Gerald Tannebaum

After graduation from Northwestern University in 1939, Gerald Tannebaum worked in advertising until 1942, then entered the US Army. After the war he went to China as an army officer supervising UN relief supplies. He stayed on to work in Chinese Relief as secretary to Song Qingling (Madame Sun Yat-sen), and when she became head of the Chinese Welfare Association in 1949, Tannebaum was named its executive director. This got him involved with various theatrical projects of the Association, such as the Shanghai Children's Theater, and soon he was playing foreign roles in Chinese films, usually negative English characters. Although very popular with Chinese film audiences, his roles were limited by his refusal to portray negative American characters. He remained an advisor with the Association through 1971, held major roles in seven Chinese films, and taught English language and American literature at several of Shanghai's leading universities. After the US and China resumed official contacts in 1972, Tannebaum and his wife, a former actress, moved to the US, settling in California. He lectured at a number of colleges and universities across the United States from 1972 until his death.