"No one can match her in terms of style and acting skills in female stars." director Li Hanxiang praised Li Lihua like this.
Li Lihua's acting career is half of the history of Chinese films. She has been filming for 40 years since filming, and has filmed a total of 140 movies, including comedy, drama, and tragedy. Nothing can't be performed.
She is a two-time Golden Horse Film Awards. She walked on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival in 1962 and was the first Chinese actor to star in a mainstream Hollywood production. In her era, it was equivalent to the combination of Liu Xiaoqing, Maggie Cheung, Fan Bingbing and the combination of three people.
She became famous in Shanghai and glorious in Hong Kong. She has experienced decades of historical changes in the mainland and Hong Kong and Taiwan, wandering between different camps, and her life is more legendary than movies.
On July 17, 1924, Li Lihua was born in a Liyuan family in Shanghai. Her father was the young actor Li Guifang and her mother was the old actress Zhang Shaoquan. There are 6 brothers and sisters in the family, and Li Lihua ranks fifth.
Li Lihua's mother still insisted on performing during her pregnancy and tightened her stomach before going on stage. Therefore, Li Lihua was less than 2 kilograms when she was born, like a thin kitten, so she was named "Xiaomi". It was not until she was about to enter school at the age of 6 that Xiao Mi had her official name Li Lihua.
Li Lihua was not interested in studying and dropped out of school when she was in the second year of junior high school. It was useless for her parents to beat her, so she had to let her learn opera.
When Li Lihua was 12 years old, she became famous actors Mu Tiefen and Zhang Eyun as her teachers, and went to Peking to learn Peking Opera. Li Lihua later had good singing, singing, singing, and fighting in the movie, which was inseparable from the Peking Opera foundation she laid in her early years.
1937 Lugou Bridge Incident, Li Lihua and her family returned to Shanghai, but she failed to become a famous Peking Opera actor.
1940, the beautiful and cheerful Li Lihua was appreciated by Yan Chuntang, general manager of Shanghai Yihua Film Company. She played a role in "The Legend of Heroes" and acted opposite to the famous young actor Mei Xi.
Yihua Company started filming "Three Smiles", allowing the fledgling Li Lihua to play the heroine Qiu Xiang, and its competitor Guohua Company is also filming "Three Smiles", and the heroine is the famous Zhou Xuan.
Li Lihua's version of "Three Smiles" and Zhou Xuan's version of "Three Smiles" were released at the same time, but they ended up being tied, and Li Lihua also became famous in one fell swoop. Because she became famous too quickly, she was called the "Lightning Star".
Li Lihua starred in more than a dozen films such as "The Crying and Killing", "Sending the Girl with a Thousand Miles", "The Soul Broken Blue Bridge", and "Invisible Female Heroes" in Shanghai during the isolated island period, becoming a red star with the same appeal as Chen Yunshang, Zhou Manhua and others.
According to today's aesthetics, Li Lihua is not tall, has a short forehead, a long atrium on her face, and her appearance is not particularly superior. Li Lihua's younger brother once said: "If you see my sister who doesn't wear makeup when she wakes up in the morning, she won't feel any beauty."
But her figure is convex and convex, and her appearance is mature and gorgeous like a blooming peony, with a cheerful style.
1943's "Movie Pictorial" commented on her like this: "Her face, eyes, figure, movements and voice represent the beauty of a Beijing girl."
Li Lihua is extremely malleable, and she can play all kinds of roles such as Jade, a jianghu, a wealthy lady, a socialite, a fisherman, and a fisherman.
The smart Li Lihua knew in her heart that it is not enough to rely on herself in the entertainment industry, she must have a backer. She recognized the Qing Gang boss Du Yuesheng as her godfather . Du Yuesheng also took good care of this goddaughter, and Li Lihua has been doing even more prosperous from then on.
After the fall of Shanghai in 1942, Li Lihua joined the Japanese and puppet-led Zhonglian and Huaying acting, starring in films such as "Begonia", "Going Begonia", "A Thousands of Purple", and "The Legend of the Respects of Spring River", among which "The Legend of the Respects of Spring River" became a stain on her life.
Li Lihua and Wang Danfeng starred in this film. The official magazine "North China Film" that fell in the land that year reported that Li Lihua's Japanese proficiency in the crew has improved by leaps and bounds, and often volunteered to serve as a translator for the Japanese male protagonist Saburo Sakatoshi, while Wang Danfeng studied English hard every day.
"Chun River Resistance"
"Chun River Resistance" is a film that beautifies Japan and uglises the UK. It aims to brainwash the Chinese people. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, it was regarded as a work attached to the National Government and is a promotional material for the "Greater East Asia Prosperity Circle".
A film critic published an article criticizing Li Lihua for selling her soul. Li Lihua did not dare to stand out and became active again. She once left Shanghai and moved to Qingdao to avoid the limelight.
In 1946, Li Lihua and other "reverse" filmmakers were summoned by the court. Li Lihua claimed that she was forced to join Huaying. She did not understand what "The Legend of Chunjiang" was to express. She regretted shooting this movie and hoped to withdraw from the film industry.
Due to the current situation, this matter was left unresolved, but for actors such as Li Lihua and Wang Danfeng, it is a moral burden that is difficult to get rid of for a long time. Half a century later, Li Lihua was still defending: "We are not traitors. We have been making Chinese movies, and the scenes we shoot are all patriotic dramas."
Li Lihua was not held accountable and was once again involved in the film work.
In 1947, "Fake Phoenix" starring Li Lihua and Shi Hui attracted protests from the Shanghai Barber Union, believing that it was insulting the barber. Hundreds of barbers protested at the door of the "Da Guangming" cinema, and as a result, they made free hype promotion for the movie. After the revised "Fake Phoenix" was released, the scenes were full, becoming Li Lihua's representative film during the Shanghai period.
"Fake Phoenix Void"
In the second year, "Fake Phoenix Void" was released in the United States. The American magazine "Life" introduced the video in three pages and published large photos of Li Lihua. Li Lihua became famous in the United States.
In 1948, Li Lihua and Shi Hui collaborated on "Sunny Sky", which is the only movie directed by playwright Cao Yu and is also a left-wing movie.
At the end of 1948, Li Lihua left Shanghai and went south to Hong Kong to develop, and became the biggest sister in the Hong Kong film industry in the next 20 years.
Many Shanghai actors from the fallen period went to Hong Kong to shoot Mandarin films on the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China. They were closely watching the development of the situation. Li Lihua, Bai Guang, Chen Yunshang and others chose to stay in Hong Kong; Wang Danfeng, Zhou Xuan, Bai Yang and others chose to return to the mainland.
At that time, the Hong Kong film industry was divided into two camps: left-wing and right-wing, and filmmakers had to take sides.
Left-wing film companies are booming in Hong Kong. In 1950, Li Lihua joined the Hong Kong left-wing filmmakers' organization "Reading Club", learning the classics of Marxism-Leninism, and published an open letter, reflecting and criticizing the film "Thousands of Colors" she starred in. She felt "troubled and uneasy" about it, and described it as "the product of the enemy and puppet era. It should have been sealed and burned down" , hoping that all the films she starred in "Huaying" would not be released again.
Li Lihua reflected on her "petty bourgeois individualism" and said that "We must stand firm in the people's position in the future and be a film worker for the people."
During this period, Li Lihua got many performance opportunities from left-wing film companies, starring in four films: "The Legend of Poetry", "Winter Goes and Spring Comes", "The World of Lies", and "Fire Phoenix". In 1950, it was called "Li Lihua Nian".
In 1953, the mainland strengthened the import restrictions on Hong Kong movies, and the Taiwanese authorities banned leftist movies from entering the Taiwan market. Li Lihua published another article to overturn her past self and publicly "turn to the right".
She joined the "Free Film Association". In 1954, she participated in the "Tourism Tourist Group to Taiwan" as the deputy leader and was received by Chiang Kai-shek.
Li Hua's "Qiu Jin" is one of Chiang Kai-shek's favorite movies in Taiwan. He was moved to tears and praised her as "Living Qiu Jin" , and personally awarded her a medal.
When Li Lihua gave a condolence performance to Taiwanese veterans, she said on the stage: "The little sister will go to Hollywood to film soon... I believe she will meet you again soon, but not in Taipei, but in her hometown."
For Li Lihua, the most important thing is that her future as an actor determines whether she goes left or right.
She fully reflects the smart and pragmatic philosophy of life in Shanghai, allowing herself to extend her artistic life to the greatest extent.
Li Lihua has made more than 80 movies in Hong Kong over 20 years, becoming the highest paid movie star in China. At that time, a house in Hong Kong was only a few thousand yuan, and a movie by Li Lihua was priced at nearly 80,000 yuan, and she could buy the second half of Nathan.
Li Lihua has a great say in the Hong Kong film industry. She insists on using newcomer Li Hanxiang to serve as the director of "Snow Li Hong". Li Hanxiang is very grateful to Li Lihua for her support. In his gossip masterpiece "Thirty Years of Dramas" "Returning to the Start", she praised Miss Xiao Mi as an industry model:
"Miss Xiao Mi is very special. She wears her clothes neatly when she enters the factory early in the morning, sitting in a corner of the set, and gently chatting with her colleagues. The temperature is 35 degrees, and the set is at least more than 40 degrees, and she is still neatly dressed. Sitting quietly, the most admirable thing is that you can’t sweat. It’s true that your heart is calm and cool. "
Miss Xiao Mi is also righteous. "The light slayer in the studio fell down from the overpass.Miss Xiao Mi immediately asked the producer to take him to the hospital and told him to rest with peace of mind. The medical expenses were covered by her."
1958, Li Lihua was invited to star in the American Hollywood movie "Flying Tiger Baby", becoming the first Chinese actress in to play the leading role in the Hollywood movie.
But she refused to shoot a kissing scene with the male protagonist Victor Maichon. There is a saying that she disliked the other party for eating garlic. Li Lihua clarified: "It's not because of garlic, but because it can be explained by acting skills. I don't think this is needed. We Chinese don't need to make foreign films with a flattering look."
Lihua and Clark Gable
1959, Li Lihua immigrated to the United States as a refugee. Reuters took a photo of her singing the US national anthem and called her "the most beautiful refugee" . She once wanted to develop in Hollywood and even had the opportunity to play Princess Tolando, but later she left it alone and returned to Hong Kong to make a film.
In Li Hanxiang's 1962 "Yang Guifei" and 1963 "Wu Zetian", Li Lihua, with a strong aura, are both the heroines. She has the sexy charm of a concubine and the queen's self-righteousness.
With "Yang Guifei" and "Wu Zetian", Li Lihua walked on the Cannes red carpet for two consecutive years, and Western media called her "Elizabeth Taylor of Asia".
"Wu Zetian"
From then on, every actress has the dream of playing Wu Zetian and Yang Guifei. Liu Xiaoqing and Fan Bingbing both inherited her acting career.
In 1964, Li Lihua played two roles in Shaw Brothers' "The Dream of the Ancient Capital", with excellent singing and writing, and won the Best Actress Award at the 3rd Taiwan Golden Horse Awards.
html After the 1960s, Li Lihua starred in films such as "Yangzi River Storm", "Spring Thunder on the Earth", and "The Storm of the Spring Pavilion" in Taiwan. "Yangzi River Fengyun" in 1969 made her win the Golden Horse Best Actress for the second time.
Yang QunLi Lihua won the Golden Horse Actor Award and Best Actress
1973 "The Storm of Yingchun Pavilion", nearly 50 years old, plays the charming and fierce boss lady "heartthrob", becoming a classic in martial arts films. Later, Maggie Cheung played "Jinyingyu" in "New Longmen Inn" and was inspired by Li Lihua's "heartthrob".
In 1978, Li Lihua played Jia Mu in "New Dream of Red Mansions". This was her last film, and she said goodbye to the big screen after she retired from the film industry.
Li Lihua has been married three times in her life. Her first husband was Zhang Xupu, a rich son of Shanghai. The two got married in Qingdao in 1946 and had a daughter. During this period, Li Lihua did not make a film until "Fake Phoenix Void" returned to the film industry in 1947.
1948, Li Lihua went to Hong Kong to film. Shortly after arriving in Hong Kong, Li Lihua divorced Zhang Xupu.
Li Lihua's second husband is actor and director Yan Jun, who is the nephew of Zhou Xuan's ex-husband Yan Hua.
Yan Jun’s ex-girlfriend is Lin Dai. "Cui Cui" directed by Yan Jun made Lin Dai famous. The two fell in love because of the drama, but broke up because of the huge differences in personality.
1957, on the day of Li Lihua and Yan Jun’s wedding, media reported that Lin Dai “boarded the plane with tears in her eyes and began to travel around the world.” Later, Lin Dai had a dispute with her husband Long Shengxun and swallowed sleeping pills. She died young at the age of 30, which is a pity.
Li Lihua Yan Jun
Li Lihua established the "Golden Dragon Film Company" after Li Lihua married Yan Jun. Yan Jun is the director, Li Lihua is the heroine, and the husband and wife follow each other, and is a famous silver couple.
Li Lihua and Yan Junsheng have a daughter. In 1973, Li Lihua's family went to the United States to live, and in 1978 he moved back to Taiwan to settle.
Huang Zongjiang Li Lihua Hou Baolin
Yan Jun originally wanted to go back to the motherland with Li Lihua to visit relatives and friends, but he was unable to walk with him due to physical discomfort. After Li Lihua returned to Taiwan, Yan Jun died of illness on August 18, 1980. At the age of 63, 56, Li Lihua was heartbroken.
After Yan Jun's death, Li Lihua married Singaporean businessman Wu Zhongyi. Wu Zhongyi was once a textile tycoon in Jiangsu. He was a fan of Li Lihua in Shanghai in the 1940s. He accompanied Li Lihua through his old age until his death in Hong Kong in 2005.
Li Lihua is the most vital woman. She lives until she is old. Even if she stops from having sex, she will not be idle, and she will trade stocks and even open a restaurant. She said to Li Hanxiang: "Brother, don't worry. Before we were 60 years old, we would never do our old job. We would do our work one day. Those who have hands and legs are not diligent and don't be too bored."
She knew better that we should leave a way out for ourselves. She said to the younger generation who spent money: "Brother, life is not sunny days, sunny days, and we have to be on guard against cloudy and rainy days."
Li Lihua appeared in the public for the last time at the 2015 Golden Horse Awards ceremony. At the age of 91, she was on the stage in a wheelchair, and Jackie Chan half-kneeled to award her a lifetime achievement award.
Jackie Chan played Li Lihua's son in 1964's "Qin Xianglian". He said "This mother called her for more than 50 years" , praising her as "an eternal superstar and eternal goddess".
"Qin Xianglian" Li Lihua Jackie Chan
On March 20, 2017, the superstar Li Lihua died at the age of 93.
Li Lihua's life was quite difficult. After experiencing the Japanese invasion and the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, she dealt with various political forces, and was able to get along with each other in the cracks of the times. She traveled to the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and other places. No matter how turbulent the situation is, she has never stopped filming and has always maintained the status of a first-line actress in both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the three places.
Compared with Wang Danfeng, Shangguan Yunzhu, Bai Yang who stayed in the mainland during his contemporaries, and Lin Dai and Ledi who stayed in Hong Kong but had a poor life, Li Lihua's life was much smoother, and her artistic life was the longest, and she finally lived a prosperous life. This is the survival technique of an actress, and it is also a kind of wisdom and blessing.
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