For some strange reason, maybe a sense of nostalgia, I thought of an actress that as kid I used to watch on TV.
Her name in English is Barbar Yung, her Chinese name is Mei-ling.
She was the main character in the famous Hong Kong period TV drama "The legend of condor heros". A story about a Han Chinese grew in Genghis Khan's Mongolia, returned to China and tried to help the Sung Dynasty. The character she played was the witty girl who was in love with that hero and helped him along the way. It was very long TV series, and one of the best ever came out from Hong Kong if not the best.
I had to admit that I am not a Hong Kong commercialized TV or movie fan anyway. But when I was a kid and when they dubbed everything into Mandarin Chinese, I did enjoy a great deal.
I still remember vividly Wong Mei-ling (Wong in Mandarin) in her period customs. She looked well and very, very charming. I think she is the most charming character ever on TV, to me, at least, and probably to many others too.
Maybe I thought of her because I was nostalgic of my childhood, maybe it was the charm that I missed in those serious working days.
Anyhow after a shower and feeling settled down, I googled her up. At first all I found were people's facebook accounts, etc, people share the Meiling name. I tried to put "-" as in Mei-ling, and it worked --- I found her Wikipedia page, which led me to discover her life and her past relationship in England.
I really did not know much about her, except that she died of carbon-monoxide sucide from disappointment in life at the prime of her act career.
According to Wiki, her death was a mystery as there is no confirmed reason except rumors. I found out she was 26 at that time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Yung
Most importantly thing to me however, is that I realized the reasons she was so charming. She actually lived in England for long period of time. I could relate to that experience as I moved with my mother across the continent, leaving behind friends.
The English life style, like southern California, is very relaxed. People know how to have fun and enjoy life. Barbara embodied that, and it was completely shown in her acting.
What even amazed me more, was that when I looked for her on Youtube, I found picture slide shows taked from her old boyfriend in England whom she went to school with. It daunted on me that she had a completely different life than most people who watched on TV before her career on acting. That is why she was such a star---her charm was a life of only child having to cope with a new environment and keeping the innocence while coming in age. That type of charm can become so ingrained in a person that it masks other hidden feelings.
http://www.barbarayung.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=7&Itemid=67
Rob, her boyfriend in England, has this website dedicated to her. On there he shared his memories.
It is an excellent webpage, and a great discover for me. I have not read through it yet. It already made my evening.
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