Wang Yuan-lung, born on 27 October 1902 under the name Wang Ping-yu, was a Tianjin native whose family came from Sichuan and later settled in Baoding; he became an actor and director of early Chinese cinema and was known as the Tyrant of the Silver Screen. His father ran a salt business and the family was well off, and after graduating from the Baoding Military Academy in 1922 he served briefly in the army before leaving it in 1924 to enter the film world. His debut was in The Human Heart (1924), and he rose to fame in martial-arts pictures such as The Four Heroes of the Wang Family (1927); his younger brother Wang Tzu-lung followed him into the industry. In 1939 he played Xiang Yu in The Hegemon-King of Chu, a rugged and commanding performance that gave him his nickname, and around the same period he appeared in films such as Children of the Streets. Before and after the war with Japan he worked largely in Shanghai, usually cast as a hero or knight-errant, and became one of the archetypal tough leading men of early Chinese cinema. After the war he moved south to Hong Kong and continued to act for various studios. In 1954 Hong Kong filmmakers planned a Chinese Film School to train newcomers; approved by the Education Department in 1955, it appointed Wang as founding principal, with Tu Kuang-chi and Tao Qin as vice-principals, making it one of the city's earliest institutions for training film talent. In 1957 he starred in Four Daughters and won the Best Actor special Golden Harvest award at the 5th Asian Film Festival in 1958 for his role as the father. He died in Taipei on 20 July 1959 at the age of fifty-seven, and the unfinished portions of his last film, The Tea Mountain Love Song, were completed with a double's back views.
Wang Yuan-lung was a tough leading man of early Chinese cinema whose 'Tyrant of the Silver Screen' image struck deep popular roots; moving from Shanghai to Hong Kong across the silent and sound eras, he founded and headed the Chinese Film School in his later years, among the earliest trainers of film talent in the city.
Achievements
- 1924 · Appeared in his debut The Human Heart, entering the film world
- 1939 · Starred as Xiang Yu in The Hegemon-King of Chu, earning the name Tyrant of the Silver Screen
- 1955 · Became the founding principal of the Chinese Film School