Shi Hui (actor)

Shi Hui
Chinese name 石揮 (traditional)
Chinese name 石挥 (simplified)
Pinyin Shí Hūi (Mandarin)
Birth name Shi Yutao
Born 1915
Tianjin, China
Died December 1957 (aged 42)
Shanghai, China
Occupation Film director, Actor
Years active 1940s–1950s
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Shi.

Shi Hui (1915– December 1957), born Shi Yutao (Chinese: 石毓涛), was a Chinese actor and film director who gained prominence throughout the 1940s through 1950s. Despite his fame, Shi became a victim of the Anti-Rightist Movement in the mid-1950s and committed suicide soon thereafter.

Career

Shi's career as an actor began relatively late. His first film was not until 1940's The Chaotic World (dir. Wu Renzhi), and he would not gain broad recognition until after the war, with a series of classic films including Phony Phoenixes (dir. Huang Zuolin) and Long Live the Mistress (dir. Sang Hu).[1]

After the Communist takeover, Shi became increasingly involved with the making of films behind the camera, directing himself in the classic This Life of Mine.[1] Shi continued to direct throughout the early years of the 1950s, even gaining international attention with 1954's Letter with Feather, which won a prize at the Edinburgh Film Festival.[1] The next year, he filmed a stage performance of a Chinese Opera in The Heavenly Match, which became a popular hit with audiences in Hong Kong.[1] Shortly thereafter, however, Shi ran afoul with Communist authorities and was denounced during the Anti-Rightist Movement as a reactionary, leading eventually to his suicide by drowning[2] in December 1957.[1]

Filmography

As director

Year English Title Chinese Title Notes
1949 Mother 母亲 Also wrote screenplay
1950 This Life of Mine 我這一輩子
1951 Platoon Commander Guan 關連長
1954 Letter with Feather 雞毛信
1955 The Heavenly Match 天仙配

As actor

Year English Title Chinese Title Role
1941 The Chaotic World 亂世風光
1946 Phony Phoenixes 假鳳虚凰
1947 Long Live the Mistress! 太太萬歲
1947 Night Inn 夜店
1949 Sorrows and Joys of Middle Age 哀樂中年
1950 This Life of Mine 我這一輩子
1950 Corruption 腐蝕
1951 Platoon Commander Guan 關連長 Guan
1955 Song Jingshi 宋景詩
1957 Loyal Partners 情長誼深

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Zhang, Yingjin & Xiao, Zhiwei (1998). "Shi Hui" in Encyclopedia of Chinese Film. Taylor & Francis, p. 304. ISBN 0-415-15168-6.
  2. Facts on File - history Database

External links