Zhao became famous working in the
Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite
Zhou Xuan in
Street Angel (1937). After the
Sino-Japanese War, Zhao began a creative relationship with director
Zheng Junli, with films such as the 1948 anti-
Kuomintang drama-comedy,
Crows and Sparrows. Zhao remained on the mainland following the Communist victory in 1949 and continued to make films throughout the 1950s and 1960s notably in
biographical films playing historical figures of
Nie Er,
Lin Zexu (both directed by Zheng Junli) and
Li Shizhen. Zhao joined
Chinese Communist Party in 1957. During the
Cultural Revolution, he was persecuted and imprisoned for 5 years. He died of pancreatic cancer in Beijing in 1980. == Personal life ==