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A recent photo of Mei
Xiang Mei is a famous performing artist with both virtue and art.
She starred in many classic film and television dramas such as "Red Detachment of Women", "Night Sailing", "North Country Jiangnan", "Night Sailing", "Gunshots of the Secret Bureau", "Blue Archives", "University in Exile", "Will Miracles Happen", "Red Flower That Never Withers", "Golden Rose" and many other classic film and television dramas, which have been talked about.
Whether it is the child bride "Red Lotus" in "Red Detachment of Women", "Shi Xiuying" in "The Gunshot of the Secret Bureau",
It is also the bright and moving empress of the Wuji Kingdom in "Journey to the West" and the "Shen Yaqi" in the "Blue Archives", which has been regarded as a classic so far.
Stills from Journey to the West
Xiang Mei's husband is Chi Xidao, former deputy director of Shanghai Film Studio and executive deputy general manager of Shanghai Film Group.
Chi Xidao is eight years older than Xiang Mei, the two married in 1959, and gave birth to a son Chi Jing in 1960, because of her low profile, Xiang Mei has rarely shared her private life with the outside world, and she feels that as an actor, as long as she focuses on the work, she can do it.
Xiang Mei and her husband have been in love for a lifetime, and they feel that they owe him too much, so they want to retire early to take care of him, make up for the company they should not have when they were young, and enjoy their old age with him.
But I didn't expect that rumors also followed, saying that Xiang Mei's life in her later years was unfortunate, and her children were not filial piety.
Xiang Mei birthday
But in fact, this is not the case.
Let's walk into this low-key artist today and look back at the path she took when she was young and how she lived in her later years.
01 If you are not an actor, Xiang Mei should be an excellent architect
Xiang Mei, formerly known as Wu Xiangmei.
Born in August 1937 in Beijing to a Kochi family, his father Wu Zhaofa stayed in the United States at the age of 17 and received a doctorate in biology in the United States at the age of 24, and his mother Huang Yuehua graduated from The Chinese and Western Girls' High School and spoke English very well.
As a child, Xiang Mei's family was in Beijing
Xiang Mei has a total of eight brothers and sisters in the family, she is the third eldest, because she is a premature baby, she has been particularly favored since childhood.
Because her parents are high-level intellectuals, Xiang Mei's family atmosphere has always been democratic, and what their siblings like and what school they want to go to is up to them.
Xiang Mei has been passionate about art since she was a child, she loves to read famous novels, love to paint and dance.
When he was in middle school at the Affiliated Middle School of Beijing Normal University, Xiang Mei also participated in the school's amateur drama troupe.
Young to Mei
Although she loved art, Xiang Mei at that time did not think that she would take this road, and after graduating from high school, she was admitted to the Department of Architecture of Tianjin University.
Xiang Mei's dream is to become a good architect, but a chance change her life path completely.
In 1957, the 20-year-old Xiang Mei was drawing design drawings in the classroom, when suddenly a director Ding Li who claimed to be a Shanghai Film Studio came to visit, and Director Ding Li said that director Xie Jin was preparing to make the movie "Women's Basketball No. 5", and he felt that the role of "Wang Aizhu" in the play was particularly suitable for Xiang Mei and wanted to invite her to star.
Xiang Mei, who loves acting, agreed. Many people think that "Women's Basketball No. 5" is Xiang Mei's first appearance in front of the camera.
Xiang Mei childhood
Xiang Mei with siblings
In fact, it is not, as early as Xiang Mei was 11 years old, there was Xiang Mei in a documentary called "Peking Family".
And this time won the favor of director Xie Jin, because of a distant relative of Xiang Mei recommended, this relative sent Xiang Mei's photo to the film studio, the film side was very satisfied after seeing it, so he sent Director Ding to Tianjin University to find Xiang Mei.
Originally, Xiang Mei was ready to return to school after filming "Women's Basketball No. 5", and she did not want to delay her studies.
Unexpectedly, Xiang Mei's performance on the screen was simple and natural, and it was well received by the audience after the screening.
02 Stayed in the studio and became an actor
After participating in the first film, the studio took a fancy to Xiang Mei and felt that she was not only beautiful, but also had a unique temperament.
Although I don't come from an acting major, I know it all.
It just so happened that the famous performance artist known as the "Emperor of the Stage" at that time, Director Shi Hui, was preparing to shoot "Night Flight of the Sea of Fog", and he invited Xiang Mei to star in the college student "He Meijuan".
Then the directors of the crews such as "Two Salesmen", "Cuckoos Call Again", "A Thousand Girls Noisy Sea", "North Country Jiangnan" and other crews also invited Xiang Mei to star, so Xiang Mei was left in the studio to shoot one after another, and did not finish his studies in school.
Stills from "The Red Detachment of Women"
From the dream of an architect to become an actor, Xiang Mei has chosen a path, and she must take the road of actors well without a way out.
After that, Xiang Mei was once again invited by director Xie Jin to participate in the role of "Red Lotus" in "Red Detachment of Women".
The red lotus in the play is a young woman oppressed by feudalism, who was sold as a child bride at the age of ten, and was accompanied by the "wooden man's husband" for ten years, suffering from mental torture.
Later, I heard the story of the Red Army, after forming the Women's Army, and Qionghua, who met by chance, joined the army, and finally grew from a child bride to a Red Army cadre.
This film was filmed in Hainan, and director Xie Jin made the actors closer to the image of the "Girl Scout Army".
Bring them to Hainan in advance to experience life, and in Hainan, Xiang Mei and Zhu Xijuan and other actresses trained for three months.
They practice carrying guns under the sun, creeping forward, and when they blow a whistle in the middle of the night, they urgently assemble, beat leggings, and the face of the fine skin and tender flesh is not enough to peel off several layers of skin under the three-month sun exposure, and they also have to smear the bottom of the pot ash on their faces, and the director is to train them to look like a soldier
This drama was released in 1961, in fact, it began to be filmed in 1959, lasted three years, filmed and changed in the middle, Xiang Mei clearly remembers that there is a shot of jumping from the truck, and now she is still scared to think about it, because she was pregnant at that time.
However, it was worth it. After the release of "Red Detachment of Women", it was praised by everyone.
The tough, simple, kind and loyal Red Lotus played by Xiang Mei has also been well received by the audience and has become a screen classic for her.
03 Meet a person with a white head
Xiang Mei's lover Chi Xidao, the former deputy director of the Shanghai Film Studio and executive deputy general manager of the Shanghai Film Group, is eight years older than Xiang Mei, and the two married in 1959 and gave birth to their only son, Chi Jing, in 1960.
I think that when Xiang Mei chose to stay in the studio, in addition to the movie, there should be this partner who has been in love with her all her life.
A family of three
As Xiang Mei's lover, Chi Xidao gave her great support.
He encouraged her to pursue her dreams and careers, at that time Xiang Mei was preoccupied with work, pregnant with her son was filming, only four months after the birth of her son, she went to the crew again, eight months a year, Xiang Mei was filming outside, almost ate a normal dinner at home.
At that time, shooting locations not only did not have a salary, but also needed to bring their own luggage, and these luggage were all packed with the help of Chi Xidao, he did everything, the floor cover, hot water bottle, washbasin and all other utensils were available.
Because of the perennial filming outside, Xiang Mei's companionship with her husband and son when she was young was very little, and she felt that she owed a lot to them, which is why she had to quit the film industry and return to her family in her later years, because she wanted to make up for the deficit in her youth.
"The Gunshots of the Secret Service"
Xiang Mei's heavy career, through the "Red Detachment of Women", she tasted the joy of success for the first time.
She was ready to shine in the film world, but she was greatly shocked by the experience of being criticized and changing roles by her predecessors.
Then, because of the special period, he was forced to leave the film industry for a full decade.
However, all the dormancy is for the future outbreak, in 1979, the 42-year-old Xiang Mei returned to the film industry, with a "Secret Bureau gunshot" she became a hit.
After becoming popular, Xiang Mei was highly sought after by the audience, and everywhere she went, she would be surrounded by fans on the third and outer three floors.
Artistic life is able to grow again, and Xiang Mei has not failed herself.
But she is a very low-key and shy person, she does not like lively occasions, more afraid of being surrounded by fans, since that time in the department store by fans chased, she has not been on the street.
At that time, the actor was paid a monthly salary, although before that, Xiang Mei had made many film and television dramas, and was also deeply loved by the audience, but she had always taken the salary of a trainee actor, until the "Gunshot of the Secret Bureau" started, Xiang Mei's salary rose from the original 48 yuan salary to 59 yuan.
Asked if he had ever been paying a trainee actor for twenty years, did he have any grievances in his heart? Xiang Mei was very open.00.
She said that the intellectuals at that time never mentioned money, thinking that raising money was a copper stink.
Xiang Mei is really passionate about acting, she is dedicated to her work, after the "gunshot", she has successively participated in many film and television dramas such as "Blue Files", "Flying to the Pacific", "Will Miracles Happen", "The Red Flower That Never Withers", etc.
In 1985, Xiang Mei became the head of the Shanghai Actors Troupe, during which time she was also invited by director Yang Jie to star as the Empress of wuji in the 86th edition of "Journey to the West".
In 1986, Xiang Mei was 49 years old, and she originally wanted to decline the invitation of director Yang Jie, because she had not acted in costume, which may not be appropriate.
But later the filming effect was very good, and the empress of the Wuji Kingdom played by her was graceful and luxurious, glamorous and vulgar, becoming one of the audience's favorite characters in "Journey to the West".
04 Later life Happy and fulfilling
Because he owed too much to his husband and son when he was young, Xiang Mei retired earlier, and only 55 years old left the film world and returned to family life, making two cameo appearances every year when he had the opportunity, and the rest of the time was spent with his family.
Xiang Mei was quiet when she was young, and she was even more low-key in her later years, and almost "disappeared" in front of the public after retirement.
But it is precisely because of this that there are rumors of those desolate old age.
Obviously, she was very happy and the family was happy, but in the mouths of those rumor-mongers, she had a miserable life, and Xiang Mei could not bear it before choosing to speak out.
She said: "My old age was very happy, and my son and daughter-in-law were very filial. To my juniors, I am very proud. The only guilt is that in my son's childhood, when I needed maternal love and care the most, I was not able to do my best. ”
Xiang Mei and her family
But despite this, Xiang Mei will always be a respectable person in the hearts of the juniors.
Because of her love of art, she dedicated her youth, and she will always be their role model and role model.
In 2008, Xiang Meiben also wanted to play a role in a medical drama, memorized lines for a few days, and the result was a headache that was not good, and then went to the hospital to check that it was a cerebral infarction, and lived for almost a month.
Although she has regrets about this, she looks very open,She said that when she is older, "I don't have the conditions to do the job of an actor." However, "life, old age, illness and death are the norm for a person." A person always has a most exuberant creative period. ”
Simply, Xiang Mei was at ease at home with his wife, took care of him, ate with him, read together, and did the beauty that was missed when he was young because of his busy work.
At the same time, XiangMei also likes to plant some flowers and grasses, so she also made a flower stand on her own balcony, raising bougainvillea, Fusang, sunflowers, succulents, Junzi orchids and so on.
Not long ago, her daughter-in-law also sent her a pot of Ruixiang, which she raised very well, and every Spring Festival was very fragrant.
Xiang Mei said: "I don't care whether the flower is noble or not, as long as it blooms colorfully and watches it grow up little by little, I will be happy." ”
In fact, the beauty of XiangMei is also somewhat like the incense of Ruixiang, which makes people unforgettable when they smell it.
Although she has not appeared in the public eye for many years, the plays she has acted in and the roles she has created are still enjoyed by the audience.
Voltaire said: "Beauty is only pleasing to the eye, and the elegance of temperament fascinates the soul." ”
When she was young, Xiang Mei had an elegant temperament and fascinated people, and now at the age of 85, she is still the same.
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