Runje Shaw
Runje Shaw (1896–1975), also known as Shao Zuiweng (C.W. Shaw) and Shao Renjie, was a Chinese film entrepreneur, producer and director. The eldest of the Shaw brothers, in 1925 he founded Tianyi Film Company (also called Unique Film Productions) in Shanghai, which became one of the top three film production companies in pre-WWII Republic of China, and the beginning of the Shaw Brothers media empire.
Runje Shaw | |
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Shaw's portrait on a 1934 issue of Liangyou magazine | |
| Born | Shao Renjie 1896 Ningbo, Zhejiang, Qing dynasty |
| Died | 1975 (aged 78–79) Shanghai, People's Republic of China |
| Other names | Shao Zuiweng |
| Alma mater | Shenzhou University |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, filmmaker |
| Known for | Founding Tianyi Film Company |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Relatives | |
| Shao Zuiweng | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 邵醉翁 | ||||||
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| Shao Renjie | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 邵仁傑 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 邵仁杰 | ||||||
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Under Runje's leadership, his younger brothers Runde, Runme, and Run Run established branches of Tianyi in Hong Kong and Singapore. Runje retired from filmmaking after Tianyi's Shanghai base was destroyed in 1937 during the Japanese invasion, but his younger brothers, particularly Sir Run Run, rebuilt Tianyi's offshoots in Hong Kong and Singapore, of which Shaw Brothers Studio came to dominate filmmaking in Hong Kong.