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- Jing Lusi was born in Shanghai and moved to England with her parents at the age of five. After graduating law from University College London, Lusi went on to become one of the most prominent Asian actresses in the UK. She has appeared across TV (Lucky Man (2016), Scott & Bailey (2011)), film (Survivor (2015), Crazy Rich Asians (2018)) and theatre, as well as presenting a number of documentaries for UK and Chinese broadcasters.
- Actress
- Director
- Producer
Born into a family of doctors and educated in China at the Shanghai Film Academy and the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages, Joan Chen was discovered by veteran Chinese director Jin Xie while observing a filming with a school group. Her performance in Xiao hua (1979) (A.K.A. "The Little Flower") won China's Best Actress award, and resulted in the Chinese press dubbing her "The Elizabeth Taylor of China" for having achieved top stardom while still in her teen years. She came to the U.S. to attend college in 1981, first at the State University of New York at New Paltz, later at California State University at Northridge. She a succession of small parts in movies and T.V., with her first break coming in 1986 when, in true Hollywood legend, producer Dino De Laurentiis noticed her in the parking lot of Lorimar Studios and cast her in Tai-Pan (1986). The film bombed, but it led to her being cast as the ill-fated Empress in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor (1987), which won critical acclaim. This, and her role as enigmatic mill owner Josie Packard in the cult TV series Twin Peaks (1990), are her best-known roles in Europe and North America. However, Hollywood's practice of type-casting East Asians has led to a dearth of major roles for Chen since then, and in recent roles, she has often been cast as a villainess.
After taking a few years off to start a family, Joan returned to the screen in important supporting roles playing women in early middle age, such as the mother of a principle adult character. As a result, her career is flourishing again on both sides of the Pacific. Her two directing efforts were well-received critically, and in a 2008 interview she revealed she planned to direct again but was putting that off until her daughters were grown, since directing took her away from them too much, whereas acting could be done on a part-time basis.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Adopted from a Chinese orphanage as an infant, American actress Leah Lewis is poised to emigrate into living rooms everywhere with her triple talent as an actress, singer, and dancer. She was raised in Windermere, FL and in Los Angeles, CA.
Leah Lewis is known for her breakout performance in the Netflix feature film, "The Half of It," written and directed by Alice Wu. The film launched globally on Netflix after winning the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. Lewis also portrays the starring role of 'Ember' in Pixar's animated feature, "Elemental" written and directed by Peter Sohn." She is also known for her role 'George Fan' in the CW series "Nancy Drew."
In addition to her acting, Lewis is professionally trained singer since childhood who has been writing her own music since the age of 15. In her free time, Lewis has many hobbies with a strong physical background including power lifting, dancing, yoga and strength and conditioning training. She enjoys writing, playing guitar, staying active in nature, advocating for mental health care, spending time with her family and creating strong community while traveling or resting between work.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1956) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylised, emotionally resonant work, including Ah fei zing zyun (1990), Dung che sai duk (1994), Chung Hing sam lam (1994), Do lok tin si (1995), Chun gwong cha sit (1997), 2046 (2004) and My Blueberry Nights (2007), Yi dai zong shi (2013). His film Fa yeung nin wa (2000), starring Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, garnered widespread critical acclaim. Wong's films frequently feature protagonists who yearn for romance in the midst of a knowingly brief life and scenes that can often be described as sketchy, digressive, exhilarating, and containing vivid imagery. Wong was the first Chinese director to win the Best Director Award of Cannes Film Festival (for his work Chun gwong cha sit in 1997). Wong was the President of the Jury at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, which makes him the only Chinese person to preside over the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. He was also the President of the Jury at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2013. In 2006, Wong accepted the National Order of the Legion of Honour: Knight (Highest Degree) from the French Government. In 2013, Wong accepted Order of Arts and Letters: Commander (Highest Degree) by the French Minister of Culture.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Li Jun Li was born in Shanghai and at the age of six, moved to Bogotá, Colombia where Spanish became her second language. She then relocated to New York City, where she attended Fiorello LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts as a Dance major. This is where she discovered her passion and switched to studying acting in college. Li Jun started out in musical theatre, starring in various plays and musicals, as well as originating the role of Liat in the Tony-award winning Broadway revival of South Pacific. She is also a dedicated animal activist.- Actress
- Writer
- Composer
Comedian, actress, and writer are all ways multi-hyphenate talent Sherry Cola could be described as she has emerged over the last year as one to watch in the entertainment industry. Named a "Fresh Face" at the world-renowned Laugh Factory, Cola has proved that from drama to comedy in the scripted world, to hilarious, original stand up sets on stage, she can do it all.
In 2019 Cola can be seen starring on Freeform's brand new series "Good Trouble," slated to debut on January 8. The series, a spinoff from the smash hit show "The Fosters," follows Callie (Maia Mitchell) and Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) as they embark on the next phase of their young adult lives in Los Angeles. Cola shines as Alice, a first-generation Asian-American who manages the apartment complex the ladies are living in. On the film front Cola recently wrapped production on the Untitled Drake Doremus Project opposite Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, and Sebastian Stan. The film is set in present-day Los Angeles and follows Daphne (Woodley), a thirty-something woman navigating love and heartbreak over the course of one year.
Born in Shanghai China, Cola and her family moved to the United States when she was four years old, planting their roots in the San Gabriel Valley just east of Los Angeles. She attended California State University Fullerton where she majored in Entertainment and Tourism Studies, and worked for the campus radio station Titan Radio. Cola's innate ability to make people laugh and bring stories to life was indisputable, and students tuned in daily to listen to her funny commentary on celebrity news, fresh music picks, and more. Upon graduation Cola joined AMP Radio 97.1FM, spearheading promotions, social media, board operations, and even hit the street with a microphone talking to passerby's and music fans. Television host and radio personality Carson Daly took Cola under his wing at the station, helping her further hone her craft as she launched her own Sunday night show. Cola went on to interview top artists including: Noah Cyrus, Fifth Harmony, and Khalid. While Cola got her foot in the door in radio, she also had her hands in improv, writing and creating characters with friends around Los Angeles. When two friends launched a web series called "Luber," a parody of Lift/Uber drivers, one of Cola's most notable characters to date was born: Lil' Tasty. The Lakers loving, jersey wearing, Timberland rocking-rapper was an instant hit online, receiving over 20 million views on Facebook.
Cola got her break in television in 2017, landing a seven-episode arc on Amazon's "I Love Dick" opposite Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn. She was a scene stealer as jewelry maker Natalie, one of Dick's (Bacon) students at the art institute in Marfa, Texas. Cola went on to work with MTV on the comedy series "Safeword," showcasing her comedic skills alongside Kevin Hart, Ludacris, and LaLa Anthony. In 2018 Cola booked a recurring role on the hit TNT series "Claws" opposite Niecy Nash, Carrie Preston, and Judy Reyes. Joining the cast in season two, the series follows five diverse and treacherous manicurists, who are good women caught in bad places with even worse men. Cola instantly became a fan favorite as FBI Special Agent Lucy Chun, and is slated to return to the series in 2019 for season three.
On the comedy front Cola is constantly working on new material as a stand up comedian, and performs regularly at The Laugh Factory, The Improv and The Comedy Store. She also recently filmed an episode of "Funny Dance Show" for E! (2019) alongside Jackie Tohn, Solomon Georgio, and London Brown, and has worked with Kevin Hart's LOL Network and Funny or Die over the years.- Actor
- Sound Department
- Additional Crew
Kaiji Tang was born on 25 January 1984 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for Justice League (2017), Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (2021) and Gantz: O (2016). He has been married to Marcy Edwards since 24 June 2017.- Actress
- Costume Designer
- Soundtrack
Born in Shanghai, China to a banker father and a painter mother. The family left for Hong Kong where Irene attended parochial school and studied ballet. At 12 the family immigrated to New York City where Irene attended George Washington HS and Quintano's School for young professionals and studied ballet and jazz at Carnegie Hall. She was a teenage dancer in Flower Drum Song (1961), directed by Henry Koster who gave her her first speaking role as a teenage prostitute in his next film, Take Her, She's Mine starring James Stewart which launched her acting career.
Her career spans four decades in most of the popular TV series (50 titles) and 32 feature films. Irene was able to cross over to play not only Chinese parts but roles originally written for other ethnicities with the help of casting directors and creative writers/directors. Director Paul Mazursky cast Irene as Shiela Waltzberg, the Jewish princess wife in Down & Out in Beverly Hills. Director Frank Tashlin cast Irene as Ray Walston's secretary in Caprice Irene played a Malaysian revolutionary in Paper Tiger. She was also the TV spokeswoman for Chevron Island Wiki Wiki Dollars for Standard Oil, as well as Hawaiian Punch for Proctor and Gamble
Irene Speaks 3 dialects of Chinese, she appeared in the Peter Chan Ho-Sun's hit Hong Kong film Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996) and Golden Chicken (2002).
Irene studied acting with Ned Manderino and Milton Katselas in Los Angeles For the past two decades, Irene has been a successful realtor in Beverly Hills. She enjoys helping people body mind and spirit. She teaches Bikram yoga for the Beverly Hills Department of Parks.- IMDB Mini Biography
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Angela Yeung Wing, also known by her stage name Angelababy, has made a career in Hong Kong as an actress and a model. Born in Shanghai to her half-Chinese, half-German father and Chinese mother, she moved to Hong Kong at thirteen years old and took her stage name Angelababy as a composition of her legal given name Angela and her family given nickname "Baby".- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Tsai Chin, pinyin Zhou Caiqin is an actor, director, teacher and author, best known in America for her film role as Auntie Lindo in The Joy Luck Club. The third daughter of Zhou Xinfang, China's great actor in the last century, she was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art London (first Chinese student) and later earned a Master Degree at Tufts University, Boston. Her career spans more than five decades working in UK, USA and recently in China. She starred on stage on both sides of the atlantic, (a first for a Chinese actor) in London's West End,The World of Susie Wong and on Broadway, Golden Child; played the two most powerful women of 20th century China; for television, in The Subject of Struggle; for stage Memories of Madame Mao; was twice in Bond films, as Bond girl in You Only Live Twice, and later in Casino Royale. Her single The Ding Dong Song recorded for Decca was top of the charts in Asia. She was the first to be invited to teach acting in China after the Cultural Revolution when universities re-opened. She is now celebrated in China for her portrayal of Jia Mu in the recent TV drama series, The Dream of The Red Chamber. Her international best-selling autobiography, Daughter of Shanghai is to be a stage play by David Henry Hwang which will be produced by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Perfoming Arts in Beverly Hills.- Actress
- Producer
- Composer
Vivian Wu (Chinese name : Wu JunMei) is a Chinese American actress and producer. Born in Shanghai, China, to Zhu ManFang, a famous Chinese actress and Wu ChengYe, a college professor, she was discovered by female director HuangShuQin during her visit to her mother's film set when she was 15 years old and was offered one of the lead roles in Huang's Long Live Youth launching her prolific acting career. While completing high school, Wu was also starring in numerous films and soon became one of the nation's most promising young stars.
During her third year as an actress Vivian was chosen by legendary director Bernardo Bertolucci to play the role of Wen Xiu, in his iconic Oscar-winning film, The Last Emperor. Bertolucci's film introduced Vivian to the international stage outside of mainland China. Vivian was the first Asian actress to receive a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the prestigious Italian David Donatello film festival.
Vivian then went to Hawaii Pacific University to study Travel Industry Management. After moving to Los Angeles in 1990, she was selected by People Magazine as one of the fifty most beautiful people in the world. Since 1990, she has dedicated herself full-time to her acting career.
Besides for The Last Emperor, she is also known for her roles in The Joy Luck Club, and Heaven and Earth. More notably, Vivian starred with Ewan McGregor in Peter Greenaway's award-wining The Pillow Book which also won Cannes' Certain Regard Award. Vivian's remarkable portrayal of Nagiko, a deeply obsessed Japanese woman earned her international raving reviews.
In addition to her notable Western films and television work, Vivian continues her impressive career in China. She has starred in several independent feature films and garnered excellent reviews for such international films as Chinaman and Eve and the Firehorse, the latter which earned her a nomination for Canada's Genie Award, for her outstanding performance of MeiLing.
In 2018, Cathy Yan offered Vivian the leading role in her directorial debut Dead Pigs. Vivian's energetic performance of Candy won her and her three costars a Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast Award at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Recent television credits then include hit series such as Wo Ju, Ru Yi Zhuan, Hot Mama etc..
Vivian has also been involved in many charity foundations. In 1999, she founded the "Vivian Wu and Friends Educational Charity Foundation" in Shanghai to aid children with special educational needs.
Vivian has been married to Oscar Luis Costo, a Cuban/American producer/writer/director. The two met on the set of Vanishing Son, in which Vivian starred in and Oscar produced. Their 1996 Shanghai wedding in China was featured by People Magazine in their Celebrity Weddings of the Year Special Edition. Vivian was selected as the best-dressed bride of the year. She and Oscar have collaborated on several projects together, and in 2004, Vivian produced and starred in Oscar's feature film Shanghai Red.
In 2019, Vivian spent over half a year in North America, playing the role of Dr. Lu Wang, a series regular, on the Netflix series Away - a new dramatic series premiering globally on September 4th, 2020.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Yang Yang was born on 9 September 1991 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for The King's Avatar (2019), Love O2O (2016) and Glory of the Special Forces (2022).- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ye Lou was born (in 1965) and grew up in Shanghai, a city he would film beautifully in his Suzhou River (2000) (Suzhou River). After studying cinema at the Beijing Film Academy, the gifted young man debuted in the film career as an assistant director, a producer and a short subjects director. His second feature Zhou mo qing ren (1993) (Weekend Lover) was both a public and critical success, crowned by the Fassbinder Prize. In 1997, he accepted to produce "Super City", a TV series for which he hired ten of the most promising names of the sixth-generation-directors. Three years later, he came to international prominence with Suzhou River (2000) (Suzhou River), an ambitious artistic meditation on love and the status of woman in the rapidly changing Chinese society as well as a moving ode to his home town Shanghai.- Olga Georges-Picot was born on 6 January 1940 in Shanghai, China. She was an actress, known for The Day of the Jackal (1973), Love and Death (1975) and I Love You, I Love You (1968). She was married to Jean Sobieski. She died on 19 June 1997 in Paris, France.
- Lei Wu was born on 26 December 1999 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for Nirvana in Fire (2015), Love Like the Galaxy (2022) and Sand Sea (2018).
- Writer
- Director
- Actor
Born on November 6, 1947 in Shanghai, China, Edward Yang has become one of the most talented international filmmakers of his generation. Along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming-Liang, Yang ranks among the leading artists of the Taiwanese New Wave, and one of the world's most brilliant auteurs. Growing up in Taipei, Taiwan, he was very interested in Japanese Manga/Comic Books, which led to the writing of his own screenplays. After studying engineering in Taiwan, he enrolled in the Electrical Engineering program at The University of Florida, receiving his Masters degree in 1974 while doing work with The Center for Informatics Research. Yang did not pursue a PhD and instead attended USC Film School briefly, but dropped out after feeling disenchanted by the program's commerce-and-business focus and his own misgivings of pursuing a Film Career. Upon working in Seattle with microcomputers and Defense software, an encounter with a piece by Werner Herzog (Aguirre, Wrath of God) gave him inspiration to observe classics in world cinema and reignited his interest in Film. He eventually wrote the script and served as a production aide on the Hong Kong TV movie, The Winter of 1905 (1981). Although he returned to Taiwan to direct a number of television shows, his break came in 1982 with the direction and writing of the film short, Desires (1982), in the seminal Taiwanese New Wave collaboration In Our Time(1982). While Hou Hsiao-Hsien's movies dealt primarily with history or Taiwan's countryside, Yang created films analyzing and revealing the many themes of city and urban life. His first major piece was That Day On The Beach (1983), a modernist narrative reflecting on couples and family. He followed with the urban films Taipei Story (1984), a reflection on urban-Taiwan through a couple - where he cast fellow auteur Hou Hsiao Hsien as the lead - and The Terrorizer (1986), a complex multi-narrative tale. In Yang's brilliant A Brighter Summer Day (1991), a sprawling examination of teen gangs, societal clashes, the influence of American pop-culture and youth, his first authentic masterpiece was crafted. He has followed with the satires A Confucian Confusion (1995), and Mahjong (1996), films that looked at the struggle between the modern and the traditional, the relationship between business and art, and how capitalistic greed may corrupt, influence, or effect art. It is, however, his most recent film, Yi Yi (2000), that is considered his magnum opus, an epic story about the Jian family seen through their different perspectives. The three-hour masterwork begins with a wedding, ends with a funeral, and examines all areas of human life in a variety of interesting, artistic ways. He has also collaborated with fellow auteur, novelist, and screenwriter Nien-Jen Wu on the piece, casting him as one of the leads, NJ. Yang's filmmaking style looks at the uncertain future of modernizing Taiwan in an enlightening manner, and his vision is one of the most original operating in world cinema today.- Actor
- Stunts
Dan Vadis was born on 3 January 1938 in Shanghai, China. He was an actor, known for High Plains Drifter (1973), Every Which Way But Loose (1978) and The Ten Gladiators (1963). He was married to Sharon Jessup. He died on 11 June 1987 in Lancaster, California, USA.- Director
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Born in Shanghai and Cambridge-educated, Terence Young began in the industry as a scriptwriter. In the 1940s he worked on a variety of subjects, including the hugely popular wartime romance Suicide Squadron (1941), set to Richard Addinsell's rousing "Warsaw Concerto". His original story was devised while listening to a concert in an army training camp. As it turned out, Young was soon after involved in the war himself, as a member of the Guards.
By the end of the decade Young had graduated to directing. He made his debut with the psychological melodrama Corridor of Mirrors (1948), starring Eric Portman as a reclusive art collector obsessed with reincarnation and murder. During the following decade Young helmed a number of international co-productions, which featured imported stars from Hollywood (Alan Ladd in Paratrooper (1953); Olivia de Havilland in That Lady (1955); Victor Mature in Safari (1956), Zarak (1956) and Tank Force (1958)). These films were made by Warwick, an independent production company created jointly by Irwin Allen and future James Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, and released through Columbia. Production values were often quite high, though scripts were of variable quality. "Safari", for instance, looked great, shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope on location in Africa, which partly compensated for the trite storyline.
Having acquired the rights to all available James Bond novels from Ian Fleming, producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli secured the necessary funding ($1,250,000) from United Artists and hired Young to direct the initial Bond entry, Dr. No (1962). That film's success got him re-hired to direct two subsequent Bond films, From Russia with Love (1963) (Young's own personal favorite) and Thunderball (1965). Young had acquired a solid reputation as a master of action subjects, and all three films move at a cracking pace. Exotic locales provide the background for a seamless mix of technical wizardry, sex, violence and tongue-in-cheek (sometimes campy) dialogue. Unfortunately, these films also marked the high point of Young's career, though he did direct another eerily effective psychological thriller, Wait Until Dark (1967), much in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock.
Among a brace of forgettable European co-productions, only two other films stand out: the bawdy, highly entertaining all-star period comedy The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders (1965) and an intriguing expose of the inner workings--and dark beginnings--of the Cosa Nostra (based on an actual informant's testimony), entitled The Valachi Papers (1972). After that, Young's output became more patchy and his later career suffered as a result of two disastrous projects: first, the Korean War epic Inchon (1981), with Laurence Olivier badly miscast as Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The enterprise was reputedly financed by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's organization--aka the "Moonies"--to the tune of $40 million. Film critic Vincent Canby in the New York Times (September 17, 1982) referred to the picture as "hysterical" and "foolish", "the most expensive B-movie ever made". The second flop, a financially troubled production, was the predictably plotted spy thriller The Jigsaw Man (1983). Completed in 1982, the film was held back and not released until two years later. Young directed just one more film after that and left the industry in 1988. However, according to his daughter, he was working on a documentary in Cannes at the time of his death in September 1994. Though he went on record in 1966, asserting that he had grown rather tired of the Bond franchise, it is, nonetheless, that for which we will ultimately remember him.- Huang Sheng Yi was born and raised in Shanghai. She graduated from Beijing film academy in 2001. Her father lived and studied in USA in the earlier 90s. Her mother is an editor who works for a famous newspaper office in Shanghai.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Roy Chiao was born on 16 March 1927 in Shanghai, China. He was an actor, known for Bloodsport (1988), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Game of Death (1978). He died on 14 April 1999 in Seattle, Washington, USA.- Actor
- Additional Crew
The British character actor Edward Judd was born to British parents in 1932 in Shanghai, China, where he began acting on stage as a teenager. Before he was 16, he was in England making his film debut in The Hideout (1948), closely followed by Maniacs on Wheels (1949) and The Outsider (1948). During the 1950s, Judd achieved modest fame on the English stage and continued his film career. By the 1960s, he had become associated mostly with science fiction films, e.g., X the Unknown (1956), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), First Men in the Moon (1964), Island of Terror (1966) and Invasion (1966). Judd made sporadic appearances, mostly in television, until the early 1990s.- Actress
- Talent Agent
Li Sun was born on 26 September 1982 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress and talent agent, known for Fearless (2006), Empresses in the Palace (2011) and Shadow (2018). She has been married to Chao Deng since 8 February 2010. They have two children.- Churan Wang was born on 21 January 1999 in ShangHai, China. She is an actress, known for Have a Crush on You (2023), Joy of Life (2019) and Royal Feast (2022).
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Writer
Ge Hu (a.k.a. Hu Ge) is a native of Shanghai, China. He became a part-time TV host at age fourteen and appeared in dozens of TV commercials between primary and high school years. From 2001 to 2005, he majored in acting at the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy.
While attending college, Hu attained stardom in China and Taiwan as Li Xiaoyao, the lead role of a TV series Chinese Paladin (2005), which was adapted from the Wuxia PC game of the same name. This series, and several others, made Hu widely popular among young audiences and brought him several performing arts awards. However, a car accident in 2006 interrupted his career. His assistant died in the crash while he sustained serious facial injuries. After multiple surgeries and nine months of recovery, he returned to the set of Legend of Condor Heroes (2008) where he had left off. His next two series, Chinese Paladin III (2009) and The Myth (2010), both became instant hits.
Ge Hu has taken on diverse roles in different genres in recent years. He played Lin Juemin, an early revolutionary rebelling against the Qing empire in Jackie Chan's history movie 1911 Revolution" (2011), for which he was nominated for the Hundred Flowers Award for Best New Performer. He was producer and lead actor for Xuan Yuan Sword - Rift of the Sky (2012). In 2013, he spent almost a year playing the lead role in Director Stan Lai's 8-hour long stage play A Dream Like a Dream (2000).
Hu's compelling performance as Mei Changsu/Su Zhe/Lin Shu in Nirvana in Fire (2015) propelled him to new heights as China's most influential actor of the year. This and his two other roles in The Disguiser (2015) and Good Times (2015) garnered over a dozen awards, including the 2016 Magnolia Award for Best Actor. He has over 66 million followers on his weibo.com mini-blog.
In 2007, Hu funded a Hope elementary school for the needy children in a remote village in Yunnan in memory of his late assistant. He has been regularly involved in other charitable causes such as GreenRiver Protection of Sichuan and More Love Foundation. In 2016, he was designated as the tourism ambassador of Shanghai to promote his home city to the world.- Michael Chow was born in 1939 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for You Only Live Twice (1967), My Sister's Keeper (2009) and Rush Hour (1998). He is married to Vanessa Rano. He was previously married to Tina Chow, Grace Coddington and Eva Chun.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Jimmy Wang Yu was born on 28 March 1943 in Shanghai, China. He was an actor and producer, known for Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976), Dragon (2011) and Soul (2013). He was married to Jeanette Lin Tsui. He died on 5 April 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan.- Esther Yu was born on 18 December 1995 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress, known for Love Between Fairy and Devil (2022), Find Yourself (2020) and My Journey to You (2023).
- Nina Li was one of the most distinguished Chinese leading ladies in late 80s and early 90s, and was renowned for her ravishing sex appeal which earned her the reputation of being "Marilyn of the East". She was born as Li Chi (Li Zhi) on the last day of 1961 in Shanghai. During her childhood, she was greatly influenced by her father, who had taught in the actor studios in Shanghai and Canton and can be considered the Lee Strasberg of China. In 1981, she followed her father to Hong Kong. At first, she worked in a furniture store but later on she went abroad to study in the United States, majoring in economics and business. Her breakthrough came when she came back to Hong Kong in 1986 and joined the Miss Asia contest. She was elected the Champion. However, people sneered at her at first, regarding her beauty as "tasteless" and, because she spoke Cantonese with her Shanghai accent, they hissed at her. However, with the help of tycoons like Jackie Chan and Raymond, she was soon recognized by filmmakers as the most hardworking in the city. Within 2 years, she became the fifth highest paid actress in Hong Kong. During her fairly short career (1987-1992), she has collaborated with stars like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, Samuel Hui and Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. In 1992, she retired and became an investor in mainland China. Her business collapsed in 1996 and she retired to private life. She was later married to Jet Li, who was a martial arts master from China and was catapulted to international stardom soon after with Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).
- Kaicheng Xu started his career as an actor in 2012, famous for well intended love (2019) as Yizhou Ling, Novoland: Pearl Eclipse (2021) as Emperor Xu and A Female Student Arrives at the Imperial College (2021) as Yunzhi Yan. His mother tongue is Chinese and speak English fluently as well.
- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Ching-Ying Lam was born on December 27, 1952 in Shanghai, China, the third of six children. He attended Shun Yi Association Elementary School in Hong Kong for 2 years. He later attended the Chun Chau Drama Society to learn Peking Opera, where he portrayed female roles and did stunt-doubling for actresses. At age 17, he joined the film industry, working as a martial arts stunts man and coach for the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest studios. At age 19, he was a personal assistant for Bruce Lee, and later joined the stunt team of Sammo Kam-Bo Hung.
Lam did stunt coordination and action choreography for numerous Chinese movies and appeared in scores of films playing fighters, henchmen and police officers. However, his shot to fame came when he appeared as "Master Gau" in Mr. Vampire (1985). From this film on, Lam was most famous for his various "Vampire Buster" roles in the dozens of ghost, fantasy, and horror movies from Hong Kong that followed, trying to rid the land of restless ghosts, evil demons, hopping vampires and bewitching elves. In these films, Lam often portrayed the "Master" of several apprentices, some of which have been played by actors Ricky Hui, Siu-Ho Chin, Biao Yuen and Hoi Mang. In addition to these movies, Lam originated the role of "Master Mo Siu Fong" in a TV-series produced by ATV Studios called "Vampire Expert" in the 1990s.
Lam passed away in Hong Kong on November 8, 1997 at the age of 44.- Leni Lan Yan, also known by her stage name Crazybarby, has developed her career in Hong Kong as an actress,a pop singer and a model. Born in Shanghai, she moved to Hong Kong at age 18 and took her stage name Crazybarby as a composition of her legal given name Crazy and her family given nickname "Barby".
Leni Lan graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and Acting Department of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. She was once Jackie Chan's disciple, targeting international markets as a rising artist under Hong Kong's JCE Entertainment Ltd. EMP.
In 2005, directed by Stanley Kwan's romance "Everlasting Regret" which Leni Lan starred and the official debut showbiz. In 2006, Leni Lan with Warner Bros. Pictures, starring entire Russian romance "Butterfly Kiss" which shattered box office records of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" to won annual domestic movie box office champion Russian actress title and get the Russian Film Festival Rookie of the Year Award nominations, which has also been the industry in Europe and America concern; The same year, Leni Lan signing JCE Movies Hong Kong and moved to Hong Kong. 2011, Leni Lan starring in 3D film "Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy" and won the Hong Kong box office champion annual local film with a box office record of HK$ 41 million. Leni Lan's personal virtue plays the heroine Tie Yuxiang won high popularity. In 2012, Leni Lan starred in Hunan Satellite TV costume drama "Sui and Tang hero" which had the number one rating." In 2013, Leni Lan starring thriller "Ecstasy Room Escape" nominated for Hollywood Chinese American Film Festival Golden Angel Award; In 2014, Leni Lan starring comedy directed by Eve Jin, "The Way of Surprises." - Mario Machado has been a fixture of television, film, and radio for over thirty years, and as a news anchor, reporter, narrator, actor, commentator, and producer, he has worked in virtually all aspects of broadcasting. Born in Shanghai, China of both Chinese and Portuguese ancestry, Mario made television history when, in 1967, he became the first Chinese-American on-air television news reporter and anchor in Los Angeles and perhaps in the nation. In 1968 he signed on as a color commentator for CBS Sports and, as a soccer player himself, he revolutionized the world of sports commentating with his personal insight and his dramatic flair. One year later he made television history again when he became the first Consumer Affairs reporter in the nation for KNXT Los Angeles. His work as a producer and a reporter has earned him ten Emmy Award nominations and eight wins, most recently for his work on the television special "U.S. Citizenship: A Dream Come True", which was broadcast in over 120 countries.
Not content to be limited to the newsroom, Mario has hosted daily talk radio shows on several Los Angeles stations, lent his voice as narrator to numerous documentaries, and hosted several television shows, including the award-winning medical investigation show Medix (1967) and the variety show Saturday Showcase (1998) Ever an avid soccer fan, he has been a commentator for the 1984 Olympics and several World Cups.
As an actor, he has appeared in films directed by Carl Reiner, Joel Schumacher, Brian De Palma, and Sylvester Stallone, but he may be best known for his role as newsman Casey Wong in all three RoboCop films. In addition, he has been featured on a diverse number of top-rated television shows, including Mission: Impossible (1966), The Brady Bunch (1969), Murder, She Wrote (1984), and Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990)_.
A tireless advocate of multiculturalism in both his professional and personal life, Mario's efforts have won him the John Anson Ford Humanitarian Award in 1994 and he was named Los Angeles County's Humanitarian of the Year in 1995. One of the recognitions that he is proudest of is being named a member of President Reagan's Child Safety Commission in 1986. - Dawn Greenhalgh was born in September 1933 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress, known for The Virgin Suicides (1999), Maps to the Stars (2014) and Anne of Green Gables (1985). She was previously married to Ted Follows.
- Ming Xi was born in Shanghai and studied acting and fashion design at Shanghai Donghua University graduating in 2007. Her modeling career took off after being nominated as one of the 15 finalists for Elite Model Look eventually launching her into stardom as one of the world's top supermodels. After a number of Chinese TV shows, her acting career began to take off in 2016 when she appeared in the feature, Warrior's Gate produced by the legendary French director Luc Besson.
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Born in Shanghai, China, as Chen Baolian, Pauline Chan emigrated to Hong Kong at age 12 with her mother when her parents divorced. A beautiful young girl, it didn't take long for photographers and agents to notice her and she began modeling at 15. In 1990 she entered the Miss Asia beauty pageant. She didn't win, but her striking looks, lithe body and classy bearing attracted the attention of several producers in Hong Kong's adult film industry. At age 18 she made her adult-film debut and her enthusiastic performances shot her to the top of the Chinese porn field. In 1997 she hooked up with a much older man, a Taiwanese millionaire, and they had a short (two-year) but stormy relationship. After their break-up in 1999, Chan's personal and professional lives began to unravel. She had had a drug problem for several years and it got worse--during one television interview in which she was apparently high on drugs she actually tried to commit suicide. A series of brushes with the law ensued, resulting in her being deported from several countries, and she was briefly sent to prison in the UK for assault. These and other incidents pretty much pulled the plug on her film career.
She moved back to her hometown of Shanghai and in July of 2002 gave birth to a baby boy. Motherhood didn't solve her problems, however, and on July 31, 2002, she leaped out of the window of her 24th-floor apartment and plunged to her death.- Actress
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Pei-Pei Cheng was born on 4 December 1946 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress and producer, known for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Lilting (2014) and Mulan (2020). She was previously married to Wen-Tung Yuan.- Actor
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Kenneth Tsang was born on 5 October 1934 in Shanghai, China. He was an actor and director, known for The Replacement Killers (1998), Die Another Day (2002) and The Killer (1989). He was married to Chiao Chiao, Barbara Tang and Lan Di. He died on 27 April 2022 in Hong Kong.- Actor
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Feng was born in an affluent family of Shanghai. He displayed his interests in acting and performance from a young age. Influenced by his mother, an art enthusiast, Feng entered the Shanghai Theater Academy and studied acting. After he graduated in 2001, Feng chose an acting career and worked as a television actor for ten years before rising to fame overnight with his performance in a period drama, Gong (2011).
Feng soon turned his focus to film, and intends to pursue a diverse mix of roles. In White Vengeance (2011), he gives a distinctive performance by playing a tragic hero, Xiang Yu. Feng challenges himself in Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013) with intensive Kung Fu fight scenes. In the award-wining biopic The Golden Era (2014) directed by Ann Hui, Feng plays a controversial left-wing writer, Xiao Jun, and develops a love-hate relationship with one of China's greatest modern writer, Xiao Hong. Feng also displays his comedian talents in box-office hits like Painted Skin: The Resurrection (2012) and The Continent (2014). Handpicked by director Jean-Jacques Annaud, he stars the Chinese-French corporation Wolf Totem (2015), which is adapted from the renowned best-seller of the same name. Feng played a college student went to inner Mongolia during the Cultural Evolution.
Feng also develops an interest in fantasy films after filming The Monkey King 2 (2016), in which he plays the famous Monk Tang Sanzang, along with megastar Li Gong and Aaron Kwok, going on the journey to the West. He stars China's first Sci-Fi movie, The Three-Body Problem: I (2017), based on the first translated novel winning the Hugo Award. Further, Feng takes producing duties behind the scenes in the fantasy TV shows that he stars, such as Ice Fantasy (2016) and The Starry Night, the Starry Sea (2017).
Shaofeng Feng is now one of the leading actors of his generation by keeping a balance between commercial hits and artistic films.- Actor
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Danny Lee Sau-Yin, was born in 1952 in Shanghai. Lee did not do so well in school and sometimes dropped out to help support his family by working. While growing up, he held policemen in high regard and so, upon graduating high school, he tried entering the police academy, but could not complete the courses. He entered the TVB acting school in 1970, and got his first big film role in the 1972 film Water Margin.
The following year, Lee made his starring debut with River of Fury. He then went on to star in Shaw Brothers' 1975 Hong Kong Tokusatsu-style superhero movie and camp classic The Super Inframan playing the Chinese superhero himself.
After superstar Bruce Lee's death in the same year, almost every star in Hong Kong was pushed in to fill "The Dragon's" shoes, and Lee was no exception, even going as far as to actually portray the legend himself in Bruce Lee and I. By the late 1970s, Lee had begun to tire of Kung Fu movies and thus tried his hand at different fare, such as 1977's The Mighty Peking Man (a King Kong ripoff now considered a camp classic). Still being offered roles in Kung Fu movies, in 1978 he decided to form his own production company. One of the earliest products from his company, 1981's The Executor (aka Heroic Cops) was largely nondescript, except for the fact that it was the first on-screen pairing with Lee and future superstar Chow Yun-Fat.
In 1982, Lee directed his first movie, Funny Boys, and then followed it up in 1984 with the movie that would cement his image in the consciousness of Hong Kong, Law With Two Phases. The violent movie (for which Lee won both the Hong Kong Film Award and Taiwanese Golden Horse for his acting) featured Lee as a hot-headed but just policeman, a role that he reprises to this day.
Law With Two Phases also inspired other directors. Some of the elements used in the shootouts were used by John Woo in his breakthrough 1986 film A Better Tomorrow, and Law's documentary-like look inspired Kirk Wong to continue with a similar style (which he was also developing at the time). Both directors subsequently asked Lee to work with them. Lee appeared with Chow Yun-Fat in Ringo Lam's 1987 gangster classic City on Fire (where he plays a rare role as a criminal), and then appeared in John Woo's benefit project for Chang Cheh, Just Heroes (1987, which Lee also co-directed). Lee's next project with Woo was, of course, his most famous, 1989's The Killer. Originally, the studio did not want Lee in the role of a cop once again, but both Woo and Chow Yun-Fat insisted on putting Lee in the film, since he was so much in the public's minds as being an upstanding police officer, which they thought was crucial for the role. The movie was an international cult hit, and Lee became forever associated with being a cop in Western minds.
In 1987, Lee formed his second production company, Magnum Films, and had become a fairly powerful producer in Hong Kong. As fitting for a company named after Dirty Harry's favorite gun, many of Magnum's films are ultra-violent "Category III" (Hong Kong's equivalent of "NC-17," where no children are allowed to watch) films which have become classics in their own right. Movies like The Untold Story, Dr. Lamb and Twist scared local audiences and entranced foreigners with their over-the-top attitude.
In the late 1980s, Lee was also one of the first producers to back Stephen Chow (and is sometimes credited for "discovering" him), who was at the time a small-time dramatic actor, but who would then go on to be Asia's biggest star after appearing in a series of "Mo Lei Tai" (nonsense) comedies. Lee even directed Chow in one of his first comedies, 1991's Legend of the Dragon, the first film in which Lee does not appear, while on the director and producer's chairs.
He later produced, co-directed (with Herman Yau) and co-starred in The Untold Story, the controversial Category III thriller, which brought Anthony Chau-Sang Wong to stardom. The two actors later starred in Kirk Wong's action flick Organized Crime & Triad Bureau, which Lee produced.
Though his on-screen output has slowed down in recent years, reduced to mostly cameo appearances in movies like Young and Dangerous V, Lee (and his company) are still pretty busy with behind-the-scenes work, and it seems a given that as long as there will be a Hong Kong movie industry, Danny Lee will be there --especially if a movie needs to have a cop in it.- Actor
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Ryan Zheng was born on 17 April 1986 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor and producer, known for Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Great Wall (2016) and Ex-Files (2014). He has been married to Miao Miao since 21 May 2020. They have two children.- Writer
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J.G. Ballard was born on 15 November 1930 in Shanghai, China. He was a writer and actor, known for Empire of the Sun (1987), High-Rise (2015) and Crash (1996). He was married to Helen Mary Matthews. He died on 19 April 2009 in London, England, UK.- Actor
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When Yin-Chieh Han was 3 years old, he moved to Beijing and from 9 to 18 years old joined a Pekin Opera group. In 1946, he went to Shanghai and debuted in the film industry at 19 years old as stuntman that same year. Next year he left the movies temporarily to do martial arts and circus exhibitions in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. Later he returned to Hong Kong and joined Shaw Bros. Film Studio as stuntman and later martial arts choreographer. He also played bit parts in his movies. At that moment Han gained a large reputation and met director Wu Kam-Chuen, who asked for him in 1966 when he left Shaw Bros. to go to Taiwan. Han and Wu collaborated in several masterpieces of martial arts genre until 1970, when Han returned to Hong Kong, signing a contract with new film company Golden Harvest. Here he played his most famous evil role, Big Boss in the film with the same title of 1971, directed by Lo Wei, who also collaborated with Han in several famous films. Han worked with the most famous stars of his time and also directed a few films in the 70s. He died of cancer in 1991 at the age of 64.- Actress
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Ai Wan is an international awards-winning bilingual actress, writer, and producer. She is fluent in English and Chinese. Ai was born in Shanghai, China, and moved to Los Angeles, California, at a young age. Her grandfather came from a wealthy banking family in China, and he had spent many years in the U.S. after he received Yale Ph.D. before he returned to China. Her father is a symphony composer and a well-respected piano teacher in China. Ai's grandparents raised her since she was born due to her parents' passionate eloped marriage but divorced soon after. After she came to Los Angeles, she went to Southwestern Academy, a private boarding school in San Marino city in L.A.
Ai has started modeling at the age of 16, and soon she became a popular print and commercial model. She was working for many well-established fashion brands worldwide. Ai was also a cover girl for "California Asian Dream Girl" Calendar for five years running, and Playboy has selected her as the front face of "Hip Hop with the global most exotic beauty" (Bikini poster ads and billboards). She has won two titles of Miss Chinese International U.S.A and Miss Talent. Her first acting job was in the Oscar-winning feature film" Death becomes Her," she has played a small part (7 days job) as the ancient beauty of the witch (Isabella Rossellini) alongside Bruce Willis, Goldie Hawn, and Meryl Streep. Ai has also co-starred in a global box office sensation comedy "Rush Hour" with Jakie Chan and Chris Tucker.
Ai has studied with one of the most established acting coach Aaron Speiser's master class (drama & comedy) for five years in Hollywood. She has also learned Morden dance and hip hop for two years at the famous Edge Dance Studio in Hollywood. Ai was in many hit MTV videos with Multi Grammy-winning singers like Melissa Ethridge(Fallen Down), R Kelly(She's got the vibe), Robert Palmer(Addicted to Love remix), Sly&Robbie (Strip to the bone), etc.
In 2008, her first producing debut, "Yasukuni," was nominated at prestigious Sundance in the competition category for world cinema documentary award. It was an official selection of Berlin and Cannes Int'l Film Festival. This controversial feature has won"Best Documentary with a humanitarian award at Hongkong Int'l Film Festival.," AND" Award at Pusan Int'l Film Festival, plus a dozen other essential film awards.
In 2013, Ai produced and starred in a hip Beijing Expat cult comedy feature. "This is Sanlitun" is an official selection of the prestigious TIFF and 2014 Beijing International Film Festival. In 2014, She received the "Creative Wow" achievement award for outstanding women in Beijing.
In 2016, Ai starred in a Chinese thriller feature "Shadows of Plum Flower," it has received five nominations and awards at the U.S. Hollywood International film festival. It includes the "Jury Award"(win) and "Best Foreign Film"(nominated), "Best Cinematography" (nominated). It's the winner of the 2017"Golden Seed Award" for "Best Internet Film" in China. The film has received 20 million hits on Tencent within 45days in China.
In 2016, her first Chinese comedy feature script, "California Sunshine," has won the top ten best screenplays at Beijing Int'l Film Festival out of 674 contest submissions. She is also a co-author of China Best Selling book" The Madness of Appetite." Ai is a popular culture columnist of "Modern Weekly," it has won the most influential publication awards in the country. She is also the playwright of a Chinese language modern farce "EVA."
In 2017, Ai starred in an action-drama feature"My China Doll," this is the first Co Pro of China and Tunisia in the last 50 years. It's an official selection of the Beijing Int'l Film Festival in the "Panorama " category. The film was screened in the same category alongside "The Salesman" (Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film). "My China Doll" was also the opening film for Cairo Int'l Film Festival.
In 2019, she produced and starred in an eye-catching comedy 'Butcher's Guide", it won four awards from the 48HOUR Int'l film competition in Shanghai, China. She has named the production team "Plan C." In 2022, she produced and starred in "Dead Romance", it won eight awards which it includes Best Audience Award, Best Acting Assemble, Best Screenplay, Best Producer (HM)etc from the 48. In 2023, she became the global main panel judge for Filmapalooza in L.A. The winners of the 48 have been officially screened at 2023 Cannes film festival "Short Film Corner".
In June 2020, Ai has starred/wrote/produced a quarantine film"The Way We Are."It's about six friends from six different cities and countries, having one last in-depth and hilarious online chat one day before the proper lift of opening Wuhan. The film has touched many critical social issues around the world. The biggest challenge is that each actor has to shoot the dialogue separately on a different continent but edit it later as one conversation in the story. Ai has been stranded near Budapest, Hungary, from Feb 2020 until Jan 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The film has received twenty awards and nominations in total.
Ai was a Jury Member of the co-production competition program of Beijing International Film Festival, Miss Globe world final competition2018, and Mrs. Globe China Final 2019. In the past years, she is also a mentor acting coach of the Beijing Genre film academy's boot camp. Ai was the host of China International Fashion Week Opening for four years, eight seasons. She has also known as the creator, artistic director, designer for the most groundbreaking and culturally transcendent best designed "ChinaDoll" electro/live music club in Beijing(2005-2010). Mr.Quincy Jones has still held the record of attending for 15 nights straight back in 2008. ChinaDoll has won two dozen awards including "Best Club of the Year".Ai Wan has been called "Renaissance Woman" by China Daily and Beijinger Magazine.- Director
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Wang Xiaoshuai (Director, Writer, Producer)
Wang Xiaoshuai is one of very few masters who remains true to his art in spite of rampant commercialism in the Chinese film market. Evoking the trauma of ordinary Chinese people caught in extraordinary times, his works span different eras, yet consistently reflect a strong social conscience.
Born in 1966, he was a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. At 27, he emerged as one of the key Sixth Generation directors with his debut feature The Days (1993) ,it was selected as one of the best 100 films of all time by the BBC in 1995. He followed up with Frozen (1996) and So Close to Paradise (1998), the later premiering in the Un certain regard section in Cannes. Wang's gritty depiction of listless youth in a time of bewildering social changes earned him international critical acclaim, but none of his early films could be officially released at home. Beijing Bicycle (2001) won the Grand Jury Silver Bear in Competition at the Berlinale, for a stunningly fresh image of Chinese teenagers negotiating the class gap in a new age of materialism.
Wang's works have competed in Cannes Film Festival four times, three times in the Berlinale, and also at Venice and San Sebastian film festivals. For his artistic accomplishments, he has received many distinguished honors notably the Grand Jury Prize for Shanghai Dreams (2005) in the Cannes Main Competition and the Berlinale Silver Bear for Best Screenplay for In Love We Trust (2008). His recent work Red Amnesia (2014) was selected in competition for the Golden Lion at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and the latest title So Long, My Son (2019) won two Silver Bears for the Best Actor and Actress at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival, both examine the far-reaching consequences of the past on the present.
Filmography The Days (1993) Frozen (1996) So Close to Paradise (1998) Suburban Dreams (2000) Beijing Bicycle (2001) Drifters (2003) Shanghai Dreams (2005) In Love We Trust (2008) Chongqing Blues (2010) 11 Flowers (2011) Red Amnesia (2014) So Long, My Son (2019) Documentary: Chinese Portrait (2018) Short film: After the War (2001) The Cornfield (2015) Reflection (2017)- Writer
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Mary Hayley Bell was born on 22 January 1911 in Shanghai, China. She was a writer and actress, known for Scott of the Antarctic (1948), Gypsy Girl (1966) and The Shrike (1955). She was married to John Mills. She died on 1 December 2005 in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, UK.- Producer
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Sample some of the best American films over the past forty years and there's a good chance Mike Medavoy played a role in the success of many of them. From agent to studio chief to producer, he has been involved with over 300 feature films, of which 17 have been nominated and 7 have won Best Picture Oscars®, as well as numerous international film festival awards.
Medavoy began his career at Universal Studios in 1964. He rose from the mail room to become a casting director. In 1965, he became an agent at General Artist Corporation and then vice-president at Creative Management Agency. Joining International Famous Agency as vice-president in charge of the motion picture department in 1971, he worked with such prestigious clients as Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Terrence Malick, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Gene Wilder, Jeanne Moreau, and Jean-Louis Trintignant.
United Artists brought him in as senior vice-president of production, in 1974, where he was part of the team responsible for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Rocky (1976), and Annie Hall (1977), which won Best Picture Oscars® in 1975, 1976, and 1977, respectively. Other notable films included Apocalypse Now (1979), Raging Bull (1980), Network (1976) and Coming Home (1978). In 1978, Medavoy co-founded Orion Pictures where, during his tenure, Platoon (1986), Amadeus (1984), RoboCop (1987), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Terminator (1984), Dances with Wolves (1990) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) were released. In 1990, after twelve successful years at Orion, Medavoy became chairman of TriStar Pictures, where he oversaw such critically-acclaimed box office hits as Philadelphia (1993), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Cliffhanger (1993), The Fisher King (1991), Legends of the Fall (1994) and Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991).
As chairman and co-founder of Phoenix Pictures, Medavoy has brought to the screen The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996), U Turn (1997), Apt Pupil (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), The 6th Day (2000), Basic (2003), Holes (2003), All the King's Men (2006), Zodiac (2007), Pathfinder (2007) and Miss Potter (2006), among others. These films have received numerous nominations, won two Golden Bears at the Berlin Film Festival, five Golden Satellite Awards, a cinematography award for John Toll from the ASC and nominations from the DGA and WGA for Terrence Malick. "The Thin Red Line" and "The People vs. Larry Flint" each received Oscar® nominations.
Recently, Phoenix Pictures has released Shutter Island (2010), directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow; Shanghai (2010), starring John Cusack and Gong Li; and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan (2010), starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis in 2010. "Black Swan" won numerous awards, including the Oscar® and Golden Globe for Best Actress (Natalie Portman) as well as the Independent Film Spirit Awards for Best Feature, Best Director (Darren Arnofosky), Best Female Lead (Natalie Portman) and Best Cinematography (Matthew Libatique). Medavoy also recently worked as executive producer on the documentary, The Wildest Dream (2010).
Medavoy and Phoenix Pictures recently released What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), starring Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, and Chris Rock.
In 2011, Medavoy announced his newest project surrounding the Chilean mining accident that left 33 men trapped underground for 69 days. Medavoy will collaborate with Chilean officials and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Jose Rivera to create and authentic retelling of this story.
Also in 2011, Medavoy also announced his collaboration with The Shanghai Film Group to create both a feature film and six-hour miniseries. The feature, an adaptation of the novel "The Cursed Piano", is a love story set in Japanese-occupied China concerning prosecuted Jews seeking refuge from an occupied Europe. The mini-series, Tears of a Sparrow (2011), will focus in greater detail on the experience of these Jews in Shanghai.
Medavoy has received numerous awards, including the 1992 Motion Picture Pioneer of the Year Award, the 1997 Career Achievement Award from UCLA, and the Lifetime Achievement Award (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival. He was awarded the 1999 UCLA Neil H. Jacoby Award, which honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to humanity. Medavoy also received the inaugural Fred Zinnemann Award (2001), presented by the Anti-Defamation League, the Israel Film Festival's Lifetime Achievement Award (2002), as well as a Career Achievement Award from the University of Central Florida (2002). In 2004, he received the Louis B. Mayer Motion Picture Business Leader of the Year Award from Florida Atlantic University and in 2005, he was the recipient of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and Producers Guild of America Vision Award. Also in 2005, Medavoy was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received a star on Hollywood Boulevard. In 2007, he received the Stella Adler Actors Studio Marlon Brando Award and in 2008, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jerusalem Film Foundation. In 2009, he was given the Honorary Doctorate at the Academy of Art in San Francisco and was named Chevalier of the French Government's Legion of Honor. Mike also received the Bernardo O'Higgins award from the Chilean government on February 16th, 2010. In 2011, Medavoy received the Raimondo Rezzonico Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. In 2012, at the 2012 Shanghai International Film Festival, Medavoy was bestowed with the Outstanding Achievement Award.
Medavoy has also served as chairman of the jury of the Tokyo Film Festival, advisor to the Shanghai Film Festival and advisor to the St. Petersburg Festival. He was a member of the board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences from 1977 to 1981. Medavoy is also one of the original founding members of the board of governors of the Sundance Institute (1978) and is chairman emeritus of the American Cinematheque and the Stella Adler Actors Studio in New York.
Medavoy has made a mark not only within his industry, but in his community as well. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles by Governor Jerry Brown and was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan as Commissioner on the Los Angeles Board of Parks and Recreations. He is a member of the board of directors of the University of Tel Aviv. He also serves on the board of trustees of the UCLA Foundation and is a member of the Chancellor's Associates, the Dean's Advisory Board at the UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television and the Alumni Association's Student Relations Committee. He is also the co-chairman of the Burkle Center for UCLA's Center for International Relations and served as a member of the board of advisers at the Kennedy School at Harvard University for five years. In 2002, Governor Gray Davis appointed Mike to the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center's Executive Advisory Board; he is also a member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Medavoy is also on the Baryshnikov Arts Center Advisory Committee in New York, and serves on the advisory board of the University of Southern California's Center on Public Diplomacy.
Throughout his career, Mike Medavoy has also been active in politics. In 1984, he was Co-Finance Chair of the Gary Hart campaign. He also actively participated in President Clinton's campaigns in 1992 and 1996. In 2008, he supported the candidacy of Barack Obama, and his wife, Irena, was the Co-Finance Chair.
In 2002, Simon & Schuster published Mr. Medavoy's best-selling book, You're Only As Good As Your Next One: 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films and 100 For Which I Should Be Shot - which was subsequently released in paperback in 2003. Mike's new book, entitled American Idol After Iraq; Competing for Hearts and Minds in the Global Media Age and published in 2009, reflects on the impact of media on U.S. foreign policy with co-author Nathan Gardels, editor of the National Political Quarterly.
Mike was born in Shanghai, China in 1941 of Russian-Jewish parents, and lived in Chile from 1947 to 1957. He graduated from UCLA in 1963. He is married to Irena Ferris Medavoy, a founder of Team Safe-T and a charity executive and fund raiser for the Industry Task Force. Mike Medavoy has two sons, Brian Medavoy and Nicholas Medavoy, and resides in Beverly Hills, California.- Jeremy Jones Xu (born: Xu Zheng Xi) rose to fame playing romantic supporting character Ji Rufeng in 2011 romance drama Waking Love Up, and had gained widespread recognition for his role as Yuwen Hu in The Legend of Dugu which aired in 2018. Before his success, he suffered from hyperthyroidism but recovered. Another drama in which he was recognized by the audience was Legend of Phoenix (2019), where he played a general and military strategist Wei Guang, alongside actress He Hongshan. In this drama, while filming on the water, he came to save the actress' life. In the war scenes in which he had to wear the armor on the battlefield, he suffered heat stroke five times. In 2020 he acted in the popular drama Novoland Castle in the sky season 2, playing the character Xue Jing Kong, a powerful sorcerer whose life was intertwined with the young winged empress. He learned Cantonese, he also speaks English, as well as Mandarin.
- Shuying Jiang was born on 1 September 1986 in Shanghai, China. She is an actress, known for So Young (2013), Mr. Right (2018) and Call of Heroes (2016).
- Yuxi Ding was born on 20 July 1995 in Shanghai, China. He is an actor, known for The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020), White Cat Legend (2024) and Ten Years of Loving You (2022).
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Blake Ridder is an award winning British director, writer and actor. He is best known for writing and directing in the multi-award winning directorial debut feature film Help (2021). During the early part of Ridder's filmmaking career, he wrote, directed and starred in various short films, including the multi-award winning The English Teacher (2020).
Blake was born in Shanghai, China, later moved to UK with his parents at the age of nine. He began his acting career in 2017 and wrote and directed his first short film a year later. He is also the founder of Ridder Films, an independent production company based in London.