Violet Wong
Violet Wong | |
|---|---|
_1,_Liangyou,_1927-11-30.jpg) Wong, 1927 | |
| Born | c. 1916 Guangdong, Republic of China |
| Notable work | Two Stars in the Milky Way |
Violet Wong (traditional Chinese: 紫羅蘭; simplified Chinese: 紫罗兰; pinyin: Zǐluólán; lit. 'violet', fl. 1926–1948) was a Chinese actress. Born in Guangdong, she began singing and dancing as a child, catching the attention of General Chiang Kai-shek. She made her feature film debut in Two Stars in the Milky Way (1931), where she portrayed a young woman who became a movie star.
Biography
[edit]Wong was born in Guangdong c. 1916.[1] She joined the Bright Moon Song and Dance Troupe, headed by Li Jinhui, at a young age. She was soon recognized for her dancing skills, being deemed a "queen of southern songs and dances."[2] She performed in Guangdong for General Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei in 1926 prior to the launch of the Northern Expedition, being invited to banquets and gaining praise for her performance.[3] She was rewarded by Chiang with a gold watch, as well as a promise that she could perform in Beijing should the National Revolutionary Army capture the city.[4] She appeared on the cover of The Young Companion in November of that year.[5]
In subsequent years Wong toured central and southern China, Thailand, and Malaya, gaining a reputation for her tragic performances. Reviewing her performance as Consort Mei at the Isis Theatre in Shanghai, the North-China Herald described her as able to "melt a heart of stone", with powerfully directed scorn at the woman stealing the affections of Emperor Tang Ming Huang from her. Other performances in her repertoire included stories based on Xiaoqing, Hua Mulan, and the novel Dream of the Red Chamber. A comedy, "A Young Man's Proposal", was also sometimes performed.[4]
Wong made her screen debut in 1931 with Two Stars in the Milky Way, a film produced by the United Photoplay Service (UPS). The Bright Moon troupe were retained by the studio and rebranded the United Photoplay Service Follies.[6] While other members of the troupe, such as Li Lili, were chosen for a chorus line of majorettes, Wong was chosen to play the protagonist Li Yueying, a young woman who rises to stardom after being discovered in her rural home. She performed several songs, including a Cantonese opera and a rendition of the Cantonese song "Rain on a Banana Leaf", as well as an Egyptian-themed dance.[7] Reviewers generally praised Wong's vocal performance.[8]
Wong announced a retirement by 1933, having been active only briefly; the magazine Ling Long listed her as among several stars, including Wang Hanlun and Yang Naimei, who had left the industry in recent years.[9] Wong married Long Qichang, the son of a Guizhou province government official, in 1932.[10] The couple had three-year-old daughter and a baby by 1935, at which time she decided to return to film. She had worked on some films for the Tianyi Film Company and UPS.[11] While living in Hong Kong, she gained renewed popularity as an actress and a Cantonese opera performer.[12] She continued acting as late as 1948, when she appeared in the film Uncompromising Fellow.[13]
Works cited
[edit]- ^ North-China Herald, 1928-09-08; Ma 2015, p. 47
- ^ Ma 2015, p. 47.
- ^ Young Companion, 1926a.
- ^ a b North-China Herald, 1928-09-08.
- ^ Young Companion, 1926b.
- ^ Harris 2012, pp. 197–199.
- ^ Harris 2012, pp. 203–210.
- ^ Harris 2012, p. 216.
- ^ Ling Long, 1933-12-20.
- ^ The Kung Sheung Daily News, 1932-04-05.
- ^ Ling Long, 1935.
- ^ Ma 2015, p. 225.
- ^ HKFA 1997, p. 199.
References
[edit]- "A Talented Child Actress: Violet Wong, A Tragedienne in the Teens". The North-China Herald and Supreme Court & Consular Gazette. 8 September 1928. p. 435. ProQuest 1371399455 – via ProQuest.
- 走出了影界的女星 [Actresses Who Left the Film Industry]. Ling Long (in Chinese). Shanghai. 20 December 1933. p. 2561.
- Harris, Kristine (2012). "Two Stars on the Silver Screen: The Metafilm as Chinese Modern". In Henriot, Christian; Yeh, Wen-hsin (eds.). History in Images: Pictures and Public Space in Modern China. China Research Monograph. Vol. 66. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies. pp. 191–244. ISBN 978-155729-155-4.
- 香港影片大全 [Hong Kong Movies] (in Chinese). Vol. 2. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Film Archive. 1997. ISBN 978-962-8050-05-5.
- Ma, Jean (2015). Sounding the Modern Woman: The Songstress in Chinese Cinema. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-5865-7.
- 紫羅蘭女士之舞姿 [The Dance of Lady Violet]. The Young Companion (in Chinese). Shanghai. September 1926. p. 10.
- 之舞姿女士 [Ms. Violet]. The Young Companion (in Chinese). Shanghai. September 1926. p. 1.
- 紫羅蘭重上銀幕 [Violet Wong Returns to Silver Screen]. Ling Long (in Chinese). Shanghai. 1935. p. 1184.
- "証婚訓辭" [The Marriage Ceremony Speech]. The Kung Sheung Daily News (in Chinese). 5 April 1932. p. 11. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
贵州巡按使龙建章之子
[The son of the grand inspector of Guizhou]
