Lei Ming

Biography

Lei Ming was a Taiwanese actor and makeup artist, born on July 22, 1923 in Shanghai. He joined a theater troupe while attending a missionary school in Shanghai, becoming an actor. In 1949, he came to Taiwan with the Republic of China Army and appeared in early Taiwanese-language films directed by Li Xing, such as "In the Streets and Alleys." Alongside acting, Lei Ming was one of the most renowned makeup artists in Taiwanese cinema, counted among the "three great makeup artists" of Taiwanese films. In the 1960s, he moved to Hong Kong and joined Shaw Brothers, appearing in "Spring Dream of the Old Capital" (1964), and was nicknamed one of the "Four Taiwanese Titans" in Hong Kong entertainment. He returned to Taiwan and gained fame playing "Xi Fan" in the TV series "A Pretty Wife at Home," then portrayed a father raising six siblings in "The Fragrant Garden" (1976). In the late 1980s, he appeared in popular series like "Spring Goes, Spring Returns" and "Osmanthus Fragrance in August" alongside Liu Songren. In 1990, he won the Best Actor award at the 25th Golden Bell Awards for his role in "The Cuckoo Bird's Call," playing an elderly man with Alzheimer's disease. He loved acting and spent his 70th birthday on a film set. In the late 1990s, he suffered a stroke and stopped acting. He passed away on January 22, 2001 at Taipei Show Chuan Hospital surrounded by his family. In 2002, he was honored posthumously as one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of the first generation of actors at the Golden Horse Awards ceremony.