Artists and Actors Associated With ‘Red’ Movies Die in China

People wear protective masks as they watch a movie in 3D at a theatre on the first day they were permitted to open in Beijing on July 24, 2020. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

At least 16 Chinese artists, including renowned directors, actors and actresses, singers, and photographers, died of illness during October and November. Four of them were under the age of 55, and the youngest was just 30.

China has been ravaged by a severe wave of respiratory diseases across the country since October, which medical experts believe is caused by a new variant of a novel coronavirus.

Many of the recently deceased artists have directed or starred in “red” films that glorify the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

For example, Ma Jingwu, one of China’s most respected actors and professor at the Beijing Film Academy’s School of Acting, died on Nov. 30. His celebrity students include Zhang Yimou, who is an acclaimed Chinese filmmaker and chief director of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony and creative director of the 2023 Winter Games Opening Ceremony.

Mr. Ma has played major roles in a number of red films, including “Wind from the East,” the first Sino-Soviet co-production in the 1960s, and red dramas such as “Daughter of the Party.”

Du Gao, a drama theorist and lifetime honorary president of the Chinese Society of Drama and Literature, died on Nov. 15 in Beijing from illness.

In December 1950, Mr. Du became the head of the Creative Group of Art Troupe in China’s Volunteer Army, and went to the front lines in North Korea to write a large number of newsletters about the war in the country. In 1951, he published a collection of newsletters called “Battle in North Korea” and his play “Marching to the 38th Parallel” was performed in the Northeastern Military Region.

Actress Li Xuehong has starred in a number of the CCP’s red movies, including “The Shining Red Star,” “Breaking Through the Darkness of Dawn,” and “Zhou Enlai.”

4 Artists Who Died Under 55

Comic actor Wang Yu died on Nov. 10 at the age of 55 from stomach cancer.

Wang Jing, a master of ceremonies with the Hai Zheng Cultural Workers’ Troupe, died of cancer in Beijing on Oct. 28 at the age of 46. Ms. Wang was an experienced master of ceremonies who hosted large-scale cultural evenings for Chinese leaders and foreign presidents.

Zhao Mingyuan, an actor in northeastern China, died on Oct. 14 at the age of 42 of acute cerebral hemorrhage.

And in early October, Gao Lenan, a young actor who had just graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, died suddenly, with online speculation attributing his death to cardiac arrest.