Sun Daolin(孙道临 Sūn Dàolín) was born in Beijing. He made his debut on the screen in 1948 and has played the leading role in nearly 20 films. He played Company Commander Li in the feature film Scouting across the River, and impressed audiences for the first time in his career. Later, he appeared as Juexin in Family and his exquisite performance depicted in detail the inward contradictions and depressions of a petty intellectual.

In 1958, he played Li Xia(李侠 Lǐ Xiá), an underground worker of the Chinese Communist Party(中国共产党 zhōngguó gòngchǎndǎng), in The Electric Wave Never Dies(永不消逝的电波 yǒng bù xiāoshì de diànbō), marking a big leap forward in his performing art. Li Xia appeared in different capacities in the film. Sometimes he is a boss, and sometimes he is a factory worker. Sun Daolin concentrated on the changes in the role. The makeup, clothes, and tone in Li Xia's speech change, but his true nature as the Party's underground worker remains unchanged. The righteousness in Sun's furrowed brows, which reveals the quality of an army man, is ideal for the portrayal of Li Xia's heroism. Sun's performance was praised by people in the cinema circles.

On the Threshold of Spring is Sun Daolin's most representative film. He fully brought to light Xiao Jianqiu's gentleness in appearance and profoundness at heart as well as his complicated and contradictory feelings. The portrayal of Xiao Jianqiu by Sun Daolin became a unique image with lasting vitality on China's cinema screens.

After the Cultural Revolution, Sun joined hands with Rentaro Mikuni, a well-known Japanese cinema actor, in An Unfinished Game of Go, a film jointly produced by Chinese and Japanese companies. He played Kuang Zhongshan, a Chinese go player, and his simple, natural, deep and true-to-life performance was highly spoken of.

On the morning of December 28, 2007, Beijing 8:58, Sun died in Shanghai East China Hospital of a heart disease, at the age of 86.

Filmography

1949 Crows and Sparrows 乌鸦与麻雀

1950 Min zhu qing nian jin xing qu 民主青年进行曲

1955 Scouting Across the Yangtze River 渡江侦察记

1955 Nan dao feng yun 南岛风云

1957 Family 家

1957 City Without Night 不夜城

1958 The Electric Wave Never Dies 永不消失的电波

1961 A Revolutionary Family 革命家庭

1963 Early Spring in February 早春二月

1977 Spring Celebrate the collapse of the Gang of Four 春季庆祝“四人帮”粉碎

1979 Li Siguang 李四光

1982 The Go Masters 一盘没有下完的棋

1983 Thunderstorm 雷雨