Zhao Lei (; 1928 – 24 June 1996) was a Chinese actor who was one of the most popular male leads in the cinema of Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1950s and 60s, often called the "Film Emperor".
Zhao was born Wang Yumin () in
Ding County
Dingzhou, or Tingchow in Postal Map Romanization, and formerly called Ding County or Dingxian, is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Baoding, Hebei Province. As of 2009, Dingzhou had a population of 1.2 million. Dingzhou has 3 ...
,
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
, China in 1928 and moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s.
He began working for
Shaw Brothers Studio
Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011.
In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...
in 1953, and left for
Cathay-Keris Films ten years later. Zhao was given the
Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor
The Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor () is given at the Golden Horse Film Awards.
Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai has won the most Best Leading Actor awards with 3 times. He won the award in the 31st, 40th and 41st awards ceremony wi ...
in 1966. He continued acting into the 1970s, and spent the latter half of the decade operating a restaurant in Taipei. In his acting career, Zhao appeared in over one hundred films. He died in Hong Kong of pneumonia on 24 June 1996, aged 68.
Zhao's wife Shi Ying () was also an actress with Shaw Brothers.
Selected filmography
*''
The Kingdom and the Beauty
''The Kingdom and the Beauty'' () is a 1959 Hong Kong musical-drama film directed by Li Han-hsiang. The film was set in Imperial China, directed by a Hong Kong based-Mainland Chinese director and produced by the famed Hong Kong Shaw Brothers fil ...
'' (1959)
*''
The Enchanting Shadow
''The Enchanting Shadow'' () is a 1960 Hong Kong drama film directed by Li Han-hsiang. It was entered into the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 33rd Academy Aw ...
'' (1960)
*''
The Magnificent Concubine
''The Magnificent Concubine'' () is a 1962 Hong Kong drama film. This movie was filmed in color. It was directed by Li Han Hsiang and is a remake of the 1955 Kenji Mizoguchi film '' Yōkihi''. ''The Magnificent Concubine'' was entered into the ...
'' (1962)
*''
Empress Wu Tse-Tien'' (1963)
*''
Cheating Panorama'' (1972)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhao, Lei
1928 births
1996 deaths
Deaths from pneumonia in Hong Kong
Hong Kong male film actors
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
Taiwanese restaurateurs
Male actors from Baoding
Taiwanese people from Hebei
Shaw Brothers Studio