There is sad news: the famous performing artist Wang Tiecheng recently passed away in Beijing at the age of 88.
The older generation of audiences has very special feelings for Wang Tiecheng.
In his life, he has played a classic image of Premier Zhou, and he is the most famous of all the great actors, and he is also the one who plays Premier Zhou with both form and spirit.
Liu Jin, a special actor of Premier Zhou in the new era, regards him as a "benchmark", and he also relies on his own hard study and imitation of the prime minister's image, so that the artistic image of the great man shines in the long river of Chinese film and television, and sets an example for all the future Premier Zhou actors.
While mourning Mr. Wang Tiecheng, today Mr. Tomato will take stock with you that Wang Tiecheng has played the most classic image of Premier Zhou.
He really did it, he played the prime minister, integrated his life and blood, and really did it, there is no distinction between people and plays, and the actors are one.
01, drama "Turning": The prime minister's stage art image was born
Wang Tiecheng was born in Beijing and is an authentic old Beijinger.
His family was wealthy and well-off, and he had thousands of paths in life to choose from.
What is quite fatalistic is that near Wang Tiecheng's home is the famous Bensi Hutong, which was the gathering place of Beijing's literary and art workers back then. Under the influence of his ears and eyes, Wang Tiecheng has a natural preference for literature and art.
He was particularly fond of Peking Opera, and at the age of twelve, he went to the disciple of Xi Xiaobo, one of the four major students of "Ma Tan Xi Yang", and learned Peking Opera singing from him.
Not only that, Wang Tiecheng is also obsessed with cross talk and Jingyun drums, and always uses the radio to learn Ma Sanli and Luo Yusheng.
This made him fall in love with acting when he was a child, so he applied for the Central Academy of Drama and was successfully admitted, and after graduation, he was assigned to the Central Children's Art Theater to work as an actor.
became an actor at the age of twenty-seven, Wang Tiecheng has missed the golden period of being an actor, and he can only run tricks in the theater.
But unexpectedly, by chance, he became the most well-known actor in the country because of this.
In 1976, the beloved Premier Zhou passed away. In Wang Tiecheng's heart, Premier Zhou has a very high status. After sending the prime minister on the ten-mile long street, Wang Tiecheng was so sad that he even forgot to return the small white flowers that he had issued.
In order to commemorate the prime minister, it was decided to rehearse a play and choose an actor to play Premier Zhou.
At that time, almost the power of the whole country was mobilized, but after a long time of selection, it was not selected, and the rehearsal of the drama also entered a deadlock.
Wang Tiecheng, who was at home, also knew the news, he looked in the mirror, and then looked at the standard portrait of the prime minister next to him, and fell into deep thought.
He found that he and the prime minister did look a little similar.
Later, Wang Tiecheng recalled that at that time, he was almost "stunned" and "wishful" to play Premier Zhou, hoping that the image of the beloved prime minister could appear again in a literary and artistic way.
In order to be more similar to the prime minister, he overlapped his photo with the prime minister's photo, compared the different places little by little, and then retouched them.
The eyebrows are longer than the prime minister, so he cuts them shorter; The peak of the eyebrows is higher than that of the prime minister, so he cuts it lower......
Almost like a microscope, Wang Tiecheng put on his makeup to look like the prime minister, and knocked on the office of the director of the theater during the casting of "Turning Point".
He turned around in front of the dean, but before the dean could react, he was stunned for a few seconds, and then excitedly held Wang Tiecheng's hand: It turns out that the person we are looking for is you!
In this way, Wang Tiecheng was promoted and affirmed by the leadership, becoming the first special actor to play Premier Zhou.
But when he was really going to play the prime minister, Wang Tiecheng panicked, he just made a look, but he couldn't learn it.
In order to play Premier Zhou well, he went to the news studio to observe the video materials of Premier Zhou during his lifetime, and when he returned home, he recorded and studied day and night.
In order to be completely at the same frequency as the prime minister, he only slept four hours a day, and devoted the rest of the time to "studying" the prime minister's daily life and work.
During this period, he deliberately learned the prime minister's speaking habits, focusing on imitating the details of the prime minister's speech, such as the prime minister is a southerner, the rhythm of speech pauses is different from others, and he is not good at tongue rolling, and always says the tongue roll sound as a flat tongue sound.
But such a high-intensity work made Wang Tiecheng soon have a high fever and fell seriously ill.
After the illness recovered, the rehearsal of "Turning Point" began, and as soon as Premier Zhou played by Wang Tiecheng appeared, the entire theater erupted in an exclamation, and everyone stood up and crowded in the aisle, because what he played was too similar.
Many people in the theater began to shout Premier Zhou's name, and some even began to cry quietly.
"It's too similar, this is Premier Zhou."
Every time Wang Tiecheng said a word, the audience erupted in applause, and the applause came and went, interrupting the rehearsal work for a while.
In 1978, "Turning Point" toured nationwide, and after the performance, there was an old man in the audience who couldn't get up for a long time, closed his eyes and cried.
Later, the old man walked up to the stage and held Wang Tiecheng's hand and said to him in a choked voice: Thank you for letting me see Enlai's figure again.
She is Premier Zhou's lover Deng Yingchao.
can get the affirmation of Premier Zhou's relatives, which shows how similar Premier Zhou played by Wang Tiecheng can be.
The performance of "Turning Point" made the image of a great man appear on the stage for the first time, and also gave everyone sustenance to Premier Zhou's nostalgia.
Wang Tiecheng said in an interview afterwards that in fact, it was not that he acted like him, but that everyone pinned all their sorrow for Premier Zhou on themselves, and then vented it through emotions.
Even if he is so modest, the image of the prime minister played by Wang Tiecheng is still deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, which also made him a well-known actor in the country overnight, and even he himself laughed at himself that he was a "late bloomer".
Because at that time, Wang Tiecheng was already 40 years old.
02, the movie "The River Flows": The first image of Premier Zhou in Chinese film history
After the dramas "Turning" and "Newsboy", Beijing Film Studio decided to make a historical drama film, and added the image of a great man to the film.
This is the first time in the history of Chinese film that the image of a great man appeared on the big screen, and it also created a precedent for the emergence of special actors.
And Premier Zhou's image is naturally none other than Wang Tiecheng.
Acting in a movie is not the same as acting in a drama, because there are many close-ups, which require the actor to have a more delicate shaping of the prime minister's life and habits.
When starring in "The River Flows", Deng Yingchao helped Wang Tiecheng a lot.
Although the performance of "Turning" was very successful, after Deng Yingchao watched it, he still said that he could only give Wang Tiecheng a "70 points", because there are many habits of prime ministers, and Wang Tiecheng has not fully presented it.
Deng Yingchao said, for example, that the prime minister walks fast and steady, but Wang Tiecheng does not have the feeling of steadiness of the prime minister when he walks; When the prime minister washes his face, he likes to put a hot towel on his face for a moment before cleansing his face, which Wang Tiecheng did not do......
Deng Yingchao and Wang Tiecheng talked a lot about the details of the prime minister's life, which benefited Wang Tiecheng a lot.
In his usual life, he has been pondering the life of the prime minister and has fully integrated this habit into his own life. Walking, eating, washing face, resting...... At that time, Wang Tiecheng only had the prime minister in his life.
He played the prime minister on stage, became the "prime minister" off the stage, and the prime minister became everything to him.
He said that he was very grateful to the premier, and if it were not for Premier Zhou, there would be no himself.
In this way, when "The River Flows" was filmed, Wang Tiecheng completely presented the screen image of the prime minister, and it became the most classic historical freeze-frame image.
Wang Tiecheng in the film, played by Premier Zhou, is personable, very elegant, chic and dignified, but has a leader's demeanor.
This image is deeply rooted in the hearts of audiences across the country.
Wang Tiecheng also became the first actor to play the image of Premier Zhou's leader in a movie after the founding of New China.
For him, this is a great honor and a great pressure.
Because he has requirements for himself, every time he plays the prime minister, he thinks about being better than the previous one.
is like this, forcing himself, Wang Tiecheng has completely become a "drama idiot", reaching the level of the integration of human drama, and taking acting as his own life.
03, Premier Zhou's biographical movie: Winning the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Double Actor, an insurmountable peak
In 1992, Premier Zhou's biographical film was filmed.
The image of Premier Zhou in the film fell to Wang Tiecheng again.
Unlike the previous ones, this film will present the story of Premier Zhou's life, which is quite a challenge for Wang Tiecheng.
Because in the film, it is not only necessary to play Premier Zhou when he is in high spirits, but also to show the prime minister's later years and describe the appearance of withering.
Although it was very difficult, it did not stump Wang Tiecheng.
In order to show the state of the real prime minister, Wang Tiecheng was stunned and did not eat staple food for eight months.
Generally, if you lose 10 pounds on your body, you can lose 1 tael on your face.
Because of excessive weight loss, Wang Tiecheng's lover saw his husband's thin body and bones, and reminded him more than once that he must not starve himself out of illness because of playing Premier Zhou, and there are still two people in the family.
But Wang Tiecheng was unmoved, and still insisted on not eating staple food, because he felt that he had not yet reached the state of the prime minister.
There are unforeseen circumstances, and while preparing for acting, Wang Tiecheng had a serious car accident in Hunan.
He fell off the high-speed bridge and broke six ribs.
Perhaps it was fate that after this serious car accident, Wang Tiecheng was sent to Beijing 305 Hospital for treatment, which was the same hospital where the prime minister died of illness.
Because he couldn't eat, Wang Tiecheng only took a drip of nutrient solution during his stay in the hospital, and his body became thinner.
After three weeks of recuperation, Wang Tiecheng lost weight and lost his appearance, looking at himself in the mirror, Wang Tiecheng suddenly had a smile on his face: This car accident is a blessing!
It turned out that because of the treatment, Wang Tiecheng felt that his current self happened to be very similar to Premier Zhou in his later years.
Regardless of the fact that his body has not recovered, Wang Tiecheng quickly called the director, hoping that the director would start the film immediately and finish filming the most difficult scenes in the movie when he was in the most similar state.
The lover saw it in his eyes and hurt in his heart, and the director also agreed to Wang Tiecheng's request.
That scene was the highlight of Premier Zhou's last National Day reception.
The show required more than 1,000 extras, and everyone needed to change into clothes from that era.
At that time, Wang Tiecheng was wrapped in bandages all over his body, and he couldn't wear a shirt, but he put on a Zhongshan suit outside.
Looking from behind, Wang Tiecheng's whole person seemed to be dangling in his clothes, exactly like the prime minister in his later years.
When he arrived at the filming site, Wang Tiecheng got on the elevator first. When they arrived at their destination, the original service staff in the City Hall all screamed "wow".
Then they ran and told each other: the prime minister is really back.
Because the scene was extremely difficult and required the cooperation of many staff, a scene was scheduled from nine in the morning to half past twelve in the middle of the night.
During this period, although Wang Tiecheng's physical condition was very poor, when he performed, his voice and table were still the same as the prime minister.
In particular, even the voice of the voice is very similar to that of the prime minister.
Because of makeup, his lips were sticking to wax, and after more than ten hours of shooting, Wang Tiecheng didn't get a drop of water, and he didn't let his lover cook a bowl of noodles for him until he went home in the middle of the night.
Later, when interviewing, he talked about the details of this shooting, but Wang Tiecheng still didn't say anything about his dedication, and the first thing he thought of was more than 1,000 group performances.
"There are more than 1,000 group performances that day, which one didn't arrive home at twelve o'clock?"
Wang Tiecheng has always adhered to his ethics as a people's artist, in his life, in addition to acting, it is dedication, but he never mentions it in his mouth, the standard of his life is to act well, act as an image, and play Premier Zhou.
Now let's look at this movie, Wang Tiecheng's performance can be said to be superb.
When filming at the scene of the earthquake to comfort the affected people, Wang Tiecheng's eyes were full of care and warmth for the people.
Although there is not much emotional expression between the lines, from Wang Tiecheng's eyes, you can see Premier Zhou's heart like a knife.
In the scene of receiving the US delegation on its visit to China, Wang Tiecheng, who was sitting in the center, spoke softly and elegantly and was very magnanimous, but he could still see the majesty of a prime minister representing the country from his temperament, demeanor, and habits.
These are two different feelings, but Wang Tiecheng's performance is very natural, vivid and smooth, just like watching a documentary.
Many viewers were moved and felt that Premier Zhou seemed to come to life.
This kind of competitive performance spirit has made this movie widely recognized by the whole country, and Wang Tiecheng also became famous in that year, winning the Golden Rooster Award and the Hundred Flowers Award, which is deeply moving.
It is worth mentioning that it was also this movie that allowed the special actors of the two generations of prime ministers to complete the handover.
At that time, Liu Jin, a special actor of the new generation who played the prime minister, was still in his senior year at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Arts.
He went to the school auditorium with excitement to watch the movie and burst into tears.
It is not only the nostalgia for Premier Zhou, but also the professionalism of an old artist like Wang Tiecheng.
Since then, Liu Jin has regarded Wang Tiecheng as an idol, and has been spurring him on the way to play Premier Zhou.
Later, at the 100th anniversary book sale event of Chinese films, Wang Tiecheng and Liu Jin, the special actors of the two generations of prime ministers, stood together.
Liu Jin asked Wang Tiecheng to leave a sentence for himself, and Wang Tiecheng took up the pen and wrote down the five big characters "It's up to you".
Since then, the two generations of special actors have completed the handover, and the banner of playing the prime minister in the new era has also been carried by Liu Jin.
In 2003, 70-year-old Wang Tiecheng shaved his hair and bid farewell to the film industry and concentrated on his old age.
But his image of Premier Zhou is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, inspiring three generations of Chinese to forge ahead.
Wang Tiecheng's death is heart-wrenching, but his screen image and portrayal of Premier Zhou are a major contribution to the entire Chinese people.
The departure of the older generation of artists is the biggest loss for China's entertainment industry.
Jin Jingcheng, Xia Dejun, Qu Zheming and other special actors of the new generation of Premier Zhou have quietly risen.
I hope that Wang Lao will go all the way, and the image of the respected Premier Zhou will play a successor, which is also the greatest consolation to him.
(Movie Rotten Tomatoes Editorial Department: Miao Miao)