Because of the long age, Li Lili, a famous movie star in the old Shanghai period, has been forgotten by many people.
But if I mention his father's name, everyone will suddenly realize, and may be surprised, that his daughter is a movie star.
Her father was Qian Zhuangfei, a prominent figure in the war years. Under the influence of film and television dramas, according to the current view, Qian Zhuangfei's fame is obviously higher than his daughter.
Lily Li
Li Lili was born in Beijing on June 2, 1915. Her original name was Qian Zhenzhen. Li Lili's contact with the film is still related to her father. When she was 11 years old, her father, Qian Zhuangfei, made a movie called "The Hidden Man of Yanshan Mountain", and the actor was played by her own family.
This is Li Lili's first time on the screen. Years later, Li Lili recalled:
In the film, my mom plays my dad's mother, and I play dad's sister. There was a scene where Dad's father wanted to drive him out of the house, Dad's mother was reluctant to let his son go, just crying, I dragged my brother (Dad) and didn't let him go, I also had to cry, but I couldn't cry, but laughed. Because I think I'm dragging my dad, but I call my brother in my mouth, which is ridiculous. This scene was filmed many times, my mother got angry and beat me, I really cried, and finally it was filmed.
Lai Kam Fai
But it is also because of the special status of her parents that in 1927, Li Lili was sent to the China Song and Dance Troupe, followed Li Jinhui to learn song and dance performance, and also became Li Jinhui's dry daughter, and then engaged in the film and television industry.
The China Song and Dance Troupe founded by Li Jinhui, which was later the Mingyue Opera Society, was the cradle of cultivating stars at that time, and here came out a number of household names such as Wang Renmei, Bai Hong, and Zhou Xuan.
Therefore, Li Lili, who has a talent since childhood, is difficult to think of not being famous in this cradle of stars.
In the old Shanghai where song and dance were prevalent, she, together with Wang Renmei, Xue Lingxian and Hu Di, was known as the "Four Heavenly Kings" of the top Mingyue Song and Dance Troupe at that time.
Li Lili stills in the movie Dawn
But it is also very difficult to live away from her parents since childhood, and Li Lili is thinking about her parents while learning to act. Since childhood, I have felt the suffering under the fence.
At that time, her child's voice was loud, her Chinese pure, wearing a long cheongsam with green front and yellow behind, and when she turned back, the audience was full of applause. Three years later, Li Lili entered the film industry and has starred in more than 20 films such as "Gadgets", "Sports Queen", "Wolf Mountain Blood", "Plugged in the Wind" and so on.
In particular, in 1933, after the release of the movie "Gadgets" starring her and Ruan Lingyu, it was well received by the audience.
Someone once asked how she and Nguyen Lingyu performed differently, and she said:
I can only act in my own way, and Ruan Lingyu can act in anything.
The film that made Li Lili quickly popular was "Sports Queen" made in 1934, which was almost like it was tailor-made for Li Lili.
She became popular for playing the heroine Lin Ying in it. Her own cheerful personality and sweet smile coincide with the image in the play, and this film has made her a youth idol star for 30 years.
Lily Li stills in "The Queen of Sports"
The movie "Sports Queen" also has a certain significance of the times, like a typhoon, as soon as it appeared, it alluvialized the floating and sad air of the Shanghai film industry with a strong force. Years later, Li Lili recalled:
In 1935, I starred in "The Queen of Sports," a sports-themed film that was rare even abroad. Because I love sports so much, sprinting, swimming, basketball, tennis, I really wanted to marry an athlete when I was young.
Li Lili had two marriages in her life.
Her first husband was Luo Jingyu, a film technologist. For the acquaintance of the two, Li Lili once said:
In the filming of "Blood loyal soul", I met Luo Jingyu, the deputy director of the "Chinese" technology, who was taciturn, self-taught, and cared about others everywhere, and I was very touched when he gave me his own mattress. At that time, the soldiers were in chaos, and their hearts were very eager for peace and stability, and somehow, they wanted to start a family
On March 16, 1938, the famous female star Ms. Li Lili and Luo Jingyu held a wedding, simple, simple and warm. They asked Guo Moruo to be a witness to the marriage, and the Dutch documentary master Evans happened to be there, so he gave a congratulatory speech at the wedding. Halfway through the wedding, the enemy came to bomb, the air defense sirens sounded, and everyone had to hide in the bomb shelter.
The love of the war years is something that our generation cannot understand, and the love of that beacon era is a more test of true feelings.
Li Lili accompanied her husband throughout her life until The death of Luo Jingyu on January 26, 1970.
In 1978, Li Lili entered into marriage with a painter of her own age, Ai Zhongxin. Ai Zhongxin is an outstanding painter in China, who studied under Xu Zhimo, Wu Zuoren and other first-generation oil painting masters.
Li Lili's marriage to Ai Zhongxin lasted for 25 years, and in 2003, Ai Zhongxin died.
Two years after Ai Zhongxin's death, on August 7, 2005, Li Lili, a famous performance artist in China, died of a myocardial infarction in Beijing at the age of 90.
When Li Lili died, there was a sentence in the news reports at the time: The door to China's glorious 1930s film was completely closed.
This sentence is written very accurately, Li Lili, a youth idol in the 1930s, is also the longest-lived female star in the era of Chinese films, and her death marks the end of an era of Chinese films.
For modern films, Li Lili in her later years once said:
"I sometimes watch movies now, one is a belly button, one is a fight, and there is no thought for you. I want to write a letter to the TV station, and now also have the current thinking, purely for the sake of business, which is a problem. ”
After so many years, Li Lili's words are still in my ears. Her criticism is that the film is all about business, which is really a big problem.
References: "Film Star Li Lili's Self-Narration of Silver Life", "Flowing Water: Memories, Remembrance, And Shadow Saving" by Li Lili