Zhao Dan (1915 ~1980)
赵丹（1915 ~ 1980)
Zhao Dan, born in Zhao Feng Chao in Nan Tong city, Jiangsu Province, whose ancestor hometown was in Feicheng, Shandong Province, was one of the most acclaimed and accomplished actors in Chinese film history.
赵丹，原名赵凤朝，原籍山东肥城，出生于江苏南通，中国电影史上最卓越的男演员之一。
He was fascinated with film and drama since childhood，which he spent in a theater that his father owned. In 1932，Li Pingqian, a famous director of Star Film Studio, took a fancy to him and made him act a rich playboy in silent film The Spring Dream of the Lute. Since then he became a basic actor in Star and starred in over 20 films like Twenty-Four Hours in Shanghai, Three Sisters, Go to Northwest, Nation's Soul, Crossroad, Street Angel, etc. Since 1933, of which Crossroad and Street Angel Zhao played in 1936 and 1937, were two pieces that early revealed his talent. At the same time, he starred in world famous dramas such as Nala, Big Thunderstorm and Romeo and Juliet. His artistic talent in film and drama made him soon become an attractive drama actor and film star.
赵丹自幼着迷影剧，童年在父亲开的剧院里度过。1932年被明星影片公司著名导演李萍倩看中，在无声片《琵琶春怨》中扮演一执跨子弟，从此成为明星影片公司的基本演员。1933年起，他先后参加拍摄了《上海二十四小时》、《三姐妹》、《到西北去》、《热血忠魂》、《十字街头》、《马路天使》等20多部影片。其中，1936年和1937年他主演的《十字街头》与《马路天使》是最早表现出他才华的优秀作品。与此同时，他还在世界名剧《娜拉》、《大雷雨》、《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中饰演主角。在影、剧两个方面露出的艺术才华,使他很快成为一名引人注目的话剧演员和电影明星。

After the war broke out, Zhao began a creative relationship with director Zheng Junli, with the 1948 anti-Kuomintang drama-comedy, Crows and Sparrows which was the symbol of his performing arts. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, his playing historical figures in biographical films made his performing arts reach its peak. The three figures of Nie Er, Lin Zexu and Li Shizhen have been the immortal artistic images in Chinese film gallery.
战争爆发后，他于1948年在反国民党的戏剧喜剧《乌鸦与麻雀》中与导演郑君里合作，该片是他表演艺术成熟的标志。五、六十年代，他在《李时珍》、《林则徐》、《聂耳》这三部传记影片中塑造的历史人物形象，达到当时我国表演艺术的高峰。李时珍、林则徐，聂耳这三个人物都成为中国电影画廊中不朽的艺术形象。
Zhao Dan was a successful performing artist with many outstanding achievements. In the several decades of his film career, he appeared in 35 films, portrayed a series of brilliant roles. In 1995's centennial commemoration of the birth of world film and 90 years of Chinese film, Zhao Dan was posthumously awarded the “Centennial Award” as one of the best actors in Chinese film.
赵丹是我国卓有成就的表演艺术家。在他几十年的艺术生涯中，一共拍摄了35部故事片，塑造了一系列光辉的艺术形象。1995年，赵丹获得为纪念世界电影诞生100周年和中国电影诞生90周年而特设的中国电影“世纪奖”最佳男演 员奖。