Outstanding Actor three times, for Hanwu Emperor (2005), Tea House (2011) and All Quiet in Peking (2014).
- Zhenyao Zheng was born on 7 November 1936 in Lingbi, Anhui, China. She was an actress, known for My Memories of Old Beijing (1983), Meili Shanghai (2004) and Hong fan (2006). She died on 22 May 2023 in China.
- Xueqin Pang is known for Hua yuan jie wu hao (1984), Rosy Dawn (1959) and Beacon Fire on a Frontier (1957).
- Meijuan Xi graduated from Shanghai Drama Academy acting institute. She was the member of CPPCC and NPC.
As a renown theater actress, Xi won Plum Performance Award and Golden Lion Award for China Dream (1988), which are two most prestige stage awards in China.
For Fake Daughter (1990), Xi crowned Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress. Then she played various characters in critical acclaimed films: a scientist wife in biography Jiang Zhu Ying (1992), an engineer in First Attraction (1993), Lindo's mother in The Joy Luck Club (1994), a gossip woman in The Strangers in Beijing (1995) and a kind country woman in A Tree (1996), for which she gained her second Golden Rooster Award for Best Actress nomination.
Since mid-1990s, Xi focus on television series. In 1996, the drama series Sons & Daughters received favorable reviews and moving the nation. And Meijuan Xi won Golden Eagle Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2002, she won Feitian Award for Outstanding Actress, for Red Carnation.
Full Moon (2002), the only lead performance during 2000s for film, Xi won Shanghai Film Critics Award and her second Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actress.