Li Baotian was born in 1946 in Jiangsu, China. He was admitted to the Central Academy of Drama at the age of 32.
The entertainment industry always values early success, while he goes the slow path. In 1983, at the age of 37, he first participated in the movie "Xông pha giang hồ".
In 1988, with the movie "Tình người ma", Lý Bảo Điền won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Kim Kê Awards. Also in that year, the work "Chưởng quỹ Cát" helped him win the Best Actor award at the Phi Thiên Awards.
In 1991, director Zhang Yimou invited him to participate in the movie "Cuc Dau". Commenting on Ly Bao Dien, Zhang Yimou said: "He is not acting, but burning his own life".
1993 was a turning point in Ly Bao Dien's career. With the role of principal Du of a mountainous private school in the movie "Phượng hoàng cầm", he won the Best Actor award of the 3 largest film awards in mainland China: Hoa Bieu, Bach Hoa and Kim Ke.
In just 10 years, from a "young actor", Ly Bao Dien has reached the peak.
But what really reminds the masses of him is the 1996 television series "Governor Liu Go".
The movie just aired and caused a fever, the 3 main actors Ly Bao Dien, Truong Quoc Lap and Vuong Cuong became familiar names to everyone, and were called "Iron Triangle" by the audience.
Thanks to the role of Luu Dung - a hunched-back, upright, intelligent and humorous official - Ly Bao Dien won the Best Actor award at the Golden Eagle Awards.
But when the director and producer wanted to make part 2, Ly Bao Dien refused because he thought that the script of the new part only combined old details and changed the setting to make money and deceive the audience.
He said bluntly: "People are not the same. There are people who cannot continue to cooperate. That is the difference in personality and working attitude. No one is right or wrong, it's just incompatibility.
According to revelations, during filming, Ly Bao Dien was famous for being strict with art. To play Luu Gur, he had to bend his back throughout the filming process, back pain and aches were common but he never complained.
What he could not stand was the lack of concentration of others. Vuong Cuong's many requests for leave affected the progress of the film crew, in Ly Bao Dien's eyes, it was a lack of respect for the whole crew.
Ly Bao Dien's acting talent cannot be denied. But he also almost closed off commercial cooperation routes himself, when refusing all advertising invitations.
The peak was the case in 2005, when Ly Bao Dien sued the producer of the movie "Kham sai dai than", demanding compensation of 1.9 million CNY, accusing the producer of violating the contract and arbitrarily adding 3 more episodes compared to regulations.
Ly Bao Dien won the lawsuit in the first-instance trial, but the price to pay was being boycotted by more than a dozen large film and television companies, considering him a "arrogant and arrogant" person. After the appellate trial, he lost the lawsuit.
From then on, the number of film invitations for Ly Bao Dien decreased sharply, he was almost isolated by the entire entertainment industry. But he did not speak up, did not apologize, but only quietly withdrew. His exemplary and uprightness made many audiences admire him.
In 2020, when stepping onto the Golden Eagle stage to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, he still received endless applause.
At the age of 79, Ly Bao Dien currently lives in Vinh Thanh, Shandong province (China). He grows flowers, paints, does not accept interviews, does not participate in events; occasionally publishes a collection of paintings, enjoying the peace of old age.
