George Wang Jie (Chinese: 王玨; pinyin: Wáng Jué, born Wang Chun-yang Chinese: 王春陽; pinyin: Wáng Chūnyáng, 12 November 1918 – 27 March 2015) was a Taiwanese actor and film producer. After a beginning his career in Mainland China during the Republican era, he was an important figure in the early development of Taiwanese and Hong Kong cinema, but came to the attention of international audiences for his appearances in a multitude of Italian films during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Early life
Born Wang Chun-yang (Chinese: 王春陽; pinyin: Wáng Chūnyáng) in Dandong, Liaoning Province, Republic of China in 1918. He enrolled in Northeastern University, where he studied economics and history, but the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War saw him abandon his studies to join Zou Taofen's National Salvation Front, adopting the nom de guerre Wang Jie (Chinese: 王玨; pinyin: Wáng Jué), which he later used as his Chinese stage name.
Career
In 1938, he enrolled in the China Film Studio's drama school in Shanghai, and the following year he made his film debut in Defending Our Homeland (保家鄉, Bǎo jiāxiāng). He moved to Chongqing, where he worked as a stage and film actor, and an anti-Japanese propagandist. He returned to Shanghai in 1947, during the Chinese Civil War. When the war made remaining in mainland China untenable, Wang led the withdrawal of most his studio's personnel and equipment to Taiwan, in 1949. He subsequently became one of the most important stars in the early years of Taiwanese cinema, and was eventually promoted to head of technical production at China Film Studio.
