At the age of 14, he left home and entered the drama class, and became a movie emperor in middle age, he is not a star, he is a real horn. Li Baotian, an old drama bone, was deeply loved by the audience, but he was once called "drama bully" by people in the circle, and 13 companies jointly banned him. And last year, when Li Baotian, 74, attended the award ceremony, whether it was a young and middle-aged actor or a popular traffic artist, all stood up to pay tribute to him. Or was there something else hidden at that time?
This is the leisure bubble hall, and what the owner of the hall wants to talk about today is a stubborn and temperamental strange shadow emperor - Li Baotian.
In 2005, Li Baotian sued the film side of "Chincha Chancellor", in which he starred and served as the artistic director, on the grounds that "the content of the original 30 episodes was 'injected' into 33 episodes." He said: "Ordinary people don't even eat 'water-injected meat', why watch 'water-injected drama'?" The lawsuit was fought for more than two years, and finally Li Baotian won the lawsuit and was awarded 1.9 million yuan in compensation.
Blocking people's financial road, naturally can not fall into a "good end". Soon after, more than a dozen film and television companies joined forces to denounce Li Baotian, saying that he was not a good collaborator and put him on the hat of "drama bully". In the face of the ban, Li Baotian only replied: "Even if you don't shoot a scene in the future, it doesn't matter." ”
Turning over Li Baotian's award record, he originally won the award and got it softly, from 2003 to 14 years, there was no harvest for 9 years.
This "stubborn old man" did what he said, there was no drama without drama, and his "stubbornness" was not something that existed at that time.
In 1946, Li Baotian was born in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. He was rebellious since he was a child, did not study well, liked to skip school to see the theater, and he did not spend his own money watching the play. He stared at the door of the theater, and when some of the audience left the theater, he went in with their ticket stubs.
Little Li Baotian went to the fifth grade of primary school without a ride, and on this day the Chinese Acrobatic Troupe performed in Xuzhou, and he was greatly shocked after watching it, and went home to tell his father that he was not going to school and was going to learn drama. His father was so angry that he beat up Xiao Li Baotian fat, and Xiao Li Baotian actually ran away from home in anger and really went to the drama class to sign up.
In fact, life in the drama class is not good. Little Li Baotian was the only child from the city, and the brothers of the division crowded him out. Catching up with the famine, Xiao Li Baotian could not eat enough, but he could not stop practicing, and finally could not support it and was sent to the hospital.
Li Baotian learned the hardest clown
Unconscious, he did not know that his father was also being treated at that hospital. Although the drama class is not far from home, Xiao Li Baotian and his father are angry and have not been in contact for a long time. After waking up, the first thing Xiao Li Baotian saw was his father, and the two silently stared at each other, and all their resentment was reconciled in that instant.
Li Baotian recalls meeting his father in the hospital
Little Li Baotian said to his father: "Dad, don't look down on me, when I become a big actor in the future, I want my father to pick up little Li Baotian who has become a big actor and go home." But his father didn't wait for that day to die.
Li Baotian recalled his father's tears
In 1966, Xiao Li Baotian had grown into a 20-year-old boy and transferred to the Xuzhou Regional Cultural and Labor Troupe, where he stayed for 10 years. From apprentices to drama stage pillars, to actors in the literary troupe, to promotion to deputy head of the regiment, Li Baotian has worked very hard all the way, he is serious and principled, and there have been leaders who want to stuff people who are not worthy of morality into the unit to pick up the beams, but they are all rejected by him righteously and verbally.
In 1978, the Central Academy of Drama directing cadres training class enrollment, li Baotian, who did not graduate from primary school, had the courage to apply for the examination, and actually was admitted. Four years later, Li Baotian, who successfully graduated, was retained as a teacher by the school.
When Li Baotian really became famous in the film and television circle, he was already 41 years old. In "Man, Ghost, Love", he plays a stubborn father who has been mentally depressed for a long time, stubborn and competitive. This role won him the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 8th Golden Rooster Awards of Chinese Cinema.
Since 1990, Li Baotian has had impressive works almost every year. 1990's "New Year", 1991's "Ju Dou", 1992's "Ge Laozi", 1993's "Phoenix Qin"...
Group photo of the creators of "New Year"
"New Year" went international and won the Special Jury Award at the 4th Tokyo International Film Festival, in a group photo of the actors, Li Baotian sat firmly in the C position; with "Ge Laozi", Li Baotian won the 8th China TV Drama Feitian Award for Best Actor; "Phoenix Qin" won him three film emperor trophies including Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers.
Stills from "Phoenix Organ"
And "Ju Dou" is the first cooperation between Li Baotian and Zhang Yimou. The role of Yang Tianqing, Zhang Yimou still gave it to Li Baotian and praised him after the shooting.
"Ju Dou", Li Baotian played Yang Tianqing
"Ju Dou" became the first film in China to be nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and riding on this shareholder wind, Li Baotian also received high praise from international film critics.
Many people think that Li Baotian's performance in "Ju Dou" is far better than Gong Li
Since then, Li Baotian has become Zhang Yimou's royal actor, and when he starred in "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma Bridge", Yang Tianqing, who was depressed and obscene, was reborn and transformed into a Tang boss on the beach;
Stills from "Shake, Shake, Shake to Grandma's Bridge"
By the time "There's Something to Say", Li Baotian has become a cowardly and funny intellectual, and the limelight has overshadowed the lead actor Jiang Wen.
Behind the scenes of "Have Something to Say", Li Baotian cooperated with Zhang Yimou for the third time
There was also a peak waiting for Li Baotian in front.
In the 1990s, with the popularity of Hong Kong and Taiwan TV dramas such as "Jokes about Qianlong" in the mainland, the history of jokes also became the theme of mainland TV dramas.
"Prime Minister Liu Luoguo"
In 1995, "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" turned out to be a success. Li Baotian, who is already 49 years old, is the biggest wrist in this crew, and Zhang Guoguo and Wang Gang, who are still young men, appear to have jerky acting skills in front of him. In order to play Liu Luoguo well, Li Baotian rode his back from beginning to end, stuffed things on his back, and filmed 40 episodes.
Stills from "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo"
After the fame of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo", Li Baotian, as the male number one, did not even participate in the promotion of the TV series. Later, he said to himself: "Liu Luoguo and Hezhen are both products of the feudal system, and they are both minions of imperial power... I don't think this role has any practical significance for promoting The progress of Chinese society and moving toward modern civilization, it is just a court drama telling story, and everyone will finish watching Le Yile..."
The male protagonist evaluates his work so ignorantly, which shows that Li Baotian is a bit "weird" in addition to "stubbornness".
Not only that, but careful viewers may find that the "iron triangle" of "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" soon lost Li Baotian, replaced by Zhang Tielin, and Li Baotian and Zhang Guoguo never cooperated again. In the face of external doubts, he said frankly: "People are different from people, and some people cannot cooperate." ”
Although famous, Li Baotian has his own insistence on acting - never take the same role, otherwise the audience will be bored. When others became emperor professional households and harem professional households, earning a lot of money, Li Baotian took out one role after another with distinct personalities, just like a classic.
When acting in "Policeman Li "Wine Bottle"", Li Baotian served as the artistic director, he thought that the book was not good enough, and he changed the script episode by episode with the screenwriter, and he was also restless, relying on sleeping pills to sleep for four or five hours.
When filming "The Great Shape of the North and South", there were scenes showing the people of the whole city, but the film side only hired 20 group performances, Li Baotian directly asked to increase the number of people, in order to wait for people to wait for four or five hours in the hot sun.
Those black-hearted crews who want to make more money by fooling around, to his whole heart.
In 2003, Li Baotian starred in the costume biography TV series "Divine Doctor Xilaile", in which he played the Cangzhou Divine Doctor Xilaile who was skilled in medicine, kind and upright, and unyielding.
With his classic performance in the play, Li Baotian won the Outstanding Actor Award at the 23rd China TV Drama Feitian Awards, the Best Performing Arts Actor Award at the 21st China Television Golden Eagle Awards, the Most Popular Actor Award, and the Audience's Favorite Actor Award, and reached the highest moment of his career.
Immediately after, there was an incident in which Li Baotian sued "The Minister of Chincha" and the film and television companies joined forces to block him.
When there was no drama, Li Baotian did not go to the advertisement, he said that the gentleman loves money and has a way, and the advertisement will affect my role if it is not good. This can't help but remind the owner of the church of the movie "Mei Lanfang", Thirteen Yan said to Mei Lanfang, who came to invite Ann in a costume: "You came to this world in a costume, and you were careful to get the characters in the play dirty." ”
"Mei Lanfang" Thirteen Yan: "You came to this world in a costume, and you paid attention to dirty the characters in the play." ”
For the title of "drama bully", Li Baotian is also very frank, saying: "Today's 'hegemony' word has a positive meaning, with quality assurance and social contributions, if I say that I am a 'drama bully', then I will scold him..."
Although it is out of place, this may be the principle that Li Baotian swore not to bow his head. As a teacher of Chinese opera, now the entertainment industry is full of stars of the second generation, Li Baotian's son Li Yu applied for Chinese opera, but he took the exam for 6 years, and he was not even willing to take a back door for his son.
Li Baotian and son Li Yu
The harsh demand for a good script coupled with the crime of "false accusations", Li Baotian's plays are very few, so that many people have gradually forgotten this old drama bone. It was not until the publication of "Li Baotian's Works" that people discovered that the former film emperor had long since become an artist in another field.
钢笔笔钢笔笔钢笔
Zhang Yimou once commented that Li Baotian has a very high level of culture, or the one with the highest comprehensive literacy among all the actors he has met, and has a high degree of cultivation in painting, sculpture, literature, aesthetics and other aspects.
In the days when there was no drama, Li Baotian was not idle. He lived in simplicity, never paid, and in his spare time he hid in his 15-square-meter house, writing and painting, and living a life of paradise.
The three-kilogram album "Works of Li Baotian" contains nearly 300 of his paintings, wood carvings and other works, spanning more than 30 years. In addition to his own talent, Li Baotian's enthusiasm for creation is more or less related to his brother who died early.
Pen color pencil painting "Sunflower", Li Baotian's 2015 work
When Li Baotian was just popular, his brother went to Xinjiang to sketch, and in order to save money, he hitchhiked a ride, and as a result, there was a car accident. Li Baotian was full of guilt all his life, and he had long thought that if he had money to give to his brother at that time, maybe such a tragedy would not have happened. His tireless efforts also have some meaning of creating with his brother's legacy.
In fact, over the years, Li Baotian has not given up his favorite performance, but his works are far from the concept of "business". "Playing a good person is high" is still the first impression of many people on Li Baotian.
In 2020, the 30th China Television Golden Eagle Awards awarded Li Baotian the Lifetime Achievement Television Artist Award. He said at the awards ceremony: "I have served less for everyone over the years, not less opportunities. There are not many opportunities at all, but I don't like the role. So many old men looking for me, they are all a thousand people, and they don't want to act without challenge. ”
Between the words, he still revealed that pride, which had once led him to the top and made him fall into a low point, but he was still unwilling to wear off his edges and corners.
Now there is no actor like Li Baotian because there is no pure environment, and it is also because people now rarely have such a heart. There are very few artists who pursue purity, and even fewer who retain their bones, and there is no reason for us to forget him.