In 1964, the movie "Heroic Children" was released, which was adapted from Ba Jin's ** "Reunion", which became popular all over the country as soon as it came out.
According to statistics, thousands of newborn girls across the country have been named Wang Fang for decades, and the film's appeal is unprecedented.
Among the very few people, Liu Shangxian can be regarded as "only playing one role in her life". However, since participating in this movie, she has rarely set foot in the entertainment industry, and instead chooses to run a family with her husband.
Decades later, when Liu Shangxian recalled the past, she expressed her apologies to the audience who liked her with tears in her eyes.
Why did Liu Shangxian say such a thing?What did she go through after "Children of Heroes"?
In 1941, Liu Shangxian was born in Shanghai, and her family had five daughters, all of whom were talented and beautiful, so they were called "five golden flowers".
In that turbulent era, her parents, as high-level intellectuals, still had the spare resources to educate their daughter, which was not easy at the time.
Liu Shangxian once starred in the movie "Storm" by stuntman Tian Hua when she was in high school, which also opened the door to her acting career.
Liu Shangxian was admitted to Beijing Film after graduating from high school, and the film and television industry was not developed at that time, and many well-known actors had no scenes to film, let alone students who were still in school.
Soon after, Liu Shangxian's opportunity came, and it didn't make her wait too long. In 1963, the famous director Wu Zhaodi began to prepare for the movie "Heroes' Children".
The film is based on Ba Jin's ** "Reunion", Wu Zhaodi has directed many films before and has performed well in camera shooting, but has encountered difficulties in choosing an actress.
Wang Fang should take the ancient champions of civil and military affairs as an example, and strive to pay equal attention to literary talent and martial arts, so that he must be bookish and versatile, and be able to play with ease in all fields.
He ran through several film academies and art troupes, but still did not find a suitable candidate. Although many actresses came to interview, Wu Zhaodi always felt that there was something missing in the selection.
However, Wu Zhaodi did not discover Liu Shangxian, but Xie Jin. At that time, Xie Jin went to Beiying to get a copy and passed by Liu Shangxian in the corridor, which made him believe that Liu Shangxian was the most suitable person to play "Wang Fang".
He called Wu Zhaodi and the movie screenwriter Mao Feng and asked them to come. Because they didn't know Liu Shangxian's name, the three of them went to the dormitory separately to find her, and finally succeeded in finding her.
Liu Shangxian was very surprised when she heard the director's proposal, because she had not acted seriously. Wu Zhaodi told her that she was only a candidate at the moment and that she still needed to pass the assessment to be determined.
However, Yoo also knew that this was a great opportunity for her, so she went all out to meet the director's request, even undergoing plastic surgery to fix a less-than-perfect tooth, and concentrating on Xi learning Korean dance for a month.
A small clip of Liu Shangxian's final performance made Wu Zhaodi decide to keep her, but after the news broke, many people questioned it, because after all, could a college student who had never set foot in the field of drama be qualified for such an important film role
Of course, she undoubtedly performed well, and when she played "Wang Fang", she was even filmed under the bombing of planes in the cold weather of Northeast China, and she paid a lot of pain.
After the movie "Children of Heroes" was released in 1964, it immediately set off a national sensation, audiences went to the cinema to watch the movie, and the whole country was immersed in the discussion of the film, whether it was eating, walking or chatting, people spread the film by word of mouth.
The film was such a huge success that for many years to come, many newborn girls were named "Wang Fang" by their parents.
Liu Shangxian plays the role of Wang Fang, transforming from an unknown young actor to an idol of everyone. Her movie posters are selling well, people are crowding around to watch her work, and Liu Shangxian is very popular wherever she is.
The army's response to her was the most enthusiastic, and in 1965 Liu Shangxian joined the Anti-American War Art Troupe in Vietnam, where she not only performed for the soldiers, but also carried guns.
A condolence performance was going on at the time, Liu Shangxian sang "Hymn to Heroes", and when her name appeared in the newspaper, the audience was boiling. After the performance, Liu Shangxian even took a curtain call three times in a row before leaving the stage and returning backstage.
When she visited the life of the navy, the soldiers lined up neatly and warmly welcomed her. Liu Shangxian felt both happy and a little nervous, after all, she was only playing a role here, but the soldiers were so polite to her.
The captain jokingly told her at the time that many Chinese soldiers dreamed of courting her. Liu Shangxian also replied humorously that this is not taken into account, she will only marry a middle-aged **.
Liu Shangxian's prophecy finally came true, but unfortunately the timing was not right, but fortunately there was a kind person to help.
After Liu Shangxian returned to China, everything changed dramatically, and a special era began, at this time, Liu Shangxian's father was arrested, and the relatives around him were also implicated, and Liu Shangxian himself was isolated for examination and had to undergo a written examination.
At that time, she was only in her twenties, and she was in the ** period of an actor, but she did not have the opportunity to appear in a play. At the same time, due to various reasons, her fans have gradually lost her trace.
At this time, Liu Shangxian met Shen Guorui, and the misfortune she suffered aroused Shen Guorui's great sympathy, and he also thought that Liu Shangxian could not be a bad person.
After experiencing hardships and hardships, Shen Guorui extended a helping hand to Liu Shangxian. When everyone else chose to avoid it, Shen Guorui stepped forward and took the initiative to greet her and help her.
Under Liu Shangxian's questioning, Shen Guorui admitted that he had a good impression of her, and Liu Shangxian thought that he would cause trouble to Shen Guorui, but under Shen Guorui's firm request, he finally accepted his feelings.
Not long after the relationship was first confirmed, Liu Shangxian was sent to work in a cadre school, and Shen Guorui told her that he would wait for her to come back no matter how long it was.
Although Shen Guorui's conditions are not bad, this relationship has been questioned by everyone, especially after Liu Shangxian was delegated, and the voices persuading them to separate came and went.
Three years older than Liu Shangxian, he was originally a member of the art troupe, and later became a recording engineer at Bayi Factory. He is a professional sound engineer for classic films such as "Tunnel War" and "Twinkle Red Star".
After a year of school work, Liu Shangxian returned to Bayi Factory. At the end of the 60s of the 20th century, they married and soon welcomed the birth of their son Shen Dong.
Liu Shangxian is still eager to act, but no one is looking for her, so she can only watch others take the stage. Occasionally, when she met a former audience member on the street, they would ask her why she stopped acting.
When Liu Shangxian heard this, she felt very depressed, she wanted to change careers to become a leader but was opposed, so she decided to change her career and made a field note.
will patiently comfort her every time, telling her that life is the most important thing, Shen Guorui. He has not been promoted since marriage, but he has a good attitude and enlightens his guilty wife.
Sometimes Liu Shangxian will go to other places with the crew, and at this time, all the affairs at home will be handled by Shen Guorui. He commutes to and from work on time, takes care of his son, takes care of household chores, and actively encourages him to keep in touch with his mother.
Although the family was not wealthy at that time, Liu Shangxian still faced strange eyes, but having the company of her family gave her enough strength in the difficult years.
Liu Shangxian returned to acting as an actress in 1978, but she was already 37 years old and began another new career.
Liu Shangxian missed the ** period of actresses, so she could only take on some supporting roles after her comeback, playing some "mother and aunt" type roles.
In those years, Liu Shangxian appeared in the movie "Roar!"."Yellow River", "Tinder", and "Miner" played roles one after another, but by the mid-80s, there were not many roles suitable for her, and she had to find another way.
Shen Guorui decided to change her career to become a director because she had worked in the field recording position for many years and had a certain understanding of the work of a director. So Liu Shangxian began to teach herself relevant theoretical knowledge and asked the old director for advice.
In this field, her talent is truly outstanding. In the following ten years, Liu Shangxian participated in directing many films, such as "Zhongshan under the Wind and Rain", "Chinese Criminal Police" and "Lobbyist" and so on.
Shen Guorui not only has a thriving career, but also participated in the recording of many films such as "They Are Building the Future" and "Four Crossings of Chishui", and has won many awards.
Perhaps because of the experience of sharing hardships, the relationship between the two is also very strong, Liu Shangxian was busy with the crew and couldn't take care of the family, Shen Guorui took the initiative to take care of the housework.
He took the initiative to clean the house and stew soup for his busy wife. After his wife got off work, the two chatted about interesting things at work. Although life is ordinary, the old couple enjoys this life very much.
Subsequently, Liu Shangxian also got involved in the filming of film and television dramas such as "The Story of the Old Man" and "Soldiers on the Battlefield", and occasionally played a small role in it.
Their son has long since started a family, but the couple lives independently and does not live with their son. Only when there is a problem that cannot be solved, will he ask for his son's help.
Liu Shangxian and Liu Shilong were invited to participate in the 1994 event in Shanghai, which was an important opportunity for them to play Wang Fang and Wang Chenghou in "Children of Heroes".
With the consent of the relevant departments, the two also went to visit Ba Jin, who is 90 years old. The elderly Barking said to them, "Your performance is excellent, I have seen it several times. ”
Liu Shilong passed away in 2017, but fortunately, Liu Shangxian is still in very good health. Today, she is 82 years old, and Shen Guorui is also 85 years old, but the two are still very strong.
"Children of Heroes" changed Liu Shangxian's life and benefited her for life. Despite the turbulent years, her husband Shen Guorui has always been with her.
She still showed her style in her later years, set foot in the field of film and television works, and is now in good health, chatting and walking with her husband every day, and living a very happy life.