In 1954, at only 20 years of age, Ma-ling played the part of a middle-aged woman in Beijing and Shanghai. Her strikingly convincing portrayal of an older woman garnered her several big awards. Things went less smoothly for the more famous Sai Yue-chin.
一九五四年，不過二十歲的陳瑪玲演出時代劇《忠誠譜》裡的老媽媽，到北平、上海會演，傳神的跨齡演出得到了華東地區戲曲會演演員三等獎，還有眾多福建地區演員獎項。