Tao Hong (actress, born 1972)

{{Infobox swimmer

|name=Tao Hong

|height={{convert|164|cm|ftin|abbr=on}}

|weight={{convert|50|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}

|national_team={{flagicon|China}} China

|club=Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team (1984–1994)

|strokes=Synchronized swimming

}}

Tao Hong began practicing with the Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team in 1983 when she was 11. In 1984, she officially made the team.{{cite web|url=http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/zhuanti/bjsport50/671294.htm|title=碧波银浪舞芭蕾--记北京花样游泳队|last=Wang Changjuan|website=china.com.cn|language=zh}} She made the national team for the first time in 1987.

At the 1991 World Aquatics Championships, China finished 6th, which would remain China's best finish at the event until 2007.[http://sports.qq.com/a/20110723/000571.htm 回首中国花游28年历史 一人曾打破俄罗斯封锁] Although a member of the national team, Tao missed both the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics, since she was slightly weaker than her teammates Tan Min, Guan Zewen, and Wang Xiaojie at solo and duet competitions, and team competition did not become an Olympic event until 1996 after she retired to pursue acting.

In August 1993, Jiang Wen, who had been preparing for his directorial debut In the Heat of the Sun, went to the Beijing Synchronized Swimming Team looking for a good swimmer for his female lead. Even though Tao did not remotely fit the physical description of the role, Jiang liked her smile so much that he invited her to his set for a supporting role.{{cite web|url=http://english.cntv.cn/program/storyboard/20110412/107234.shtml|title=Story Board: Tao Hong|date=12 April 2011|website=China Central Television}} The film was a big hit, and at the suggestion of Jiang, she retired from the Beijing club and applied to 3 professional acting schools: Central Academy of Drama, Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Theatre Academy, all highly prestigious and selective. She was accepted to all 3 and chose Central Academy of Drama.{{cite web|title=Tao Hong in Full Bloom|url=http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/storyboard/20110426/109447.shtml|website=China Central Television|date=26 April 2011|last=Zheng Limin}} She was the class president and became the first student in school history (along with classmate Duan Yihong) to receive a perfect grade.[http://www.xinminweekly.com.cn/News/Content/4283 陶虹：我把野心隐藏了] In 2015, she participated in the making of a music video of The Hopes of President Xi.{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCxLvlFMcbE&t=0h0m0s|script-title=zh:【HD】陶紅-堂堂正正一輩子(習主席寄語)MV Offiicial{{sic |nolink=yes}} Music Video官方完整版|language=zh-hans|date=16 March 2015|accessdate=29 December 2019|via=YouTube}}

Tao Hong married actor Xu Zheng in 2002. They first met and became friends in 1999 while co-starring in the wacky romance TV series Sunny Piggy. They have portrayed a married couple in 2 films, Unfinished Girl (2007) and Xu's directorial debut Lost in Thailand (2012). They have also collaborated in the 2002 TV series Sky Lovers (Segment 5, "Sun Tanning") and 2 films in which they did not appear in the same scene: No Lonely Angels (2002) and No Man's Land (2013). In 2005, they starred in the Chinese adaptation of the Broadway comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers, with Xu playing the would-be adulterer and Tao playing all 3 seductresses. First staged in Beijing, the play caused a sensation,{{cite web|url=http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20071029/105653.shtml|title=Xu Zheng: The Most Busy Entertainer|date=29 October 2007|website=CCTV News|accessdate=1 April 2015}} and the couple subsequently performed the play over 30 times in 10 major cities like Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Shenzhen, and Chongqing, receiving overwhelming support everywhere that they canceled their holiday travel plans for more performances.{{cite news|url=http://yule.sohu.com/20060111/n227719734.shtml|script-title=zh:话剧《最后一个情圣》春节封箱演出|last=Ma Yingying|newspaper=China Times|date=11 January 2006|accessdate=23 April 2015|language=zh}} At each city they performed some jokes in the local dialect.{{cite news|url=http://ent.sina.com.cn/h/2006-01-20/0000965855.html|script-title=zh:徐峥陶虹零片酬加演“情圣” 演出门票买一赠一|newspaper=Beijing Star Daily|last=Wang Fei|date=20 January 2006|accessdate=23 April 2015|language=zh}}

Their daughter was born on 30 December 2008 in Beijing.{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2009-01/03/content_7362273.htm|title=First Online Photos of Tao Hong and Xu Zheng's Baby Girl|date=3 January 2009|newspaper=China Radio International|accessdate=1 April 2015}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite AV media|url=http://english.cntv.cn/program/storyboard/20110412/107234.shtml|title=Story Board: Tao Hong|people=Zhao Qi (producer), Owen Grant (narrator)|date=12 April 2011|publisher=China Central Television|medium=documentary TV program}}
• [http://weibo.com/u/2600926867 Tao Hong] on Sina Weibo
• {{IMDb name|0849920|Hong Tao}}
• {{Hkmdb name|15803}}

{{Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Actress}}

{{Flying Apsaras Award for Outstanding Actress}}

{{Golden Eagle Award (China) Best Actress}}

{{Golden Rooster Award Best Actress}}

{{Hundred Flowers Award Best Supporting Actress}}

{{Huabiao Award Outstanding Actress}}

{{Magnolia Award for Best Supporting Actress}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tao, Hong}}

Category:1972 births

Category:Living people

Category:Actresses from Wuxi

Category:20th-century Chinese actresses

Category:21st-century Chinese actresses

Category:Chinese synchronized swimmers

Category:Sportspeople from Wuxi

Category:Chinese stage actresses

Category:Central Academy of Drama alumni

Category:Chinese film actresses

Category:Chinese television actresses

Category:Chinese voice actresses

Category:Synchronized swimmers from Jiangsu

Category:Synchronized swimmers at the 1991 World Aquatics Championships