Yan Xiang

The reporter learned from the Shanghai Drama Art Center that Yan Xiang, a famous drama and film and television actor, passed away at Shanghai Oriental Hospital at 9:18 a.m. on May 22, 2022, at the age of 89. "My father left a bit suddenly, but it was very peaceful, and the family was all around him." Yan Xiaopin, Yan Xiang's daughter and actor, told reporters.

Yan Xiang and his daughter Yan Xiaopin

Yan Xiang, formerly known as Yan Jiasheng, was born in Harbin in 1933. He graduated from the Performance Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy in August 1951 and is an actor in the East China Repertory Theatre. In January 1955, he served as an actor at the Shanghai People's Art Theater and also served as the head of the actor troupe. The TV series "Morning in Shanghai" is Yan Xiang's representative work. For his role as Xu Yide in the film, he won the 10th TV Drama Feitian Award and the 8th Golden Eagle Award for Best Actor, the first Baosteel Elegant Art Award and the first The Shanghai Television Society Award. With Shanghai in the 1950s as the background, "Morning in Shanghai" describes the "three evils" and "five evils" and the difficult process of the party's socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce. It reflects the style of the times in Shanghai at the beginning of liberation, which can also lead to people's reflection and re-understanding. In the play, through the main line of the contradictions, entanglements and their emotional changes between the cotton spinning entrepreneur Xu Yide and his family, the two sides of the Chinese national bourgeoisie are revealed. The different mentality of the capitalists at that time. At the same time, the play reproduces the life of textile workers at the beginning of liberation, and shapes the images of many cadres.
As a drama actor, Yan Xiang starred in a series of works such as "Thunderstorm", "The Female Mayor" and "Sunrise". In addition, Yan Xiang was nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor and Supporting Actor for his starring roles in Guo Moruo in "Ask the Sky" and Li Shiqing in "Sunrise", as well as the first Shanghai Literary and Art Award.