In August 2019, Zhao Lirong, a sketch actor who once brought joy to hundreds of millions of TV viewers, suddenly appeared on the hot search, followed by the explosion of sketch clips related to Zhao Lirong on the short video platform.
Even once the classic line of "palace jade liquor, one hundred and eighty cups" has become a national terrier, and the 80s and 90s who have shared childhood memories of Zhao Lirong have taken her sketch lines as joint codes.
However, just when people were caught up in the memory of Zhao Lirong's sketches, a piece of news shocked everyone, that is, it turned out that Zhao Lirong's teacher had already died in July 2000 at the age of 72.
What is even more distressing is Zhao Lirong's last message before she died, "I am not afraid of death, as long as it does not hurt."
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In 1929, Zhao Lirong stepped on the first stage in her life, but when she first dressed up, she was not afraid of the stage, in this small stage in the countryside of Baodi County, Tianjin, Zhao Lirong used her exquisite interpretation to play the "color doll", winning the applause of the villagers, and she was just one year old.
Zhao Lirong's family can be said to be the epitome of the people at the lowest level of society at that time, and her mother Meng Yunde was an ordinary peasant who relied on the sky to eat.
His father, Zhao Shucheng, was slightly better, a craftsman who specialized in helping people get haircuts.
Because of her exquisite haircut skills, Zhao Lirong's father was often invited by the drama team to help cut his hair, including the "Fusheng Opera Society" that was popular at that time from the northeast to Beiping, which also laid the groundwork for Zhao Lirong to become a critic.
Because of the success of the first performance, Zhao Shucheng, who often came into contact with drama, felt that his young daughter had a talent for acting, so he took Zhao Lirong to see social drama as soon as he had the opportunity.
This look is several years, and by the time Zhao Lirong appeared on stage again in 1934, her performance was much more skilled than when she was a year old.
More than four years of observation and study have made Zhao Lirong, who is already very talented, progress rapidly, not only the audience at the scene is enjoyable, but also let a "nobleman" silently look in the eyes.
She is the "generation of famous people" hibiscus flower, at that time the hibiscus flower followed the Fusheng Drama Company from Anton to the capital, she starred in the "Fengtian Drop" is very popular with the people of the capital, can be described as half the sky.
On the day that Zhao Lirong sang on stage, Furong Hua originally went to listen to the play on a whim, but it just happened to let her see Zhao Lirong's good seedling.
What is even more coincidental is that after some inquiry, Hibiscus Hua found that the little girl in the tea house who was shocked by the four seats was actually the daughter of an old acquaintance, the barber Zhao Shucheng.
This surprised FurongHua and immediately rushed to Zhao Shucheng's family, hoping that he could hand Zhao Lirong over to himself and learn to comment on the drama with her.
And Zhao Shucheng, who was worried about his daughter's future livelihood, was completely in the middle after listening to the intention of the hibiscus flower, and without saying a word, he entrusted Zhao Lirong to the hibiscus flower.
In 1940, twelve-year-old Zhao Lirong followed the advice of Hibiscus Flower and changed her mother's nickname of "Old Love" for herself, and adopted a new name "Zhao Lirong".
Later, with the broadcast of one classic sketch after another, this name has also become a well-known comedy star representative in China.
I have to say that Furong Hua is really very attentive to Zhao Lirong's apprentice, not only passing on her all his skills, but also finding Ma Jingui as a master for Zhao Lirong.
Under the careful cultivation of the two drama masters, in 1943, the 15-year-old Zhao Lirong appeared on stage as a starring actor in the "Qingfeng Theater" in Zhangjiakou and began a formal theater career.
In just two years, Zhao Lirong played her own piece of the sky and successfully settled in the "Youth Drama Club" in Mentougou in 1945.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" >02 The dark days of youth</h1>
The period from 1945 to 1949 was a day of domestic war, but Zhao Lirong, with the help of the one she learned, was able to live a prosperous life in the chaotic world.
After the liberation of Beiping, Zhao Lirong successively performed many classic dramas in the North China Theater with Xiao Bai Yushuang and other famous characters, such as "Brothers and Sisters Opening the Wilderness" and "White Haired Girl".
However, at this stall, Zhao Lirong's hibiscus flower unfortunately got tuberculosis, and the medical technology in that era was not developed enough, for ordinary people, tuberculosis basically means terminal illness.
But a miracle happened, and under Zhao Lirong's dedicated care, the hibiscus flower was miraculously healed.
However, this time the miracle seems to have exhausted Zhao Lirong's good luck in the future, and in the days that followed, no matter how hard Zhao Lirong took care of her sick relatives, she was unable to return to heaven.
In 1952, Zhao Lirong entered the General Political Liberation Experimental Drama Troupe, where Zhao Lirong met the second noble person in her life. She was the popular critic Xin Fengxia at that time.
Through the partnership with Xin Fengxia, the two combined their swords and created a number of works such as "Liu Qiao'er" and "Flowers as Media", which have been handed down to this day, and Zhao Lirong's popularity has also reached a higher level.
This year, Zhao Lirong was already 24 years old, and she had also reached the age of marriage. Good sister Xin Fengxia enthusiastically introduced Zhao Lirong to Shengqiang, who is also a theater worker.
The love of young boys and girls is as fast as a tornado, and in 1953, Zhao Lirong and Shengqiang were happily married.
Soon after the marriage, he gave birth to his eldest son, Sheng Daming. In 1957, she gave birth to a second child, and the family of four was very happy.
But what is unexpected is that the curtain of Zhao Lirong's suffering life began to slowly open from here.
In 1960, Zhao Lirong was married for 7 years, but her husband Sheng qiang was overwhelmed by high-intensity labor because of his weak health, so he died.
How can a young widow survive with two children waiting to be fed?
Shengqiang's family gave the answer, and they tried their best to match Zhao Lirong to marry Shengqiang's younger brother Shenghong.
At first, Zhao Lirong was reluctant in her heart, and most of the women in the old era had a heavy chastity arch in their hearts, thinking that "a good woman cannot serve her second husband."
However, the burden of life quickly crushed her, and Zhao Lirong, who could not continue to sing and comment during the special period, had no financial resources and no men to rely on.
After insisting for four years, Zhao Lirong compromised, and she and her original little uncle Sheng Hong entered the palace of marriage.
Zhao Lirong, who was married for the second time, gave birth to a son and a daughter, and the family with the male host finally improved.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and the blows followed, first the youngest daughter only lived to the age of 7 and died prematurely, and then in 1984, her husband Sheng Hong died in a hurry because of a sudden heart attack.
Heaven seems to have made a big joke with Zhao Lirong, from the spirit of her youth to her youth, her situation was a sharp turn, tragically experiencing the death of three close relatives.
Such a tragic experience is very likely to make others become depressed and difficult to regroup.
But if Zhao Lirong easily confessed her fate, then naturally there would be no later things such as "Blooming in the spring fourteen five six, June six I see Gu Xiu it hit six or nine heads in the spring, so the packaging is simply too uncomfortable, I can't open my mouth, I can't keep up with the slip, you say it's uncomfortable, you say it's uncomfortable." "Such a skit is a wonderful moment.
Zhao Lirong did not bow to fate.
Later, when asked what kind of spirit supported her through those gray days, Zhao Lirong just smiled and said, "Life always has to pass."
There is infinite power in plain language.
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By the 1980s, theater had become a symbol of the old times, and the replacement of theater was the new fashion of television. Riding on this shareholder wind, Zhao Lirong also rejuvenated the second spring of her career.
In 1986, Zhao Lirong made a cameo appearance in the old version of "Journey to the West" as the queen of Che Chiguo, and the following year starred in the Qi Tianle Evening Party of Journey to the West, performing the program "The Edge of the Cabinet".
Because of these two performances, in 1988, Zhao Lirong was invited to participate in the "Spring Festival Gala" for the first time, performing the sketch "Emergency", but this hard-won "Spring Festival Gala" debut did not make Zhao Lirong a hit, but the response was flat.
In 1989, Zhao Lirong starred in film and television dramas again, playing Grandma Liu who had just entered the Grand View Garden in the movie "Dream of the Red Chamber".
Perhaps because of the similar age, or perhaps because of the vicissitudes, Zhao Lirong portrayed the role of Liu Grandma as a three-pointer, which was very moving.
After the broadcast of the movie "Dream of the Red Chamber", the literary and art circles seem to have invariably discovered Zhao Lirong, the rising "mother" partner.
Zhao Lirong first played Aunt Tian in "Cangsheng" in the same year, and then at the end of the year, "Spring Festival Gala" and Hou Yaowen shared the stage to present "A Day of heroic mother" to the national audience, this time Zhao Lirong's mother in the sketch was recognized by the public.
In particular, the harmonic stem in the sketch "Sima Guang (cylinder) smashing cylinder (light)" left a deep impression on the audience, so that everyone firmly remembered the name Zhao Lirong.
In 1991, Zhao Lirong played another mother in the movie "New Year", and it was surprising that her performance unexpectedly won the Best Actress Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival, the Best Actress Award in Hundred Flowers and the Golden Phoenix Award of the Chinese Academy of Film Performing Arts, making her the first international film festival queen in China.
However, Zhao Lirong's peak has not yet arrived.
In 1992, Zhao Lirong finally met the third noble person in her life, he was the comedian Gong Hanlin.
Zhao Lirong's new sketch "Mother's Heart" needs to find an actor to play the "son", and Gong Hanlin is one of the candidates.
The first time the two met backstage in the "Spring Festival Gala", as soon as they saw each other, Zhao Lirong kindly asked Gong Hanlin, "You are the son, right?" Gong Hanlin also naturally recognized Zhao Lirong as a dry mother.
After meeting Gong Hanlin, the two co-starred in a number of popular sketches, China's earliest rap performance "So Packaged"
"The Adventure of Part-time Work" of "Gathering Heroes, Turnip Meeting"
"Lying like a bow standing like a pine" of "Kung Fu Order"
The stage sang "The Veteran Out of the Horse".
This series of works not only made the audience laugh at first sight, but also because of its unique theme and pioneering performance form, it opened the golden age of Chinese sketches and played a pivotal role in the history of sketches.
Zhao Lirong has also become a landmark figure in the sketch industry, she once said in an interview: "I have acted in opera for so many years, and my audience is not as many as sketches."
Although Zhao Lirong only met the sketch in her later years, the harvest brought to her by the sketch was far greater than that of the drama.
But on the other hand, if you look carefully, you will find that the reason why Zhao Lirong's sketch is so funny is also inseparable from her special commentary.
Therefore, there is no Zhao Lirong, who originally practiced hard to evaluate the drama, and there is no today's "generation of laughing stars" Zhao Lirong, and the sketch is a belated glory that belongs to her.
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For most viewers, our impression of Zhao Lirong is the grandmother who always smiles, and she seems to be healthy and optimistic at all times.
But few people know that Zhao Lirong's physical condition during the "So Packaged" period was already very bad, the basic skills training in the drama class was extremely harsh, and Zhao Lirong's leg injury fell to the root of the disease at that time.
I believe that people who have watched "So Packaged" must be impressed by Zhao Lirong's last kneeling ending pose.
However, this bridge section was not actually designed in advance, but only because of the accidental fall of Zhao Lirong's old disease, which led to a beautiful coincidence.
By the time of 1996's "Adventures with Migrant Workers", Zhao Lirong's health had become more unoptimistic.
In the process of rehearsal of the sketch, Zhao Lirong accidentally broke her bones, and her knees often hurt to the heart, but the dedicated Zhao Lirong did not take a day off, but continued to endure the pain of illness to perform on stage.
The sad story behind all this, Zhao Lirong rarely mentioned in public.
We don't know that she has been tormented by illness for many years, and even more than a decade after her death, many people still think that she is alive like Uncle Benshan or Aunt Cai Ming.
It wasn't until I watched the hot search that I understood that this old comedian had left us for many years.
In the following years, Zhao Lirong's health deteriorated.
By the time she finally appeared in 1999, she even needed support to slowly walk onto the stage, because Zhao Lirong had been diagnosed with lung cancer or was terminally ill.
After successfully ending the last sketch performance, Zhao Lirong said that her wish for the stage was over, and she could calmly face cancer and face death.
She began to prepare for her own future affairs, and sewing a birthday coat for herself became the top priority of Zhao Lirong's last time.
In addition to Shouyi, Zhao Lirong also chose a portrait for herself, even before she died, she still worked for her family and did not want to add any unnecessary burden to her family.
However, Zhao Lirong obviously underestimated the pain of cancer, lung cancer as one of the most threatening malignant tumors to human life, its complications are diverse.
Zhao Lirong often felt chest tightness and pain, as if the bones of her whole body were about to be crushed.
According to the children's recollections, In the middle of the night, Zhao Lirong would always be heard crying because of the pain.
Zhao Lirong is a strong woman, never showing weakness during the day, and only dares to release her emotions at night when the night is quiet.
However, even a strong person like Zhao Lirong could not bear the day, and at the time of her death, she repeatedly said to her children, "I am not afraid of death, as long as it does not hurt."
They may even beg to be able to "euthanize" only to preserve this last bit of dignity and leave with dignity.
But this simple but difficult wish was not satisfied in the end, and Zhao Lirong's children watched her suffer from lung cancer, but they were more afraid of their mother's departure, so they chose to continue treatment.
At 7:30 a.m. on July 17, 2000, 72-year-old Zhao Lirong bid farewell to the world in the morning light.
Zhao Lirong's life, at an early age, came to the fore, and the young man entered marriage twice, and experienced many births and deaths.
In his later years, he continued to create classics, and finally died of illness.
Her life was not smooth, and she did not even enjoy her old age for long, but she was fortunate to meet three noble people and create many excellent works of art.
As the poem says, "Some people die, he is still alive", Zhao Lirong created infinite joy for those of us who came after us in her limited life.
Therefore, her spirit and her works are still alive in this world and everyone's memories, and her voice and smile can also be renewed through the long river of time.
Looking back, who would have thought that in 1929, the "color doll" on a simple stage in the countryside would achieve such a legendary life of a comedy star actor in the future!