Zhang Ruifang (15 June 1918 – 28 June 2012) was a Chinese film and theatre actress.

Life

Zhang was born on 15 June 1918 in Baoding in Hebei Province. She studied painting in the Western style at Beiping's National Arts School. She completed the course in 1935. After joining the Communist Party in 1937 she joined the Chinese Drama Society and after she completed her course in 1936 she was employed on the stage. During the war with Japan she performed to support the national effort to resist the Japanese invasion.Zhang Ruifang
China.org.cn, Retrieved 14 June 2016 During the war she took the lead in her first film. The director Sun Yu cast her as a double agent in the film ''Baptism of Fire''. By 1943 she was married for the second time to Jin Shan who served as a spy for the communist party. Her next role was not until after the war in 1946 when her performance in ''On Songhua River'' was well received. Zhang modelled her acting persona on her role model

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. In 1963, Zhang won Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actress for her household character in comedy '' Li Shuangshuang''.中国第一代才艺双馨女星
Jiamusi Daily May 20, 2011 She is considered to be of the "four great drama actresses" in China (), along with Bai Yang, Shu Xiuwen and

Qin Yi Qin Yi (; 4 February 1922 – 9 May 2022) was a Chinese actress. She gained fame for her stage performances in the war-time capital Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war, she became one of China's most popular film actre ...

.影剧四大名旦
名人传记 March 08, 2011 Zhangs portrayal and the film were praised by the premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...

. Zhang played a character who took an equal role to the men in the story. She completed ten more films before she retired from acting in 1982. After she retired she took an interest in politics. She served on the National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference three times. She was also on national committees for women and another for art and literature. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, Zhang was imprisoned for a year but she suffered less than some of her contemporaries as some spent six years in captivity.The Last Reservoir of Glamour From China’s ‘Four Great Actresses’
30 November 2015, Jane Perlez, NYTimes, Retrieved 14 June 2016.

Later years and death

Zhang rejected capitalism when she started a retirement home in 2000 in Changning in Shanghai. She explained that her purpose was to create a community for 40 people and not to make a profit.Veteran Actress and Iconaclast of Stage and Screen
14 April 2010, womenofchina.cn. Retrieved 14 June 2016. In 2007, she was again honoured at the Golden Rooster Awards when she was given a lifetime achievement award by the China Film Associaction. Zhang died in Shanghai in 2012.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Ruifang 1918 births 2012 deaths Actresses from Baoding Chinese film actresses 20th-century Chinese actresses Victims of the Cultural Revolution Chinese stage actresses People of the Republic of China