Jin Yan
Biography
Jin Yan, originally named Kim Deuk-rin, was born on April 7, 1910 in present-day Seoul, South Korea, into a family of Korean independence activists, being the third of seven children. His father Kim Byeong-soon was among the first graduates of Severance Medical College and a key financial supporter of the Korean independence organization "Sinminhoe"; many of his relatives were honored independence heroes. At age two, Jin Yan fled with his parents to Northeast China and later acquired Chinese citizenship. He entered the film industry in the late 1920s, and in 1930 shot to fame starring opposite Ruan Lingyu in Sun Yu's film "Wild Grass and Idle Flowers" as the male lead Huang Yun. He went on to co-star with Ruan Lingyu in "Love and Duty," "Peach Blossom Weeps Tears of Blood," "Three Modern Women," and other films, the pair becoming known as the "golden boy and jade girl" of Chinese cinema. In 1933, during the "Top Ten Chinese Film Stars" contest held by Diansheng Daily, Jin Yan received the most votes among male actors and won three titles — "Audience's Favorite Male Star," "Most Handsome Male Star," and "Male Star Most Wanted as a Friend" — becoming China's first audience-elected film king. After Japan invaded China, he starred in several patriotic anti-Japanese films including "Wild Rose," "The Great Road," "Soaring Ambition," and "Ten Thousand Miles of Sky." When Japan occupied Shanghai in 1937, he refused to make films for the Japanese and fled to Hong Kong, returning to Shanghai after Japan's surrender. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he was awarded the title of "National First-Class Actor" and appointed head of the Shanghai Film Studio Actors Troupe. Over more than 30 years in film, he lived through the transition from silent to sound cinema and appeared in 39 films. British writer Richard Meyer J. called him "The Rudolph Valentino of Shanghai" in his biography. In 1995, he was selected by China's National Radio and Television Administration as one of 126 "Chinese Film Stars" and one of 30 "Century Film Stars." In 2005, he received the "Hundred Years Hundred Outstanding Film Actors" award, and his film "The Great Road" was voted the 30th best Chinese-language film. He passed away on December 27, 1983.