Betty Loh Ti (樂蒂) (29 August 1937 - 27 December 1968) was a Chinese actress who was known as the 'Chinese Classic Beauty'. In the 1960s she was popular among both Chinese and Westerners.
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Born in Shanghai, China, she was raised by her maternal grandmother, following her parents' death. Together with her family, she left Shanghai in 1949 and settled in Hong Kong.
She started her career in the film industry in 1954 and played in 44 films until her death in 1968. During this period, she had joined 3 film production companies, which were Great Wall Film Production Limited (1953-1958), The Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited (1958-1964), Motion Picture and General Investments Limited (1964-1968). In the 44 films, she had played different roles and showed her intelligence of being a skillful actress.
She married the actor Peter Chen Ho in 1962. Her brother Kelly Lei Chen was also an actor with MP&GI. Several sources mention that she committed suicide, although this information is subject to debate.
In 1960, the Enchanting Shadow (倩女幽魂) was shown in the Cannes Film Festival. The film produced by the Shaw's Brother Production is the first Mandarin film in colour to take in a major international film festival. An enthusiastic reception was given by the Cannes audience to the film, and Betty was praised as 'The Most Beautiful Star of the East'.
In 1962, she played the role of Lin Daiyu in this film, based on the world-known piece of literature of the same name written by Cao Xueqin during the Qing Dynasty, the love tragedy of the graceful girl with her cousin Jia Baoyu. Though the play was not good, fans were touched by her performance.
In 1963, Betty Loh Ti became the Best Actress of Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan for her role in the legendary blockbuster Love Eterne. This film had broken the box office record in many South East Asia countries, Taipei even became 'the crazy city'. Many people saw the film over hundred times, we can say it was as lengendary as Gone With The Wind in the Mandarin film world.
The films she played for the Great Wall Film Production Limited were as follow:
Biography
Major Films
"The Enchanting Shadow" (1966)The Enchanting Shadow
Dream of the Red Chamber
Love Eterne
Filmography
The films she played for The Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Limited were as follow:
"Dream of the Red Chamber" (1962)
The films she played for Motion Picture and General Investments Limited (MP&GI)were as follow:
"The Lucky Purse" (1966)
See also: Cinema of China
External link
