Liu Enjia (1916–1968) was born in Yanshan county, Hebei, and spent his childhood between Jilin and Tianjin before leaving Harbin's commercial college without graduating. In 1937 he was admitted to the Manchuria Film Association, making his screen debut in Zhi Zhu Zhu Tian; paired with the slim Zhang Shuda, the two were nicknamed the Laurel and Hardy of Manchuria. Over ten years he starred in about twenty-five pictures, among them Honeymoon Express (1938) and Spring in the Fields (1938), becoming one of the studio's leading young actors during a period of heavy output. After the war he worked at the No. 3 studio of the Central Film Enterprise and Changzhi in Beiping; in 1947 he moved to the No. 3 studio and was soon invited by director Zhang Junxiang to come to Hong Kong in 1949 for Yong Hwa's Cremation, staying on locally and becoming known to audiences through The Gold-Diggers (1952). As Hong Kong's Mandarin studios reorganised in the early 1950s, actors arriving from the mainland like him helped fill the demand for character and comic players. In 1956 he formally joined International Films and General Investment (later reorganised as Cathay), specialising in comic supporting roles in The Golden Lotus (1957), Battle of the Love Field (1957), Two Fools in Space (1959) and Stars, Moon, Sun (1961). His most successful turn came in The North and South United (1961), a comedy built on north-south cultural differences, in which he played opposite Leung Sing-por. Burly with a deep voice, he carried a gentle, unforced humour and often set the rhythm of the studio's ensemble scenes. His last film was Cathay's The Great Beggar (1968). On 25 April 1968 he died in Hong Kong of a heart attack, aged fifty-two.
Moving from the Manchuria Film Association to Yong Hwa and Cathay in Hong Kong, Liu Enjia spanned both early Chinese cinema and the Mandarin pictures of postwar Hong Kong. His comic supporting roles gave life and humour to Cathay's ensemble films, and he stands as one of the familiar character faces of Hong Kong Mandarin cinema in the 1950s and 1960s.
Achievements
- 1937 · Joined the Manchuria Film Association, first appearing in Zhi Zhu Zhu Tian
- 1949 · Came to Hong Kong at director Zhang Junxiang's invitation for Yong Hwa's Cremation
- 1956 · Joined International Films (later Cathay) and specialised in comic supporting roles
- 1961 · Gave his most successful performance in The North and South United opposite Leung Sing-por