Yam Kim-fai
| Yam Kim Fai | |
|---|---|
 Yam Kim Fai (left) | |
| Chinese name | 任劍輝 (traditional) |
| Chinese name | 任剑辉 (simplified) |
| Pinyin | Rén Jiànhuī (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | Jam4 Gim3 Fai1 (Cantonese) |
| Birth name | Yam Lee Chor (任麗初) |
| Origin | Hong Kong |
| Born |
4 February 1913 Nanhai, China |
| Died |
29 November 1989 (aged 76) Hong Kong |
| Occupation | Actress, performer |
| Genre(s) | Cantonese opera |
| Yam Kim-fai | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 任劍輝 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
Yam Kim Fai (Chinese: 任劍輝, 4 February 1913 (Lunar 29 December 1912) – 29 November 1989), also known as Ren Jianhui[1] was a renowned Cantonese opera actress[2][3] in China and Hong Kong.
She was most notable for her unique ability to sing in the lower register. That her opera voice was indistinguishable from a male one allowed her to play either male or female roles, though she usually performed male ones.
Early life
Born Yam Lee Chor (任麗初), Yam had been performing with a Cantonese opera troupe since she was young. When Yam was 14, her aunt (小叫天), another Cantonese opera actress, began Yam's formal training. Later, Yam furthered her musical studies with Wong Lui Hap (黃侶俠), who was known for being the female version of Ma Sze Tsang.
Yam became male lead at the age of 17. Jade Flower (玉瓊花) was one of the very first co-stars on stage.
In 1939, Yam joined an all-female opera troupe (群芳艷影) and, for ten years, was stuck in Macau when her hometown in Guangzhou fell to the Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Yam played the male lead in many Cantonese opera stage productions in those years opposite many actresses, including Tsui Yan-Sam (徐人心), Tam Lan-Hing (譚蘭卿) and Tang Pik-wan (鄧碧雲). Meanwhile, she moved her family, including her younger sister Yam Bing-Yee (任冰兒) into her new home in Macau. With the financial help from Mr. Ho Yin, father of Edmund Ho, in Macau, she formed a new opera troupe called New Voice Opera Troupe (新聲劇團) with the following performers:
1.Chan Yim Nung (陳艷儂), the Daan (旦)
2.Au Yeung Kim (歐陽儉), the Cau (丑)
3.Lang Chi Bak (靚次伯), the Zing (淨)
4.Yam Bing-Yee (任冰兒)
5.Bak Sheut Sin (白雪仙)
Career
Yam played the male lead in many Cantonese opera stage productions in Hong Kong, post-war, opposite many actresses, including but not limited to:
1. Fong Yim Fun (芳艷芬, 金鳳屏劇團) - many operas were adapted for the screen, a few iconic ones are listed below.
1955 ： A Pedestal of Rouge Fragrance (一枝紅艷露凝香), first version
1957 ： Goddess of the Luo River (洛神)
1958 ： Butterfly Lovers (梁祝恨史)
1958 ： Swallows Come Home (一年一度燕歸來)
1958 ： A Buddhist Recluse for Fourteen Years (火網梵宮十四年)
1958 ： The Story of Yutangchun (玉堂春)
1959 ： The Summer Snow (六月雪)
1959 ： A Pedestal of Rouge Fragrance (一枝紅艷露凝香), second version
1959 ： Regret from the Spring Lantern and Feather Fan (春燈羽扇恨)
1959 ： The Moonlight and Pipa of the Borderland (萬里琵琶關外月)
2. Yu Lai Zhen (余麗珍) - many movies were made from stage productions.
3. Chan Yim Nung(陳艷儂) - the Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢)
4. Tang Pik-wan (鄧碧雲) - many movies were made from stage productions.
5. Hung Sin Nui (紅線女) - vocal records were made from those plays.
For movies, Yam played the male lead opposite just about every female lead, young like daughter of Leung Sing Bor included. In the 1961 movie, Fun on Polygamous Marriage (八美審狀元), Yam is married to eight wives; Yu Lai Zhen (余麗珍), Tam Lan-Hing (譚蘭卿) and Yam Bing-Yee (任冰兒) are three of the actresses opposite Yam in it as the wives.
Since 1956, Yam was limited to only work on stage opposite Bak Sheut Sin, fifteen years her junior and green from debut only in 1953, as the abandoned woman, a character like Eliza in My Fair Lady, in Red Cherries and a Broken Heart (紅了櫻桃碎了心).
Between 1953 and 1956, Bak played second fiddle to either Fong Yin Fun or Hung Sin Nui when Yam was the male lead opposite any one of them or Chan Yim Nung before that.
They reprised many of those roles when the operas were adapted for the screen between 1951 and 1968. The only two made into movies are Li Yi (李益) in The Legend Of The Purple Hairpin and Zhou Shixian (周世顯) in Tai Nui Fa.However, some of Yam's major roles include Liu Mengmei (柳夢梅) in the Cantonese opera version of The Peony Pavilion and Pei Yu (裴禹) in The Reincarnation of Lady Plum Blossom were never made into movies. The later is available only in vocal record. Her Liu Mengmei (柳夢梅) was never recorded for commercial purpose with Bak Sheut Sin.
Her last public performance was in 1972, when she and Bak Sheut Sin sang the final scene from Tai Nui Fa together for the TVB telethon event that was hosted for the victims in the 18 June landslide. Yam never performed in public again since then. Instead, she kept her protégée close by for training and proper upbringing to be her successor. With her successor well established as a professional Cantonese opera performer, she moved to Canada during the early 80s. In 1989, she died at her home in Hong Kong due to pleural effusion.
See also
References
- ↑ Zhang, Yingjin (2004). Chinese national cinema. Routledge. p. 172. ISBN 978-0-415-17290-5. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
- ↑ Google Doodle 103rd-birthday Yam Kim-fai
- ↑ Google Doodle shows off 1960's LGBT icon: Cantonese opera legend Yam Kim-fai SCMP updated 04 February, 2016
External links
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