No Mao impersonator has yet matched the success of Gu Yue, who twice won the best actor title at the Hundred Flowers Awards (the mainland's Oscars) - for Founding Ceremony (1990) and The Story of Mao Zedong (1993). In an acting career spanning more than two decades, he played Mao in more than 80 film and television productions.
Like his only protege Gu Xiaoyue, Gu Yue's early life was something of a mystery. He was born in 1937 into a poor Hubei family that named him Hu Shixue, but grew up in an orphanage. His only known relative is a sister.
He enlisted in the People's Liberation Army in 1949 when the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communists were battling for control of the country.
Nearly three decades later, as the communist government sought to celebrate the legacy of its greatest leaders, Marshal Ye Jianying recruited him in 1978 to play Mao because of his close resemblance to the chairman. But it was his portrayal of Mao in the 1981 film Xian Incident, which depicted the 1936 kidnapping of Chiang Kai-shek by his own officers in the Kuomintang, that brought the actor to fame. He subsequently changed his name to Gu Yue.
While his protege loves calligraphy, Gu showed passion and talent for painting. He later said the skills helped ease the transition into acting. 'Painting helps me read people's faces and their psyche. It built a solid foundation for my acting career,' he said.
Gu Yue once declared that he hoped to continue playing Mao as long as he lived, and his wish was largely fulfilled.
