Lim Cho-cho
Born
Florence Lim

(1905-01-21)January 21, 1905
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
DiedFebruary 16, 1979(1979-02-16) (aged 74)
British Hong Kong
Other namesLin Chu-chu, Lam Cho-cho, Lam Chor-chor, Lim Cho-cho, Lin Chuchu, Lin Cho-cho, C. C. Lin, Florence Lim
Spouse
​
(m. 1920⁠–⁠1953)​
Children9
RelativesLai Hang (son)
Chinese name
Chinese林楚楚
Original Chinese name
Chinese林美意

Florence Lim (21 January 1905 – 16 February 1979), better known as Lim Cho-cho, was a Chinese Canadian actress in the cinema of the Republic of China and British Hong Kong from 1925 to 1954. She was the second wife of filmmaker Lai Man-Wai and the mother of actors Lai Hang and Lai Suen. Gigi Lai is her granddaughter.

Early life

Florence Lim was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where her grandfather, an immigrant from Xinhui (now part of Jiangmen), Guangdong, China,[1] owned a rice shop.[2] Her father died when she was 3. She attended Chinese Public School in Victoria[2] which allowed her to be proficient in both English and Chinese.[3] When she was 9, her widowed mother went to Hong Kong to receive medical treatment, and at age 12 Lim joined her in Hong Kong, having completed primary school. In Hong Kong she enrolled in Ying Wa Girls' School. One of her classmates named Lai Hang-kau (who would later become known as Lai Cheuk-cheuk) introduced her to her uncle Lai Man-Wai. Even though he was 12 years her senior and already married, Lim married him as his second wife in 1920, when she was 15.[2]

Career

Lim Cho-cho's acting career started in Hong Kong when she played the lead role in Rouge (1925), the first film produced by her husband's China Sun Motion Picture Company. In 1926, China Sun relocated to Shanghai, and there Lim continued to star in silent films such as A Poet from the Sea (1927) and Romance of the Western Chamber (1927). Her credits after China Sun became the Lianhua Film Company in 1930 included A Spray of Plum Blossoms (1931), Song of China (1935), National Customs (1935), and Song of a Kind Mother (1937). Lim particularly excelled in mother roles.[1] Her son Lai Hang also appeared in many films around this time. In 1931, she also acted in the Indian film Kamar-Al-Zaman, an adaptation of a tale from the Arabian Nights directed by Shah G. Agha, where she appeared in the role of princess Budur.[4]

During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the Lais first returned to Hong Kong when Japan invaded Shanghai in 1937. In Hong Kong Lim continued to act in films, many patriotic and anti-Japanese in nature. Following Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, the family escaped to mainland China, first to Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong, where at one point Lim had to peddle old clothes on the street to make ends meet.[5] When Japanese soldiers overran Kaiping in 1943, they fled again, this time to Guilin, Guangxi, where they ran a photographic studio. After the war ended, the family returned to Hong Kong,[1] and Lim acted again for another 8 years. She retired after her husband's 1953 death to raise their 9 children. She visited mainland China in the 1970s before her death in Hong Kong in 1979.[1]

Lim Cho-cho on the cover of The Young Companion, September 1926.

Filmography

Year English title Original title Role Notes
1925Rouge胭脂RougeLost
1926Why Not Her玉潔冰清Qian MengqiLost
The God of Peace和平之神Lost
1927A Poet from the Sea海角詩人Yin MeizhenPartially lost
A Reviving Rose復活的玫瑰Lost
Romance of the Western Chamber西廂記Cui YingyingPartially lost
1928Avalokitesvara's Way觀音得道Lost
Five Revengeful Girls五女復仇Lost
The Retrieval of Huang Leung再世因緣Lost
Mulan Joins the Army木蘭從軍Lost
1930Dream of the Ancient Capital故都春夢Lost
1931A Spray of Plum Blossoms一剪梅Shi Luohua (Sylvia)
1932Conscienceless人道Wu RuolianLost
Another Dream of the Ancient Capital續故都春夢Lost
1933Night in the City城市之夜Lost
1934Life人生Lost
1935National Customs國風Zhang Jie
A Little Angel小天使
Song of China天倫Grandmother
1936Mother's Love母愛Liu Fen
Gateways of Body and Spirit靈肉之門
1937A New-Comer's Way新人道
Song of a Kind Mother慈母曲Mother
The Bomber Wen Shengcai溫生才炸孚琦
1938Love in Wartime戰雲情淚
1939Scent of a Woman女兒香
1940The General岳飛Yue Fei's mother
Flower in a Sea of Blood血海花
1941The Good Father天涯慈父
On My Own陌路妻兒Madam Chan
Song of Retribution正氣歌Wang Zhiming's mother
1946The Storm大雷雨
1947Li Chunhua麗春花
1949Gia Liang Kiang Be My Destiny靜靜的嘉陵江
1953How the Valiant Dog Saved the Pretty Girl義犬救美also co-producer
1954Better Your Better Half改造太太Ling Ping's mother

In the 1991 film Center Stage, Lim Cho-cho is portrayed by Cecilia Yip, who spoke Cantonese, Mandarin and English in her role.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Feng Yaojun (冯瑶君) (2010-09-16). ""贤妻良母"林楚楚出自司前" [Lim Cho-cho, the "Good Wife and Loving Mother", Was of Siqian Origin]. Jiangmen Daily (江门日报) (in Chinese).
  2. 1 2 3 Feng Qun (凤群) (2011). "母性之光：林楚楚的电影生涯" [Glory of Motherhood: The Film Career of Lim Cho-cho]. Film Art (电影艺术) (in Chinese) (6): 140–145.
  3. ↑ "Ms. Florence Lim". Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 2018-08-13. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  4. ↑ Hervé Dumont (18 December 2017). Contes et légendes d'Orient: au cinéma et à la télévision. Books on Demand. p. 45. ISBN 978-2-322-10135-1.
  5. ↑ Luo Guohe (骆国和) (2012-03-10). ""国片之父"黎民伟的湛江往事" [The "Father of Chinese Films" Lai Man-wai's Zhanjiang Stories]. Zhanjiang Daily (湛江日报) (in Chinese).
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