Mei Lanfang

Vocation

Notable

Family

Chinese vocalist, one of the most famous Peking opera artists in modern Chinese history, exclusively known for his Dan roles (female role). Specifically, he portrayed Qingyi roles, a type of Dan role in which the female is typically young or middle-aged and is very gentle and elegant. Mei Lanfang, his stage name, is generally considered a feminine name in Chinese language and culture. Mei was born into a family of Peking opera and Kunqu performers (performers of a traditional Chinese theatre composed of drama, ballet, opera, poetry, and music) of Taizhou, Jiangsu ancestry. He made his stage debut at the Guanghe Theatre in 1905 when he was 11 years old. In his 50-year stage career, he maintained strong continuity while always working on new techniques. His most famous roles were those of female characters; skillful portrayal of women won him international acclaim, and his smooth, perfectly timed, poised style has come to be known in opera circles as the "Mei School." He also played an important part in continuing the performance tradition of Kunqu, noted particularly for his interpretations of Du Liniang (in The Peony Pavilion) and Bái Sùzhēn (in Legend of the White Snake) and Beauty Yu (in Farewell My Concubine). Mei was the first artist to spread Beijing Opera to foreign countries, participating in cultural exchanges with Japan, the United States, and other regions. He toured the world, forming friendships with the western contemporaries of his day, including Charlie Chaplin. In 1930 he toured North America, visiting Hollywood, where he was welcomed by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. In 1935, Mei toured Europe, playing to appreciative audiences in Berlin and Moscow. Seeing Mei perform especially impressed the German playwright Bertold Brecht and influenced his concept of the alienation effect. In the year 1910, Mei married an opera actress named Wang Minghua, and they eventually had one son and one daughter together. While still married to Wang, he married his second wife in 1921, who was also an opera actress. Her name was Fu Zhifang and together, they had nine children. In 1925, he began seeing a third woman, who was also an actress. They had lived together, unmarried, for five years before they had broken up. Mei Lanfang died on 8 August 1961, aged 66. Link to Wikipedia biography