Mei Lanfang

Mei Lanfang was the most celebrated Peking opera performer of the twentieth century, a male actor of female roles whose 1930 American tour and 1935 Moscow visit impressed Charlie Chaplin and Bertolt Brecht. He refined the dan role's movement and costume and, after 1949, led the China Peking Opera Theatre, training the next generation. Much of what audiences recognise as classic Peking opera style passes through his school.