夏梦

简介

Xia Meng, born Yang Meng, was a native of Suzhou, Jiangsu, born in Shanghai in 1932. At age six, she participated in a children's photography competition organized by The China Press. In 1947, she moved with her family to Hong Kong, where she studied at Ling Ying Middle School and Maryknoll Convent School. She gained attention in 1949 with a successful performance in a school English play. She began her acting career in 1950 when director Yuan Yang'an of Hong Kong's Great Wall Film Company discovered her and gave her the stage name Xia Meng, inspired by Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her first leading role in the film "The Marriage Ban" was a great success, followed by a series of successful works including "Nyonya," "Metropolitan Symphony," and "Sister Song." She became one of the leading actresses of leftist cinema in Hong Kong, known as one of the "Three Princesses of Great Wall" alongside Shi Hui and Chen Sisi. In 1957, she was elected to the China Film Workers Association and met Chairman Mao Zedong. In 1959, she won first place in the "Top Ten Mandarin Film Stars of Hong Kong" poll. She left the film industry in 1967 due to the Cultural Revolution and returned to Hong Kong in 1979 at the invitation of Liao Chengzhi, founding Bluebird Films. She produced "Boat People" directed by Ann Hui, which won multiple awards at the second Hong Kong Film Awards.