Wang Danfeng

Biography

Wang Danfeng, born on 23 August 1924 in Shanghai as Wang Yufeng, was discovered at age 16 by director Zhu Shilin, who gave her the stage name Wang Danfeng. She moved to Hong Kong in 1948 and in 1949 was selected as one of the four greatest actresses in Hong Kong alongside Li Lihua, Zhou Xuan, and Bai Guang. She returned to Shanghai in 1951 to become an actress at Shanghai Film Studio. In 1962, she received official recognition as a "New China film star." Over her career spanning more than forty years, she starred in over sixty films. She was also the original singer of the well-known Chinese children's song "Little Swallow." She married photographer Liu Heqing on New Year's Day 1951. During the Cultural Revolution, she was persecuted for the film "Peach Blossom Fan," which was labeled one of the "Ten Poisonous Weeds." In 1989, she and her husband moved to Hong Kong to open the vegetarian restaurant "Gong De Lin." In 2013, she received two lifetime achievement awards, and in 2017 was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival. She passed away on 2 May 2018 at Huadong Hospital in Shanghai at the age of 93.