Yan Jun (17 December 1917 – 18 August 1980), born Yan Zongqi in Beiping to a Nanjing family, was an actor and director nicknamed the actor of a thousand faces for his range from heroes to villains. His father was a railway engineer, and his uncle Yan Hua and aunt Yan Fei were both in the film world, giving the family longstanding links to the stage and screen. He studied at a railway school in Qingdao and then chemistry at Fu Jen Catholic University in Beiping, dropping out when the Sino-Japanese war broke out; he went on the stage and appeared in many plays in Shanghai. In 1938 he joined the Guohua Film Company, made his screen debut in 1939, starred in The Cloud Veils the Moon (1943) and earned his nickname for playing both upright and villainous roles, his stage experience in Beijing and Shanghai giving him remarkable ease on screen. He settled in Hong Kong in 1948, joined Great Wall Film Company and starred in films such as A Fallen Woman, becoming one of the most versatile of the postwar emigre filmmakers — able to play heroes, villains and comic figures — and he also worked for other studios, gradually establishing himself in Mandarin cinema. He began directing in 1952 and made his debut with Wushan Meng in 1953, the same year his Cui Cui, adapted from Shen Congwen's novel Border Town, made the actress Linda Lin Dai a star. He directed more than fifty films, sometimes directing and starring himself, across literary, martial-arts and opera genres, some of them led by his wife, the celebrated actress Li Lihua, such as Meigu (1956) and The Love Eterne (1964); The Grand Substitution (1965) won Best Picture at the 12th Asian Film Festival. He married Li Lihua in 1957 and they set up the Golden Dragon Film Company, making films together including You Long Xi Feng as a well-known directing-and-starring couple of postwar Mandarin cinema. Heart trouble ended his career in 1972 and he moved to New York the next year; he died of a heart attack in a New Jersey hospital on 18 August 1980, aged 63.
Yan Jun was active in postwar Shanghai and Hong Kong cinema as a 'thousand-faced' leading man and became one of the representative emigre filmmakers at Great Wall. His Cui Cui made Linda Lin Dai a star and brought literary substance to 1950s Hong Kong Mandarin film, while his approach of directing and starring in his own films, often with his wife Li Lihua, influenced contemporaries.
Achievements
- 1939 · Made his screen debut and earned the nickname of the actor of a thousand faces for his range
- 1953 · Directed his first film and in the same year made Linda Lin Dai a star with Cui Cui
- 1957 · Married the actress Li Lihua and collaborated with her on numerous films
- 1965 · Directed The Grand Substitution, which won Best Picture at the 12th Asian Film Festival