Ivy Ling Po
Huang Yu-chun (born 16 November 1939 in Shantou, Republic of China), known by her final stage name Ivy Ling Po, is a retired Hong Kong actress and Chinese opera singer. She is best known for a number of mega-hit Huangmei opera films in the 1960s, especially The Love Eterne (1963) which made her an Asian superstar overnight. She played an important role in the entertainment industry for preserving the Huangmei opera art form.
Ivy Ling Po | |||||||||||
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| Born | 16 November 1939 Shantou, Guangdong, China | ||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer | ||||||||||
| Years active | 1949-1980s | ||||||||||
| Spouses | |||||||||||
| Children | Benson Sy (b. 1956) Kenneth Bi (b. 1967) Daniel Bi (b. 1974) | ||||||||||
| Awards | Asian Film Festival Best Actress 1964 Lady General Hua Mu-lan Golden Horse Awards – Special Jury Award 1963 The Love Eterne Best Actress 1967 Too Late for Love | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
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| Musical career | |||||||||||
| Origin | Hong Kong | ||||||||||
| Genres | Huangmei opera Cantonese opera Amoy opera | ||||||||||
| Instrument(s) | Singing | ||||||||||
She has used many names in her past. When she was a young child, she was sold to a family in Xiamen (Amoy), where she took on the name Jun Haitang (Chinese: 君海棠; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kun Hái-tông) and worked as a domestic maid. After reaching preadolescence, her foster mother forced her to enter the Hong Kong movie industry to exploit her. She first acted in Amoy Hokkien films under the stage name Xiaojuan (Chinese: 小娟; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sió-koan), later in Cantonese films under the stage name Shen Yan (Chinese: 沈雁; Jyutping: Sam2 Ngaan6), before finally entering the Shaw Brothers Studio to act in Mandarin films as (Ivy) Ling Po (Chinese: 凌波; pinyin: Líng Bō) and rising to superstardom.