Ms Ivy Ling Po
1939-
Actress & Singer
Actress Ling Po was born Wong Yu Kwan and given the name Kwan Hoi Tong by her adoptive parents. Her acting career began in 1954 with parts in Amoy dialect movies. In 1961, she joined Shaw Brothers and served as a voice double in the film Dream of the Red Chamber (1962). Her talent caught the eye of director Li Han Hsiang, who cast her as “Brother Liang”, the leading male character, in The Love Eterne (1963). The film took Hong Kong and Taiwan by storm and won the Special Performance Award at the 2nd Golden Horse Awards. When she visited Taipei, the whole city came out to greet “Brother Liang”. Even now, fans still address her by that name. Riding on her success, Ling made a series of Huangmeidiao opera movies, establishing herself as an icon in the genre. They include A Maid from Heaven (1963), The Mermaid (1965), The Three Smiles (1969) and Lady General Hua Mulan (1964). Her vocals and cross-dressing performances in the latter two sent her career to new heights; Lady General Hua Mulan also won her Best Actress at the 11th Asia-Pacific Film Festival. As Huangmeidiao movies began losing popularity, Ling switched to melodramas like Song of Tomorrow (1967) and The Silent Love (1971). She scooped Best Actress at the 6th Golden Horse Awards for Too Late for Love (1967). In the 1970s, Ling and her husband Chin Han founded Jinri Film Company, which produced Crossroad (1976), Dream of the Red Chamber (1978) and The Imperious Princess (1980) among other titles. In the 1980s, Ling moved to Taiwan, where she still resides and acts in TV dramas.
