Feng Zhe

Biography

Feng Zhe was born in 1920 in Tianjin, originally named Feng Yizhi. His father worked in railway management, and the family moved frequently due to his father's job transfers. After the Mukden Incident in 1931, his father went to the southwestern war zone to manage railway transport lines, leaving the family in Shanghai. Feng Zhe attended St. John's University Affiliated Middle School, but after his brother contracted bone tuberculosis and the family's financial situation deteriorated, he was forced to drop out at age 18. He was introduced by the famous stage actor Han Fei to the Shanghai Ju Yi Society, where he began his artistic career. He participated in over 40 stage plays with several theatrical troupes, then joined Shanghai Guotai Film Company in 1946 and starred in several films. He was sent to Hong Kong in 1948 and appeared in multiple films, then returned to Shanghai in 1950 and joined Tianma Film Studio, where he delivered notable performances including "The Battle of South and North," "Railway Guerrillas," and "Guangzhou Secret Guard." He was transferred to Emei Film Studio in Sichuan in 1961. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, he was persecuted and imprisoned, and died on June 2, 1969. He was rehabilitated in 1978. In 1995, he was named one of 126 "Chinese Film Stars" on the centenary of world cinema, and in 2005 he was selected as one of the outstanding actors of a century of Chinese cinema.