Wang Yumei

Biography

Wang Yumei was a Chinese actress born in Jinan, Shandong in October 1934 and died in Beijing in April 2022 at the age of 87. She graduated from Yuying Middle School and after the founding of the People's Republic of China worked as a cultural officer in the PLA Jinan Workers' School, which led her to the stage. She began her artistic career in the early 1950s with various military performance troupes before joining the Shandong Repertory Theatre in 1955. Her first major film success came in 1964 with "After the Harvest," where she portrayed a feisty rural female Party secretary. Her career was interrupted for seven years during the Cultural Revolution, but she made a strong comeback with the film "The New Year's Gift." She became famous for portraying motherly roles in works like "The Garland under the High Mountain" in both its film and TV versions, and played Empress Dowager Cixi in the biographical film "Tan Sitong." She won major awards including the Golden Rooster Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Eagle Television Award, and was named a National March 8th Red Banner Holder.