My Family History

                       Bai Guang - 白光   1921-1999

The background song is Bai Guang singing Waiting For You from 1948. It is 256 kbps which is high mp3 quality. If you wish to stop this music, please go to the foot of this page and adjust the small player accordingly

China's Torch Singer, Bai Guong. Her name means White Light, shortened to just 'White', and she was China's equivalent of Marlene Dietrich, both in her film roles and her vocal style. She was born in Beijing on June 27, 1921 as Shi Yongfen, and died in Kuala Lumpur, on August 27, 1999, due to colon cancer. Bai had retired from the film industry, and moved to Malaysia in 1959. In between, she captured the hearts of generations of filmgoers with her unique and glamorous personality.The Femme Fatale of Old Shanghai. Her dreamy, husky singing voice established her as one of China's Seven Great Singing Stars. Bai Kwong was truly a legend, and her piano tomb in Kuala Lumpur, a city she grew to love so much, is a sight to behold.

Obituary from Strait Times (via hkentreview.com and http://hkmdb.com) 

Bai Guang, the Chinese singer-actress dubbed The Magnetic Low Voice for her sultry voice, died of cancer. BAI GUANG, the Chinese singer-actress who was the definitive sex symbol of the '40s and '50s, has died. Bai, who was one of the biggest stars of the period and was dubbed The Magnetic Low Voice for her sultry voice, died at home in Kuala Lumpur last Friday. She was operated on for intestinal cancer two weeks earlier. She was 79. News of her death broke only yesterday when Malaysia newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau reported that her funeral had taken place on Monday.

The singer, who had been leading a reclusive life in Kuala Lumpur and had rejected requests to appear in shows and for interviews, had sought to escape media attention to the end. She had asked for a quiet funeral, which was attended by her Malaysian boyfriend of 30 years, known as Mr Yan Long, and her sisters from Hongkong. According to Nanyang Siang Pau, Bai had made Kuala Lumpur her permanent home soon after she retired in order to be with her businessman boyfriend. He was said to be devoted to her. Bai was once married, for eight years, to an American pilot. Apart from her sexy voice, which was perfect for sentimental numbers, the singer's beautiful doe-like eyes, dimples and 96-56-96 cm, shapely figure charmed fans in the '40s and '50s.

She started singing at the age of 22 and her most-remembered songs include Waiting For Your Return (Deng Zhe Ni Hui Lai), If I Don't Have You (Ru Guo Mei You Ni), Autumn Night (Qiu Ye), You're Putting Me On (Jia Zheng Jing) and Revisiting Old Dreams (Hun Ying Jiu Meng). She also acted in many films in China and Hongkong, often playing the loose woman with a heart of gold, before leaving the scene in 1959, saying that she was disheartened by the then low period in Chinese cinema. She then dabbled in directing and toured in singing enagagements to promote her films before vanishing in 1979, after her last public performance in Taiwan and leaving her fans guessing about her whereabouts.

It was not until 1985, when she appeared at a Golden Horse awards presentation ceremony in Taipei, that she revealed that she had retired to the Malaysian capital. The singer, whose real name was Shi Yongfen, was inspired to adopt her stage name, Bai Guang (White Light), after seeing a ray of white light from a film projector when she was young and at a time when movies were new. The name was to reflect her feelings then, that all of life's happiness, anger and sorrow emanated from that ray of light. Over the years, she was invited to attend many events such as the screening of the last movie of her old colleague, the late Roy Chiao. But she reportedly never made it to the events. Last April, she was reported to have turned down Taiwanese singer Chyi Chin's invitation to appear at a rock show in Taipei. Chyi had to screen a filmed interview she gave in Kuala Lumpur instead.

Filmography (1948-1959)
 Producer (2 films)
            Fresh Peony (1956)           
                 Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959)           
   Director (2 films)
            Fresh Peony (1956)           
      Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959)
Writer (2 films)
            Fresh Peony (1956)           
            Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959)
Actress (21 films)
Love Peas of Southland (1943)
    Fire of Love (1943)
       No.13 Unlucky House (1947)
            The Dream of the Butterfly (1948)           
            Blood-Stained Begonia (1949) ... Begonia's wife     
            An Unfaithful Woman (1949) ... Cai Mei-Ying     
            The Lexicon of Love (1949)           
            Twenty Four Hours of Marriage (1950)           
            Song on a Rainy Night (1950) ... Ah Qiao     
            A Strange Woman (1950) ... Little Perfume     
            When Roses Bloom (1951)           
            The Joy of Spring (1951)           
            Missing Document (1951)           
            Song of Nightingale (1952)           
            Smash Up (1952)           
            New West Chamber (1953)           
            A Songstress Called Hong Lingyan (1953)           
            Fresh Peony (1956)           
            The Film World's Merry Song (1958)           
            Welcome, God of Wealth! (1959)           
            Love's Sad Ending (1959)