Wu Wenchao (1907 - ?)

    Actor/director.  Born September 27, 1904 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang.  After graduating from high school in Shanghai, he enrolled in the Mingxing studio film school as an actor, then made his initial screen appearance in 1923's "An Orphan Rescues his Grandfather" in an uncredited bit part.  In the same year he moved over to Dan Duyu's Shanghai Shadow Play Company, appearing in several small roles, again uncredited.  His first credited role, an important one, came in the Shanghai studio's "Cave of the Silken Web," (1927) in which he became the first actor to portray on-screen one of Chinese literature's most beloved characters, The Monkey King.  After that, he worked for a variety of small studios, mostly in secondary villian roles.  In 1929, Wu turned to directing, and after gaining some experience started his own studio in 1937, the Lucky Star Film Company, making five movies in which he acted as well as directed.  Lucky Star folded when the Japanese occupied Shanghai, but Wu continued working for other studios which remained in operation during the war.  In 1950 he moved to Hong Kong and continued his career there, directing over 20  films, the last in 1974.