Xu Lai

Biography

Xu Lai was born in 1909 in Shanghai to a modest merchant family, and due to poverty she worked in an egg factory. She loved singing and dancing from a young age, and at 18 enrolled in the Chinese Music and Dance School founded by Li Jinhui, later joining his troupe. She married Li Jinhui in 1929, then joined the Star Film Company in 1933. She rose to fame with the film "Spring Remnants" (Can Chun) in 1933 and was dubbed the "Oriental Standard Beauty". After the death of actress Ruan Lingyu in 1935, she felt deeply disillusioned and decided to retire after filming "The Boatman's Daughter". She married General Tang Shengming and had four children. The family moved to Hong Kong in 1949 and returned to Beijing in 1956. During the Cultural Revolution, both were imprisoned due to Xu Lai's prior association with actress Lan Ping (Jiang Qing), and Xu Lai died under torture on April 4, 1973.