In 1990, the 71-year-old Li Wei played the sadistic dyeing factory owner Yang Jinshan in the movie "Ju Dou" directed by Zhang Yimou, this role has few lines, Li Wei used rich eyes to interpret the character's perverted psychology to the fullest, making people shudder.
In the film, Li Wei has a scene of rolling down from the upper floor, and the crew considers that he is old and wants to find a stand-in for him to roll the stairs. Li Wei was firmly opposed to the use of stand-ins, and he had filmed all his life and had never used a stand-in. Li Wei said: "There is a play in the middle of the roll, you can find the feeling of the role, and you absolutely cannot find a stand-in." "I rolled down from the upper floor, which made the people present very moved."
The production director gave him a red envelope to comfort him, li Wei did not appreciate it, shouted at Zhang Yimou: "If you want money, I will not go to your play!" Gong Li was impressed, and praised the old artist for "higher art and virtue".
In addition to acting in stage plays and film and television dramas, Li Wei also dubbed and produced translations and productions such as "Battle Before Dawn", "Invincible People", "Bicycle Thieves", and "Rome - Undefended City". Li Zhiyu was nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor for starring in "Bashan Night Rain", and won the Best Actor Award at the 3rd TV Golden Eagle Awards for his TV series "Xu Beihong".
Li Wei's wife, Zhang Ying, born in 1926, is a qianjin lady of a large family in Beijing, with a beautiful appearance, who has loved literature and art since childhood, and is a Fan of Peking Opera, which coincides with Li Wei's hobbies. Zhang Ying started film in 1948 and played major roles in films such as "Women's Spring and Autumn", "Regenerating Phoenix", "Symphony of Life", and "Children of China and North Korea".
In 1951, Li Wei and Zhang Ying starred in the movie "Just Love", which tells the story of a couple of lovers who abandoned their children and daughters to defend their families and defend the country under the situation of resisting the United States and aiding Korea. After the film was filmed, Li Wei and Zhang Ying established a romantic relationship.
Zhang Ying said that Li Wei's temper is strange and uninhibited, and he is very different from his cheerful and fiery personality, but in getting along, he found Li Wei's integrity and kindness, the spirit of unremitting pursuit in art, and his own soul that also loves art.
Li Wei belongs to the introvert type, taciturn and quiet; while Zhang Ying belongs to the extrovert type, lively and active, can be described as a couple with complementary personalities. These two joyful enemies have bonded through the screen and accompanied each other for a lifetime, cooperating in 5 films such as "Symphony of Life", "Just Love", "Night Flight of the Sea of Fog", "Nurse's Diary" and "Blue Files", leaving a love legend in the film world.
Zhang Ying entered the Shanghai Film Studio after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and because her image did not meet the "worker, peasant and soldier" temperament needed in new Chinese films, she only played a few supporting roles in a handful of films such as "Tianluodi Network", "Nurse's Diary", and "Fog Sea Night Flight".
She said that the most memorable thing about her life is that she and her husband have a very tacit cooperation in 5 plays, leaving many good memories. In 1957, "Drama Emperor" Shi Hui wrote and directed a film "Night Flight in the Sea of Fog", which can be called the Chinese version of "Titanic"
Li Wei and Zhang Ying played a couple who spent the rest of their lives, and the scene of them embracing and kissing deeply was very bold and rare on the screen of new China at that time. However, after the completion of the film, Shi Hui was designated as a "rightist" and committed suicide by jumping into the sea on the ferry filming "Night Flight in the Fog Sea", leaving Li Wei and his wife with the most painful memories.
In the mid-1990s, when Li Wei participated in the filming of "Gold and Silver Jewelry" by the North Film Studio, he was upset about a friend's affair, drank a mouthful of alcohol, and when he got up, he "pounced" and fell to the ground, paralyzed by stroke.
Zhang Ying said that Li Wei's stroke was out of anger, he was a bloody man, he could not bully the weak, he was not accustomed to many things in the crew, he was often angry, and finally he became a stroke. Li Wei was paralyzed for nearly a decade.
But he is still quick in his thinking, has a clear memory, and although he has limited mobility, he still insists on acting in several plays. His last film, The Legend of Luzhen, was made in a wheelchair. Zhang Ying said: "He has no other hobbies, he just loves acting too much." His regret is that he can no longer act in the movies he loves, and he has not acted enough. ”
In 1997, Li Wei, who had been paralyzed for many years at the age of nearly 80 years, came to Beijing from Shanghai in a wheelchair to participate in the "Fei Mu Film Seminar" held by the China Film Archive, and he could not forget the promotion and love of his predecessor Fei Mu, allowing him to play the male protagonist of "Spring in a Small Town". It was his last public appearance.
His speech was full of great attachment to his acting career, saying that if it were not for the paralysis of the stroke, he could have acted until now. In 2005, Li Wei was selected as one of the top 100 film stars in Chinese cinema in the past century.
At 10:00 a.m. on August 21, 2005, Li Wei passed away in Shanghai, bidding farewell to his lifelong film career at the age of 86. Li Wei's wife, Zhang Ying, died on October 20, 2016, at the age of 90.
Li Wei has dedicated his life to the cause of Chinese films, and he and his films are forever immortal, worthy of eternal remembrance and learning from future generations in the acting industry!