Some people say that the most typical image of a soldier on the Chinese screen is Li Yan, the division commander is Chen Ge, the political commissar is Tian Fang, the regiment commander is Guo Zhenqing, the battalion commander is Feng Zhe, the instructor is Xu Linge, the company commander is Gao Baocheng, the platoon leader is Liang Yin, and the squad leader is Xing Jitian. To speak of the actors who play senior cadres of our army, I am most impressed by these three old people: Chen Ge, Li Yan, and Zhang Ping.
Speaking of Teacher Li Yan, middle-aged and elderly audiences are certainly no strangers to him, he seems to be born with the material of playing leading cadres, his appearance is dignified, tall and handsome, and he has the temperament of a senior cadre, and he has indeed successfully shaped the image of cadres at all levels, vivid and commendable, in his acting career of more than 50 years, the image of the military chief has been fascinating, lifelike, and highly praised.
Li Yan was a drama actor in the PLA army in his early years, so he was also familiar with military life, and it can be said that he was a professional household who played a general, and his representative works include "The Legend of the Golden Bell", "Jiangshan Duojiao", "Overture to the East", "Fight against invaders", etc., and is the only performance artist in New China who specializes in playing senior generals.
In 1927, Li Yan was born in a poor family in the countryside of Li County, Baoding County, Hebei Province, and after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, Li Yan followed the teachers and students of the school to the streets to sing salvation songs and publicize the anti-Japanese resistance. He has a loud voice and serves as the lead singer in the chorus. In 1943, the 16-year-old Li Yan often helped underground party comrades to do some secret work, and after being tracked down by secret agents and exposed, he left his hometown and defected to the Eighth Route Army.
Li Yan went home to visit the old woman
Teacher Cui Wei, the president of The Firewire Drama Club, took a look at this young man, and Li Yan stood out from more than 100 applicants and finally stepped into the palace of art.
In 1952, as a deputy instructor, Li Yan went to the Korean front with the volunteer army, dug tunnels, built fortifications, and participated in battles, experiencing the test of blood and fire.
In 1950, he fell in love with and married Bai Feng, a singing actor of the troupe, and due to the reorganization of the troops, Li Yan entered the Anti-Enemy Drama Troupe of the Shenyang Military Region and stayed in Shenyang. Bai Feng was assigned to the opera troupe and followed the team into Beijing. Since then, Bai Feng has lived in Beijing with her two children, while Li Yan has lived in Shenyang, living a life of separation.
During the Great Leap Forward in 1958, the Bayi Factory drew top actors from the major cultural and industrial troupes of the whole army to enrich the cast of the Bayi Factory. Li Yan very much hoped to return to Beijing to reunite with his family, and after some struggle, he finally got his wish and entered the Bayi Factory with Tian Hua, Wang Xingang, Wang Runshen, and Zhang Liang.
Li Yan Baifeng husband and wife
In 1961, bayi factory adapted the award-winning play "Eastward Overture" of the Nanjing Frontline Repertory Theatre into a film, and director Hua Chun boldly used Li Yan to star in the male protagonist Huang Bingguang, director of the Political Department of the New Fourth Army.
At that time, it was a difficult period of material shortage, and at this time, Li Yan also became exceptionally thin, and his cheeks were also tight, in order to make the character look plump and good-looking, so he stuffed cotton into his mouth and puffed up two cheeks.
Li Yan successfully created the image of Huang Bingguang, director of the political department of the New Fourth Army, who has been tested for a long time, shrewd and sharp, and upright and awe-inspiring, especially when he was stubborn in his tongue and battle, dashing and self-assured, relaxed and natural, and his witty and brave tall image stood majestically on the screen, and the audience did not feel that Li Yan was acting, but felt that this was the "chief" of the living troops on the battlefield.
After the release of the film, Li Yan's performance was praised by the audience and experts, and it was a hit, and since then the plays have been about one after another.
In 1963, Li Yan played He Zhishu in the movie "Seize the Seal", and he had lived with the local village party secretary for a long time, interpreting a rural grassroots cadre as a kind and simple, full of strong local atmosphere. The audience wrote to praise him: "The character you created He Wenjin is really touching, and we like such a He Zhishu. ”
In 1964, Li Yan played the role of Li Guodong, the commander of the volunteer army, in the movie "Strike at the Invaders", in order to truly portray the role of the volunteer army commander Li Guodong, Li Yan, who had been to the Korean front to comfort the volunteer army, went deep into the troops, and lived with General Li Shuiqing, the commander of the 67th Army, for more than a month, from the heart to the body, from personality to temperament, completely reached a degree of falsehood, successfully shaped the image of our army's senior commander who was completely different from Huang Bingguang, and the film was well received by the audience after its release. Everyone called him "Our Captain Lee!" ”
Li Yan was very principled in matters of right and wrong, and during the special period of the sixties and seventies, he did not tend to be inflamed and attached to the situation, but calmly judged the situation, and even rejected the arrangement of the Bayi Factory to let him be the deputy head of the troupe, he said: Once he became a member, he might have entered the circle of right and wrong! And he just wants to be quiet and serious about acting.
After the special period passed, Li Yan returned to the screen and deeply shaped the chiefs and veteran cadres at all levels in films such as "The Young Generation", "Zhengrong Years", "Residual Snow", "The Last Choice", "Return to the Earth", "Salute, The Last Instructor", "Task Force in Action" and other films.
In the early summer of 1997, when Li Yan went to Yan'an to shoot the TV series "Roses Are Still Red", he had already found that there were physical problems, but he insisted on filming the TV series before going to the hospital for examination, but it was too late, biliary cancer took his life, and he was 70 years old.