李麗華

简介

Li Lihua was a Chinese actress and singer born in Shanghai in 1924 to a family of Peking opera stars. She studied opera from a young age under renowned masters, and at sixteen was discovered by a film studio owner, making her debut in "Three Smiles" (1940), which became a major hit and launched her career. During World War II she continued working in Shanghai, producing several films, before moving to Hong Kong in 1948 where her golden career flourished. She founded her own production company in 1954 and in 1958 became the first Chinese star to appear in a Hollywood film. Director Li Han-hsiang created "The Empress Yang" (1962) and "Empress Wu Zetian" (1963) for her, with the first winning the Jury Prize at Cannes—a historic achievement for Chinese cinema. Li Lihua won the Golden Horse Best Actress award twice and later received lifetime achievement awards from both the Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Awards. Over her career from 1940 to 1978, she starred in nearly 120 films across Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and was celebrated for her versatility, earning the nickname "The Evergreen Tree of Cinema."