Ms Butterfly Hu

1908-1989

Actress

Butterfly Hu (née Hu Shui Wah) made her debut as an actress in 1925, following a year on the acting course of Shanghai’s Zhonghua Film Company. She joined Mingxing Film Company in 1928 and, in the same year, appeared in the swordplay blockbuster The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928). In 1931, she played the lead role in China’s first sound film, Red Peony the Showgirl (1931), a landmark work in the country’s transition to the sound era. In 1933, Hu became the first actress to win the “Movie Queen” title in a public poll by Shanghai’s Star Daily, with more than 20,000 votes. In the same year, she appeared in Twin Sisters, an important work in the history of Chinese cinema. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Hu came to Hong Kong where she made Rouge Tears (1938), The Perfect Beauty (1940) and other titles. After the war, Hu acted in a number of Mandarin and Cantonese films, such as Madame X (1947), Heavenly Souls (1949) and Street Boys (1960). Hu was named Best Actress for her role in Back Door (1960) at the Asian Film Festival in 1960. She retired in the late 1960s after completing The Woman in the Tower (1967) and When Dreams Come True (1969).