Chen Peisi (Chinese: 陈佩斯; born 1 February 1954) is a Chinese sketch comedian, film and stage actor, and voice actor. Chen's oft-time comedy partner is Zhu Shimao.
Chen Peisi is the second son of famous stage and film actor Chen Qiang. Chen Qiang's first son (Chen Peisi's brother) was born in 1951 while he was overseas in the Hungarian capital Budapest performing The White-Haired Girl, so he named his first son Chen Buda (陈布达) after Buda, the western half of Budapest, as he loved the city during the visit.[1] When the second son was born three years later, he named the son Peisi after Pest, the eastern half of Budapest, as the Standard Chinese phonetic translation of Budapest is "Bù Dá Peì Sī". Chen Qiang's youngest child and daughter Chen Lida (陈丽达) was also named after a part of Budapest — the Margaret Island in the Danube between Buda and Pest.
Chen was born in Changchun, Jilin on 1 February 1954. In 1966, Chen studied at The High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University. In 1969, during the Cultural Revolution, he worked in Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corps. In 1973, Chen worked in August First Film Studio as an actor. In 1991, Chen set up a company named Hainan Comedy Film and Television Limited Company (海南喜剧影视有限公司), then renamed it Dadao Film and Television Limited Company (大道影业有限公司). In 2000, Chen and his partner Zhu Shimao sued the China International Television Corporation over royalties from broadcasts which they won, but they were then taken off air by the parent company, China Central Television.[2][3]
On October 26, 2020, he returned to the CCTV stage and served as the first instructor of the variety show "Gold Medal Comedy Class" after 20 years.[4]