The Most Famous

Actors from China

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This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 138 of which were born in China. This makes China the birth place of the 14th most number of Actors behind Australia and Mexico.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Chinese Actors of all time. This list of famous Chinese Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Chinese Actors.

Photo of Toshiro Mifune

1. Toshiro Mifune (1920 - 1997)

With an HPI of 79.11, Toshiro Mifune is the most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 121 different languages on wikipedia.

Photo of Jet Li

2. Jet Li (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 74.76, Jet Li is the 2nd most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 111 different languages.

Photo of Bolo Yeung

3. Bolo Yeung (b. 1946)

With an HPI of 71.43, Bolo Yeung is the 3rd most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Photo of Donnie Yen

4. Donnie Yen (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 69.38, Donnie Yen is the 4th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 62 different languages.

Photo of Gong Li

5. Gong Li (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 67.37, Gong Li is the 5th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 65 different languages.

Photo of Ruan Lingyu

6. Ruan Lingyu (1910 - 1935)

With an HPI of 65.17, Ruan Lingyu is the 6th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Photo of Yuen Siu-tien

7. Yuen Siu-tien (1912 - 1979)

With an HPI of 64.61, Yuen Siu-tien is the 7th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Photo of Yuen Biao

8. Yuen Biao (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 64.46, Yuen Biao is the 8th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Photo of Run Run Shaw

9. Run Run Shaw (1907 - 2014)

With an HPI of 64.24, Run Run Shaw is the 9th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Photo of Yoshiko Yamaguchi

10. Yoshiko Yamaguchi (1920 - 2014)

With an HPI of 63.97, Yoshiko Yamaguchi is the 10th most famous Chinese Actor.   biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

People

Pantheon has 138 people classified as Chinese actors born between 1901 and 2000. Of these 138, 111 (80.43%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese actors include Jet Li, Bolo Yeung, and Donnie Yen. The most famous deceased Chinese actors include Toshiro Mifune, Ruan Lingyu, and Yuen Siu-tien. As of April 2024, 22 new Chinese actors have been added to Pantheon including Yu Menglong, Vincent Zhao, and Zhang Jin.

Living Chinese Actors

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Deceased Chinese Actors

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Newly Added Chinese Actors (2025)

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Overlapping Lives

Which Actors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 25 most globally memorable Actors since 1700.

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