Florence Lim (21 January 1905 – 16 February 1979), better known as Lim Cho-cho, was a Chinese Canadian actress in the cinema of the Republic of China and British Hong Kong from 1925 to 1954. She was the second wife of filmmaker Lai Man-Wai and the mother of actors Lai Hang and Lai Suen. Gigi Lai is her granddaughter.
Early life Florence Lim was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where her grandfather, an immigrant from Xinhui (now part of Jiangmen), Guangdong, China, owned a rice shop. Her father died when she was 3. She attended Chinese Public School in Victoria which allowed her to be proficient in both English and Chinese. When she was 9, her widowed mother went to Hong Kong to receive medical treatment, and at age 12 Lim joined her in Hong Kong, having completed primary school. In Hong Kong she enrolled in Ying Wa Girls' School. One of her classmates named Lai Hang-kau (who would later become known as Lai Cheuk-cheuk) introduced her to her uncle Lai Man-Wai. Even though he was 12 years her senior and already married, Lim married him as his second wife in 1920, when she was 15.
Career Lim's acting career started in Hong Kong when she played the lead role in Rouge (1925), the first film produced by her husband's China Sun Motion Picture Company. In 1926, China Sun relocated to Shanghai, and there Lim continued to star in silent films such as A Poet from the Sea (1927) and Romance of the Western Chamber (1927). Her credits after China Sun became the Lianhua Film Company in 1930 included A Spray of Plum Blossoms (1931), Song of China (1935), National Customs (1935), and Song of a Kind Mother (1937). Lim particularly excelled in mother roles. Her son Lai Hang also appeared in many films around this time. In 1931, she also acted in the Indian film Kamar-Al-Zaman, an adaptation of a tale from the Arabian Nights directed by Shah G. Agha, where she appeared in the role of princess Budur.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), the Lais first returned to Hong Kong when Japan invaded Shanghai in 1937. In Hong Kong Lim continued to act in films, many patriotic and anti-Japanese in nature. Following Japan's invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, the family escaped to mainland China, first to Chikan, Kaiping, Guangdong, where at one point Lim had to peddle old clothes on the street to make ends meet. When Japanese soldiers overran Kaiping in 1943, they fled again, this time to Guilin, Guangxi, where they ran a photographic studio. After the war ended, the family returned to Hong Kong, and Lim acted again for another 8 years. She retired after her husband's 1953 death to raise their 9 children. She visited mainland China in the 1970s before her death in Hong Kong in 1979.
Filmography YearEnglish titleOriginal titleRoleNotes1925Rouge胭脂RougeLost1926Why Not Her玉潔冰清Qian MengqiLostThe God of Peace和平之神Lost1927A Poet from the Sea海角詩人Yin MeizhenPartially lostA Reviving Rose復活的玫瑰LostRomance of the Western Chamber西廂記Cui YingyingPartially lost1928Avalokitesvara's Way觀音得道LostFive Revengeful Girls五女復仇LostThe Retrieval of Huang Leung再世因緣LostMulan Joins the Army木蘭從軍Lost1930Dream of the Ancient Capital故都春夢Lost1931A Spray of Plum Blossoms一剪梅Shi Luohua (Sylvia)1932Conscienceless人道Wu RuolianLostAnother Dream of the Ancient Capital續故都春夢Lost1933Night in the City城市之夜Lost1934Life人生Lost1935National Customs國風Zhang JieA Little Angel小天使Song of China天倫Grandmother1936Mother's Love母愛Liu FenGateways of Body and Spirit靈肉之門1937A New-Comer's Way新人道Song of a Kind Mother慈母曲MotherThe Bomber Wen Shengcai溫生才炸孚琦1938Love in Wartime戰雲情淚1939Scent of a Woman女兒香1940The General岳飛Yue Fei's motherFlower in a Sea of Blood血海花1941The Good Father天涯慈父On My Own陌路妻兒Madam ChanSong of Retribution正氣歌Wang Zhiming's mother1946The Storm大雷雨1947Li Chunhua麗春花1949Gia Liang Kiang Be My Destiny靜靜的嘉陵江1953How the Valiant Dog Saved the Pretty Girl義犬救美also co-producer1954Better Your Better Half改造太太Ling Ping's mother
In popular culture In the 1991 film Center Stage, Lim is portrayed by Cecilia Yip, who spoke Cantonese, Mandarin and English in her role.
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