張瑞芳

简介

Zhang Ruifang was born in 1918 in Baoding, Hebei Province, China. She studied Western painting at the National Beiping Art College in 1935. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, she joined the National Liberation Vanguard and participated with the Beiping Students' Mobile Troupe in promoting the anti-Japanese national salvation movement across the country. In 1938 she moved to Chongqing and joined the Chinese Communist Party, working as an actress in theatre troupes such as the Roaring Drama Society and the Chinese Theatrical Arts Society. In the 1940s she became one of the most prominent film and theatre stars in Chongqing, and together with Bai Yang, Shu Xiuwen and Qin Yi was known as one of the "Four Great Dan" of Chinese film and theatre. In 1942 she played Chan Yuan in Guo Moruo's play Qu Yuan, which caused a strong response. In 1962 she was selected as one of the "22 Great Film Stars of New China," and in 1963 won the Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for the popular comedy film Li Shuangshuang. Her 1965 film Li Shanzi was banned by Jiang Qing, and during the Cultural Revolution she was imprisoned in a Shanghai reform-through-labour center for two years and eight months before being transferred to a labour farm. She held leadership positions in the China Film Performance Art Association as vice president, president, and honorary president. She received numerous honorary awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Golden Rooster Awards in 2007 and the Golden Phoenix Award in 2003. She passed away on June 28, 2012 at Huashang Hospital in Shanghai.