Run Run Shaw was a legend who made China's first sound film, witnessing the entire history of Chinese cinema from silent to sound, from black and white to color. At the same time, he set up the "Shaw Fund" with his personal property to donate HK$2.5 billion to the mainland's education cause. Shaw is not only a legend in life, but the woman behind him is also full of romantic legends like the movies made by his company.
In the mid-1960s, after Shaw dominated the world, Shaw co-opted the most popular female stars of the time, Li Lihua and Lin Dai, and made them actors of Shaw. And a large number of new people, Zheng Peipei, He Lili, etc. are shaw's big stars, it is they who really polished Shaw's golden signboard. The situation of actresses dominating the film industry was not gradually reversed until the end of the 60s when Zhang Che opened the masculine martial arts trend, and the Hong Kong film industry had always been the world of these beautiful women.
Shaw's ancestral home is Ningbo, in 1907, born in Shanghai to a wealthy family, his father Shao Yuxuan has 5 boys and 3 women, Run Run Shaw ranked sixth among his siblings, so he was later honored by the Hong Kong film and television circle as "Six Uncles".
Run Run Shaw was gifted from an early age and was particularly obsessed with theatre and film. At that time, his biggest dream was to be able to make a big splash in the film industry. Because of the family's lack of success, in 1926, Run Run Shaw, who had just graduated from high school, was invited by his third brother Shao Renmei to go south to Singapore and began to get involved in the film industry.
In Singapore and Malaysia, the Shaw brothers carried projectors and films themselves, trekking under the scorching sun to farms with many overseas Chinese to play open-air movies. At that time, the film projection equipment was very backward, and it was necessary to shake the film by hand, and a movie was put down, and the waist was sore and sore, but Shaw gritted his teeth and survived.
The brothers spent several years traveling throughout the towns and villages of Singapore and Malaysia, and gradually became famous. At that time, Singapore's most famous rich man, Yu Dongxuan, was very appreciative of the Shaw brothers and invited them to their homes. On that day, they were invited to yu mansion, and Yu Dongxuan personally went out to greet them, and beside her stood a beautiful woman dressed in a white dress, fresh and vulgar, with a noble and elegant temperament. Yu Dongxuan introduced: This is Miss Huang Meizhen.
After the meal, Yu Dongxuan asked Shao Renmei to talk about business cooperation intentions in the study, and asked Huang Meizhen to accompany Shao Yifu to play in the garden. The two young men walked in the garden and talked about movies the most. A heartless talk, each other feel that there are many common topics, there is a sense of seeing each other and hating the night. The first meeting rippled in the heart lake of both Run Run Shaw and Huang Meizhen. After leaving the Yu Mansion, Huang Meizhen's shadow appeared in front of Shaw's eyes, allowing him to experience the taste of love for the first time.
Later, with the full support of Yu Dongxuan, the Shaw brothers established the Shaw Institution in Singapore. Soon, seeing that his brother's talents were able to stand on his own, Shao ren entrusted his career in Singapore to Shaw and went to Malaysia to open up new markets.
Run Run Shaw was busy with his career, and Huang Meizhen was deeply attracted by the talented and enterprising Shaw. In order to meet him, Huang Meizhen often used the excuse to visit Shao Yitian in Shaw's institutions, and from time to time brought some gifts to distribute to employees, knowing which family had difficulties, she tried to solve their problems and helped Shaw solve many problems.
The hearts of the two people are getting closer and closer, and an inexplicable feeling beyond the confidant is constantly rising in the hearts of the two people, and if there is time, the two will go to the theater under the company to watch a movie. After the show, Run Run Shaw always took the initiative to send Huang Meizhen home, and Huang Meizhen did not like to take the car.
The two of them talked about walking back for a walk. On the road from the company to The Yufu, there are many footprints of the love of this young couple. While Enjoying the budding heart of love, Shaw was deeply disturbed by this flood of feelings. Because Huang Meizhen is Yu Dongxuan's girlfriend, and Yu Dongxuan is both a senior and a kind to herself. After the third brother Shao Renming learned of this, he urged Shao to give up the relationship, and pointed out that Huang Meizhen was 5 years older than him and was inappropriate. But Run Run Shaw doesn't think age is a barrier.
Gossip about the ambiguous relationship between Shaw and Huang Meizhen reached Yu Dongxuan's ears, but Yu Dongxuan smiled and said, "Meizhen loves movies, and it is a good thing to have Yifu, an expert who understands movies, accompany her." Yu Dongxuan's tolerance made Huang Meizhen feel happy, and she became more involved in the internal affairs of the Shaw organization and actively offered advice.
In 1930, the Shaw Brothers Company was founded.
In 1931, Shaw decided to make a sound film, and this bold idea was immediately endorsed by Huang Meizhen. With the support and encouragement of Huang Meizhen, Shaw decided to visit the United States. At that time, there was no plane to take, so I had to take a steamship, but unexpectedly, the ship sank on the reef on the way, and Shaw, who fell into the water, held a small wooden sampan, and finally survived after a night of wandering in the vast sea, and bought the required "speech machine" from Hollywood in the United States. A few months later, when Run Run Shaw returned to Singapore from the United States with a large amount of equipment, Huang Meizhen was already waiting at the dock. Watching Shaw lose weight, she was so distressed that she could not speak, and the two lines of clear tears could not help but flow. A pair of lovers who miss each other can't help but hug each other tightly.
In 1932, the Shaw brothers finally filmed China's first sound film "Platinum Dragon" in Hong Kong, ushering in a new era of Chinese sound films. The film made Shaw a fortune and rose to fame. Despite the controversy, Run Run Shaw and Wong mei-jin increasingly feel inseparable from each other.
Finally, one day, Shaw plucked up the courage to come to Yu Mansion in person and confessed to Yu Dongxuan that he and Huang Meizhen were in love. Yu Dongxuan listened, was silent for a moment, laughed and said, "I have long been aware of your affairs, gentlemen have the beauty of adulthood, since the elder brother and Meizhen really love each other, they don't have to care so much, do you want Meizhen to accompany me this old man for the rest of your life?" Run Run Shaw bowed deeply to Yu Dongxuan!
In 1937, at the age of 30, Run Run Shaw broke through the world's prejudices and constraints and married Huang Meizhen in Singapore. On that day, Yu Dongxuan also sent a gift of 500,000 yuan to express congratulations. Every time Yu Dongxuan was mentioned, Shaw burst into tears and was grateful to this generous and benevolent predecessor. After getting married, both Run Run Shaw and Huang Meizhen cherished this hard-won marriage.
In 1937, after the outbreak of World War II, the Shaw Cinema was destroyed, and Shaw himself was beaten by the Japanese gendarmes for "shooting anti-Japanese films" and imprisoned. While supporting the family business alone, Huang Meizhen found yamamoto and Nakano, Japanese who had originally worked at the Shaw Brothers Company, and spent a lot of money to ask them to rush to the Japanese Gendarmerie Department to speak for Shaw before rescuing him.
Huang Meizhen accompanied Run Run Shaw through the most turbulent and turbulent period of his career and life, and the true feelings tempered by these years made Run Run Shaw deeply feel. Even later, the beautiful women around him were like clouds, but they were all over the clouds, and Huang Meizhen's position in his heart had never wavered. Later, Huang Meizhen devoted herself to her husband and son at home, and gave birth to two boys and two girls for Run Run Shaw.
After the victory of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in 1945, Shaw's ambitions in his prime years continued undiminished. Because of the war, Shaw's company is in ruins and waiting for new ones. With a sense of urgency, Shaw threw himself into the film business with greater enthusiasm, rebuilding the studio, connecting with theaters, and insisting on watching at least one movie a day. At that time, the Rolls-Royce he was in was a luxurious car with a bar in it, but in order to deal with official business, he converted it into a small desk, and even wasted time on the way.
One night in 1952, Shaw went to the nightclub upstairs of the Shaw Theater to listen to songs. The first few performances made him drowsy. When he was about to leave, the host said: "Next, I will ask Miss Fang Yihua, a female singer who is all over Nanyang, to sing." Listening to the three words "Fang Yihua", Run Run Shaw felt quite familiar, and he waved his hand to invite the waiter to inquire. The waiter told him that this Miss Fang was a singer who had recently become popular in Nanyang, and a song "Flower Moon Season" fascinated a group of guests. Shaw suddenly realized that he had heard her records. Because he liked her singing so much, Shaw asked the waiter to send a large bouquet of flowers.
After the performance, Fang Yihua changed into a set of plain cheongsam and specially thanked Shaw. The two men came to a quiet restaurant and chatted while eating a late-night snack. Only then did Run Run Shaw know that Fang Yihua was also from Shanghai, and his mother was Fang Wenxia, the "dancing country red star" of the old Shanghai Beach, who was a full 24 years younger than him. Because of the dilapidated family road, she inherited her mother's posture and beautiful singing voice, and she made a living on stage at the age of 17, mainly performing in high-end clubs in Hong Kong. Fang Yihua is very smart, her favorite songs can be sung catchy and round, and her beautiful appearance and beautiful singing voice have made her fame more and more high, and this time, she is invited by a Singaporean performer to perform. That night, the two of them had a great conversation.
Since then, because of the reasons for choosing films, Run Run Shaw has often been in and out of Hong Kong. Every time he came to Hong Kong, as long as time permitted, he would go to the nightclub where Fong YiHua performed. Fang Yihua talked to Shaw about the various interesting things he did in Shanghai as a child, as well as various observations in Nanyang, and Shao Yifu listened intently, occasionally a hearty laugh and a wise word, which made Fang Yihua feel that sitting in front of him was not an unattainable movie tycoon, but a kind brother, a kind teacher and a humorous friend.
With the deepening of the exchange, Run Run Shaw was pleasantly surprised to find that Fang Yihua was not only beautiful and singing well, but also quite insightful, and regarded her as a confidant with a red face. In 1955, Shaw, who had already occupied half of Southeast Asian films, found that filmmakers had no studios, which meant that workers did not have factories, and if Shaw wanted to develop in the fierce competition of the film industry, he had to build his own film studio, so he intended to build a "Shaw Studio" in Hong Kong - and this required a lot of money. But his idea was met with strong opposition from Shaw's second brother, who presided over work in Hong Kong. Subsequently, the second brother, who had no heart for the film industry, wrote a letter, hoping that Shaw would come to Hong Kong to host the Shaw film industry.
In the early autumn of 1957, Run Run Shaw left Nanyang, where he had struggled for 30 years, broke up with his third brother who had worked together for 30 years, and came from The Lion City to Hong Kong. This year, Shaw was exactly 50 years old, the year confucius called "knowing the mandate of heaven". However, Shaw marched into Hong Kong with great ambition and tried to dominate the industry again. After coming to Hong Kong, Shaw did something that meant a lot to him: he extended an invitation to Mr. Fang to work at Shaw Brothers. At that time, Fang Yihua's singing career was in full swing, and many people advised her not to go. But she still desperately withdrew from the music scene, withdrew from people's sights, and pursued the man who found her and made her think it was worth staying with and paying for her life - Run Run Shaw.
Sure enough, Fang Yihua did not disappoint Run Run Shaw. Since joining Shaw, she has devoted herself to her work and is the first person to go to work and the last to leave every day. She started as a small clerk in Shaw's corporate procurement department and gradually worked through every department of the company, mediating internally and becoming proficient in diplomacy. Fang Yihua's tireless efforts, cleverness and wisdom made her soon become Run Run Shaw's think tank and most powerful assistant in her career.
In 1957, under the strong recommendation of Fong Yi-wah, Run Run Shaw used 1 million Hong Kong dollars to boldly hire Li Hanxiang, who was only 30 years old, as a director. Lee lived up to expectations, setting a record for the highest box office in Hong Kong at the time with "Beauty in the Mountains" and winning five awards at the 5th Asian Film Festival. After that, Shaw spared no expense to put "Yang Guifei" and "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" on the screen. These two blockbusters have set off a frenzy of Chinese films in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Over the past 20 years, Shaw Film has produced more than 1,000 films, 200 cinemas, and about 1 million people per day. In its heyday, Shaw Studios employed more than 1,300 people and was hailed by foreign media as the "Hollywood of the East".
Just as Shaw Pictures was in its heyday, the film was challenged and threatened by television. At this time, Fang Yihua had a unique insight and suggested that Run Run Shaw invest a large amount of money to bid for the right to operate TVB, which achieved great success in one fell swoop, thus laying the foundation for Run Run Run Shaw's status as a "godfather" unmatched in the Hong Kong film and television industry.
Fong yihua is not the kind of vine that clings to trees, she has proved her ability and loyalty with her actions, and has won Shaw's pity and respect. Therefore, although there are many outstanding red and pink beauties in Shaw's kingdom, the only one who can really let Run Shaw explain public and private affairs with confidence is Fang Yihua. Since entering Shaw's, Fang Yihua has been with Run Run Shaw for more than 40 years, and has paid a woman's most precious time, wisdom and affection to Shaw and his film and television career without complaint or regret.
In 1987, Run Run Shaw's wife, Huang Meizhen, died of illness in the United States. He died on December 31, 2012 at the age of 8 Her marriage to Run Run Shaw lasted for 50 years.
Although because Run Run Shaw is busy with his career, he "only rests for an hour" every day, and there is not much time with his wife, but Run Run Shaw is a long-term lover, and his wife's status in his mind is irreplaceable. In order to remember his deceased wife, that year, shaw's company was closed for a year.
After Huang Meizhen's death, although it was sooner or later for Run Shaw and Fang Yihua to get married in the eyes of everyone, the well-maintained, still strong and shrewd Shaw smiled in the face of reporters' repeated questions and prevaricated on the grounds of "no plan". Fang Yihua said that she respected Run Run Shaw as a teacher, boss, friend and confidant, and she cherished this rare fate and did not ask for more.
But for Fang Yihua, Shaw has always felt guilty. Although Fang Yihua had never asked him for marriage, he knew that this was her dream for many years, and he was not willing to fail this infatuated woman. So, in 1997, 10 years after the death of his wife Huang Meizhen, Run Run Shaw finally decided to remarry and marry Fang Yihua, who had dedicated more than 40 years of the woman's most precious time to Shaw.
On May 6, 1997, the 90-year-old Shaw and 62-year-old Fong Yihua were officially registered for marriage in Las Vegas, USA. It turned out that registering for marriage in Las Vegas did not require an appointment, and as long as it paid $35, they became a couple in real time. As for the purpose, the Hong Kong government recognizes it. At this time, Fang Yihua is over 60 years old, holding hands with the 90-year-old groom, still the usual Chanel set of neat short hair, but the face has the delicacy of a dry bride, and the heart is happy in the end. In the face of the reporter's surprise and incomprehension, Shaw said in an unequivocal voice: "I have been friends with Miss Fang for many years, and have worked together for another 45 years, and getting married not only brought about a formal name, but also determined Miss Fang's future happiness."
For this wedding, Zha Xiaoxin, a well-known commentator in Hong Kong, said this: What Fang Yihua needs is not shelter, but respect and recognition. All she was after was a ceiba growing up next to a tall oak tree, "and she admired him, appreciated, and admired him, not dependent and begging." A truly noble man will eventually give her fame. "
After Run Run Shaw and Fong Yi Wah got married, their original lives have not changed much, unlike ordinary couples who look like each other, Run Shaw and Fong Yi Wah still live in their respective homes, and Fong Yi Wah lives a simple life, living in a small bungalow with two younger sisters and a pet kitten. On weekdays, the two work together in TV City, and on Sundays, Fang Yihua will come to Shao's house to have lunch with "Uncle Six", each time she stays for about 3 hours, but in fact, their residence is only 5 minutes by car.
In January 2010, at the age of 102, Shaw decided to rest, stepping down as the executive chairman of TVB in Hong Kong and entrusting the HK$16.4 billion TV empire he had painstakingly created to manage. After more than half a century of ups and downs, Fang Yihua is still the most trustworthy and relied upon object in the hearts of this legendary figure, just as he chose when he came to Hong Kong to start a business.