Wang Danfeng

Wang Danfeng (; 23 August 1924 – 2 May 2018) was a Chinese actress who was active mainly between the 1940s and the 1960s. She was one of the most influential actresses in Chinese cinema, and was named as one of the four great actresses in Hong Kong in 1949. She received the official recognition as a "movie star of New China" in 1962 and two Lifetime Achievement Awards in 2013 and 2017. Over a career spanning more than four decades, she starred in more than 60 films.

Career Republican era

Wang was born on 23 August 1924 in Shanghai. Her birth name was Wang Yufeng . When she was a 16-year-old middle school student, she was discovered by the director, Zhu Shilin, and debuted in a supporting role in the 1941 film The Dragon Dungeon and Tiger's Den.

People's Republic of China

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, she returned to Shanghai in 1951 to marry her long-time fiancé, Liu Heqing (柳和清). Their wedding was a media sensation in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

After the end of the Cultural Revolution, she made a comeback attempt and appeared in several films from 1978 to 1980, but they were mostly unsuccessful. In June 2017, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival. She was described as a "legendary" actress and "film icon" in official Chinese media.

Personal life

Wang had a lifelong marriage with Liu Heqing, who was the son of Liu Zhongliang (柳中亮), a co-founder of Shanghai's Cathay Film Company. They wedded on New Year's Day of 1951 and the marriage lasted for more than 65 years, until Liu's death on 4 February 2016 at age 90. They had four daughters.

Wang and her husband moved to Hong Kong in the late 1980s and opened the vegetarian restaurant, Gong De Lin (also known as Godly). After they turned 80, they sold the successful business and returned to Shanghai.

Death On the morning of 2 May 2018, Wang died at Huadong Hospital in Shanghai, aged 93 (94 by East Asian age reckoning).