Wang Hanlun

Wang Hanlun, also known as Helen Wang, was a Chinese actress active primarily between 1923 and 1930. Born to a wealthy family from Suzhou, Anhui, she travelled to Shanghai to attend St Mary's Hall. After a short and unhappy arranged marriage that brought her to Fengtian, she returned to Shanghai where she was discovered in 1922 by Zhang Shichuan of the Mingxing Film Company. Abandoning her birth name Peng Jianqing and severing ties with her disapproving family, she found critical acclaim with her debut film Orphan Rescues Grandfather (1923) and became China's first female film star.