Li Lili

 

Li Lili is the last living movie star from the silent era when she died of a heart attack in Beijing in 2005 at the age of 90. [Photo by Xinhua]

Li Lili was born in Beijing in 1915 and moved to Shanghai in 1927, where she joined the China National Song and Dance Troupe. Soon, she turned to films, starring in "Loving Blood of the Volcano." She won fans with her fashionable and energetic image and earned the nickname Sweet Sister. From 1935 to 1937, she starred in eight more films and then joined China Film Studio in Chongqing. After starring in several more hits, Li went to the U.S. in 1946 to study acting at Catholic University in Washington, language and singing in New York, and make-up at the University of California. In 1955, she studied at Beijing Film Academy, and later taught in the acting department. Li was the last living movie star from the silent era when she died of a heart attack in Beijing in 2005 at the age of 90.