[citation needed] Chen joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1942, and made his comedy debut in The Second Uncle.

[citation needed] In 1945, he was cast as Huang Shiren, the despotic landlord, in the ballet play The White Haired Girl.

His performance was so convincing, that an emotionally invested soldier in the audience almost shot him with a rifle in anger.

[citation needed] In 1949, after the founding of the Communist State, he appeared as Lao Houtou, an old worker in The Bridge, which is the first feature film in the People's Republic.

[citation needed] In 1986, he played the lead role as Laokui in the comedy film Father and Son.