Wang Renmei

Wang Renmei (; December 1914 – 2 April 1987) was a famous Chinese actress and singer nicknamed the "Wildcat of Shanghai". She was mainly active during the 1930s, and her most notable film was the 1934 Song of the Fishermen (available online with English subtitles ) directed by Cai Chusheng, which was the first Chinese film to win an international prize. In 2005, she was chosen as one of the 100 best actors of the 100 years of Chinese cinema.

Wang was married to Jin Yan, the Korean-born "Emperor of Chinese Cinema", and later to Ye Qianyu, a prominent artist.

Early life and career beginnings Wang Renmei was born and grew up in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, where her father Wang Zhengquan (王正权) was a mathematics teacher at the Changsha No. 1 Normal School. Born Wang Shuxi (王庶熙), she was the youngest of seven children. One of her father's students was Mao Zedong, a fellow Hunan native who would become China's top leader. Starting in May 1928, the troupe spent ten months touring southeastern Asian cities including Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, and Jakarta. They also toured and performed in Beijing, Tianjin, and Manchuria. ), which was written by director Sun Yu specifically for the 17-year-old Wang Renmei. In 1935 it became the first Chinese film to win an international award, at the inaugural Moscow International Film Festival.

Marriage with Jin Yan

However, Wang Renmei's career started to go downhill after Song of the Fishermen. On January 1, 1934, while still shooting the film, Wang suddenly announced her marriage with her Wild Rose costar Jin Yan, who was then the "Emperor of Cinema" in China. and acted in more films including the patriotic Sons and Daughters in a Time of Storm,

In 2013, Wang Renmei: The Wildcat of Shanghai, a biography written by Richard J. Meyer of Seattle University, was published by the Hong Kong University Press.