Chen Yanyan

Chen Yanyan (; 12 January 1916 – 7 May 1999), born Chen Jianyan, was a Chinese actress and film producer in the cinema of Republic of China (1912–1949), British Hong Kong and Taiwan. Life Chen was born as Chen Jianyan in Ningbo, China in 1916. Chen was obsessed with films as a young girl. When she was 14 she visited the set of "Spring Dream in the Old Capital (故都春梦)" which the Lianhua Film Company was recording in Beijing. She returned each day after attending the Sacred Heart Girls School and struck up a conversation with Cai Chusheng who was to shortly direct his own films. She was given a chance to appear in the film as a screen test by the director Sun Yu. Her appearance was not included in the film as she had been cast as a prostitute and she looked too young for that to be acceptable. However the film was successful she was offered a job but it was only with great difficulty that she persuaded her father. The film company sent around one of their actresses, Lim Cho Cho, who was known for her integrity. Her father was persuaded but he insisted that she never discussed her work at home and that she would not use the family's name. Chen left for Shanghai with her mother as a chaperone and within three years she was an acknowledged star known as "The Swallow" with a particular appeal to college students. Chen had a very good Mandarin accent which was useful as sound appeared in Chinese movies in the 1930s. In 1932 she starred in her first film "Nanguo zhi Chun" 南国之春 (Springtime in the South). She also co-starred in the film Three Modern Women which told of three archetypal women competing for the love of the hero. The story was well received and in particular its left-wing approach.