赵丹 starred in
《马路天使》 (1937) and
《乌鸦与麻雀》 (1949), then played revolutionary hero roles in PRC classics like
《林则徐》 and
《聂耳》. Imprisoned for five years during the Cultural Revolution, he published a famous 1980 essay days before his death arguing that 'the Party should not meddle too much' in art - still quoted by Chinese filmmakers.
