Linda Lin Dai

Biography

Linda Lin Dai, born Cheng Yue-ru, was born in Nanning, Guangxi. She was the eldest daughter of Cheng Siyuan, secretary of warlord Li Zongren, and his first wife Jiang Xiuhua. Her English name was Linda, and her stage name "Lin Dai" was a transliteration of it. She had one younger brother and two younger sisters. Shortly after birth, her father went to study at the University of Rome in Italy, and she lived with her mother in Binyang until age 3 when they moved to Wuhan. Her parents divorced in 1940 when she was 5, and she moved to Guilin with her mother. During the War of Resistance, she was sent to Chongqing for schooling. After the war, she lived in Nanjing and attended Guanghua Girls' School and Huiwen Girls' School. In 1948, she left Nanjing and eventually returned to Guilin, attending Dezhi Middle School and Guangxi Arts College. In 1949, after the regime change in mainland China, she moved to Hong Kong with her family, attending multiple schools including New Asia College. In 1951, she was discovered by a talent scout through photos taken by photographer Zong Weigeng and joined Great Wall Film Production Company, but was not promoted due to her family's political background. In 1952, she moved to Yonghua Film Company and starred in her first film "Cuicui" (1953), which made her an instant star. She became highly sought after by both MP& Shaw and Cathay film companies. She won the Best Actress award at the Asian Film Festival four times for "Golden Lotus," "Diao Chan," "The Love Eterne," and "Love Without End," becoming a four-time Asian Film Queen. In 1958, while studying at Columbia University in New York, she met Long Shengxun, the fifth son of former Yunnan Governor Yun Long. They married in 1961 and had a son in 1963. She passed away on July 17, 1964, at the age of 29.