Wang wowed the country in 2015 after he showed off his toned physique on the runway during China Fashion Week in Beijing.

Encyclopedia

Things started to look up in 1987 when he became the first Chinese actor to perform at the International Pantomime Festival held in Germany. In 1989, the pantomime characters he created were included in an encyclopedia of Chinese society.

By the mid-1990s, Wang decided to slow down and do something less physically demanding. He opted to be a body artist who often took to the stage naked and covered in body paint.

Apart from working out four hours a day, he also trained himself to control his breathing so that he could appear like a living sculpture.

In 1994, the book A Hundreds Years of History of China in Pictures was published. It opened with Lin Zexu, the Chinese official who fought during China's Opium War. The book ended with Wang's contributions on the stage.

Wang said that his foray into the fashion world via China Fashion Week in Beijing was not something he had planned - it was simply born out of a favor to an acquaintance who was working with Chinese designer Hu Sheguang.

Despite being catapulted to stardom, Wang is insistent that fame has not gotten to his head.

If anything, he is still as frugal as before.

"Fame has not changed my life. The way I live today is no different from the past," said Wang, who today lives with his son and grandchild in Beijing.

"A bowl of rice and some tofu will suffice for a meal."