Zhao Benshan
| Zhao Benshan | |
|---|---|
Zhao Benshan
|
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| Native name | 赵本山 |
| Born |
2 October 1957 Kaiyuan County, Tieling, Liaoning, China |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Other names | Uncle Benshan 本山大叔 |
| Education | Lianhua Middle School |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1980 — present |
| Spouse(s) | Ge Shuzhen (葛淑珍; former), Ma Lijuan (马丽娟; current) |
| Children | Zhao Yinan (赵一楠), Zhao Yihan (赵一涵) |
| Awards |
Hundred Flowers Award for Best Actor Huabiao Award for Outstanding Actor |
Zhao Benshan (simplified Chinese: 赵本山; traditional Chinese: 趙本山; pinyin: Zhào Běnshān; born 2 October 1957) is a Chinese skit and sitcom actor and director, and entrepreneur. Originally from Liaoning province, Zhao has appeared on the CCTV New Year's Gala, a widely watched performing arts program, every year from 1990 to 2011. Zhao's performance at the gala had made him a household name in China.
Zhao is also known for his lead roles in the 2000 Zhang Yimou film Happy Times and the 2007 film Getting Home, as well as having directed and produced three critically acclaimed television series based around rural life in his home province, Liu Laogen, Ma Dashuai, and Xiangcun Aiqing ("Rural Love Story").
Zhao was born in Lianhua Village, Kaiyuan, Liaoning province, to a peasant family. He was orphaned at the age of 6. Apprenticed to his uncle, he learned many local traditional performance arts, including erhu, a traditional Chinese musical instrument, and er ren zhuan, a traditional style of stand-up comedy that involves two people talking to each other on the stage which is popular in northeastern China.
Jiang Kun, a nationally renowned xiangsheng artist, recommend Zhao to appear at the 1990 CCTV New Year's Gala, a TV program broadcast all over China to celebrate Chinese New Year. After his first appearance, he had appeared in each Gala show every year from 1995 to 2011. Zhao's skits focus on social issues, including wealth disparity, the urban-rural divide, family and relationships (guanxi), trust in society, and social changes in the era of economic reform. His works often drew inspiration from his own life in rural northeastern China.
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