Li Ching (actress)
Li Ching | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | February 22, 2018 | (aged 69)
Education | Precious Blood Secondary School |
Occupation(s) | Actress and Producer |
Li Ching, also spelled Lee Ching ( Chinese: 李菁; pinyin: Lǐ Jīng ) ; ( 8 November 1948 – 22 February 2018 ) , was a prominent Hong Kong actress and producer from the early 1960s to late 70s.
Early life
[edit]Li Ching was born in Shanghai as Li Guoying ( Chinese: 李國瑛 ) Her parents moved to British Hong Kong in 1949. She was the youngest in her family , with 5 older brothers and 2 older sisters. [1] From a young age , she was interested in movies. While attending Precious Blood Girls' School , she learned that Shaw Brothers " Southern Experimental Drama Troupe " was openly recruiting for its second group of trainees. Despite her parents' opposition , she was determined to audition. Over 2,000 people applied , but Li Ching's fresh appearance and natural acting talent earned her a spot. She was selected along with Fang Ying , Chiang Ching , Cheng Pei-pei , and Chin Pin , becoming classmates. During this period , she made cameo appearances in The Love Eterne and The Female Prince.
Career
[edit]After graduating from the training class , she signed an 8-year contract with Shaw Brothers. Initially , she was cast in costume roles , playing supporting characters in films such as The Crimson Palm , The Lotus Lamp , and Inside the Forbidden City ; but her big break came when she was finally offered her first starring role as the Carp Spirit / Peong in The Mermaid alongside Ivy Ling Po.
In May 1965 , Li Ching won Best Actress at the 12th Asian Film Festival for her performance in The Mermaid. Since she was not yet 17 at the time , she was dubbed the “ Baby Queen of Asian Cinema ”
In 1967 , her performance in Susanna , her first modern romantic drama , received critical acclaim which further solidified her reputation. Following that, Shaw Brothers carefully planned her rise to stardom, producing a series of new films for her that consistently broke box office records.
In the early 1970s , Li Ching's film Have Sword, Will Travel - besides the actors Ti Lung and David Chiang - ranked as the 6th highest grossing film of the year ; and by 1969 , she had appeared in more than 20 films. Except for a 6 month break in 1969 due to a fractured left leg. Li Ching was almost constantly filming , completing numerous Huangmei opera movies. During her time at Shaw Brothers , she appeared in around 50 films , including Chang Cheh’s Dead End , King Eagle , and The New One-Armed Swordsman. She was also named one of the “ Top 10 Mandarin Film Stars ” for 3 consecutive years, becoming one of the most sought-after actresses in both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
At the end of 1976 , Li Ching ended her 13-year relationship with Shaw Brothers and began working as a freelance actress , travelling between Hong Kong and Taiwan. She also co-founded the “ Changtian Company ” with director Lo Ma and starred in their debut film The Chase. Li eventually announced her retirement as an actress in 1983 , after appearing in more than 60 films.[2]
Personal life and Death
[edit]It is said that at the peak of her career , she was a compassionate soul and quite energetic too! Giving out advice to those who just debuted and invited her friends to her home frequently after a long day of work.[3] But tragedy striked in 1979 , her long-time boyfriend , Lui Kok-Wah , the eldest son of the Lui family and an heir to the Kowloon Motor Bus company , passed away after a 10 year relationship. This deeply affected her , leading to a gradual reduction in her film work. Followed by her mother in 1983 , who had been by her side for many years , passed away. This impacted Li Ching immensely and completely withdrew herself from the entertainment industry.
It is said that after leaving the film industry , Li Ching began a second career in the stock market. However , not long after , news spread that she had suffered significant investment losses , it may also be her gambling addiction - a way to cope with the 2 significant losses in her life. In the end, she had to liquidate her assets to repay debts , some of these problems ended up leading to court. This took a severe toll on her health both physically and mentally. She supposedly got breast cancer as well on some accounts.
In the 1990s , Li Ching disappeared from the public eye. Even when Shaw Brothers digitally remastered and released their films in 2013 , this “ great contributor ” and “ old comrade ” didn’t even make an appearance!
On February 22 , 2018 , she was found dead at her home. Apparently , her neighbours smelt a rotten stench coming from her apartment , and called the firefighters to investigate. Turns out her body had been decomposing for several of days , she was 69 years old. Fortunately , her co-stars hadn’t forgotten her , and paid for her funeral expenses and memorials. [4][5]
Filmography
[edit]Films
[edit]- 1964 Between Tears and Smiles
- 1964 The Dancing Millionairess (Wan hua ying chun) as Chorus girl
- 1964 The Last Woman of Shang (Da ji)
- 1964 The Story of Sue San
- 1964 The Crimson Palm (Xie shou yin)
- 1964 The Female Prince as Chun Lan
- 1965 Inside the Forbidden City as Ghost of Kou Zhu
- 1965 The Mermaid as Chin Mu-tan/Pipo fairy
- 1965 The Lotus Lamp (Bai lian deng) as Lingzhi
- 1965 The West Chamber (Xi xiang ji) as Hongniang
- 1966 Sweet and Wild (Ye gu niang) as Jin Xiao-fang
- 1966 The Knight Of Knights (Wen Suchen) as Sister Yu Chin-erh
- 1967 Sweet is Revenge (Da xia fu chou ji)
- 1967 Nu xun an as Huo Ting-chin
- 1967 Jing jing as Ching-ching
- 1967 The King with My Face as Princess Hui Hsi
- 1967 Swan Song
- 1967 Susanna as Lin Shan-Shan
- 1967 Rape of the Sword (Dao jian) as Zhong Jiao Long
- 1967 Lady Jade Locket as Lien Suo/Lien Wei
- 1968 Hong Kong Rhapsody as Chang Hsiao-Ping
- 1968 The Sword of Swords as Pai Feng
- 1969 Hao xia zhuan (Killers Five)
- 1969 The Invincible Fist as Kuei Ku
- 1969 Dead End as Wen You
- 1969 The Three Smiles (San xiao) as Chiu Hsiang
- 1969 Have Sword, Will Travel as Yun Piau Piau
- 1970 Nu xiao chun se as Helen Li Hai-lun
- 1970 A Place to Call Home (Yu nu qin qing)
- 1970 E lang gu
- 1971 King Eagle as 7th Chief Yuk Lin/8th Chief An Bing Er
- 1971 The New One-Armed Swordsman as Pa Hsiao
- 1971 Vengeance of a Snow Girl as Shen Ping Hung
- 1971 The Long Chase as Wang Hsueh Niang
- 1972 The Human Goddess
- 1972 Wa wa fu ren
- 1972 The 14 Amazons as Yang Pa Mei
- 1972 Wang ming tu
- 1973 A Woman with Half Soul
- 1973 Niu gui she shen
- 1973 Ambush (1973 film) as Fan Hsiu-hsiu
- 1973 Sexy Girls of Denmark (Dan Ma jiao wa)
- 1973 Dang nu ji hang
- 1974 Gui ma xiao tian shi
- 1974 Yan nu huan hun as Sung Lien-hua
- 1974 Heung gong chat sup sam
- 1974 Sorrow of the Gentry as Sun Shu-cheng
- 1975 That's Adultery
- 1975 Jin mao shi wang as Wen Fang
- 1975 Shuang xing ban yue
- 1975 Xi xiao nu ma
- 1975 Evil Seducers (Guest star)
- 1975 My Bewitched Wife as Fox Fairy Hu Hsiao-hsin
- 1975 Qing suo
- 1975 Lover's Destiny
- 1976 Tiger Cliff
- 1976 Wedding Nights as Chan Hsien-hsien
- 1976 Hu tian hu di as Fox Fairy Hu Hsiao-hsin
- 1976 Mr. Funnybone as Miss Chen
- 1977 Clans of Intrigue as Black Pearl Hei Chen-chu
- 1977 Heroes of the Eastern Skies
- 1978 Xin hong lou meng as Hsieh Bao-Chai
- 1978 Zhui
References
[edit]- ^ "Susan Shaw says Li Ching still has family in Shanghai".
- ^ Hong Kong Cinemagic entry
- ^ [1]
- ^ 余睿菁 (22 February 2018). "【再見李菁】一代亞洲影后李菁 家中暴斃數天無人知 享年69歲". 香港01. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
- ^ "Lily Ho and Ivy Ling saddened by Li Ching's passing". yahoo.com. March 1, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2020.