Sidney Rittenberg, one of a handful of Americans who advised the Chinese Communist government in the 1950s and ‘60s, died Aug. 24 at the age of 98 in Fountain View Village.

The Times published an extensive interview with Rittenberg on his Aug. 14 birthday.

He was twice imprisoned and spent 16 years in solitary confinement in China. He wrote about his experience in his 2016 memoir, “The Man who Stayed Behind,” published in 1993. He also was featured in a 2012 documentary film, “The Revolutionary.”

He said he was motivated then, as now, to support the Chinese people’s quest to taste the responsibilities and rewards of freedom.

Rittenberg developed a rapport with MaoZedong

and Zhou Enlai, the Chinese Communist Party’s second-in-command. They discussed life in America, played cards and watched the English-language films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, two of Mao’s favorite comedians, as Rittenberg provided the translation, according to his obituary in The Washington Post.

During his 35 years in China, beginning in the communist guerilla headquarters of Yan’an to the end of the Maoist era, Rittenberg was singled out as both a hero and victim to China’s revolutionary turmoil. He spent a total of 16 years in prison in solitary confinement.

In later years, he became an unofficial ambassador, a “translator of cultures,” between China and the United States, said journalist Amanda Bennett, who co-wrote his autobiography.

He and his wife, Yulin, operated a consulting firm for businesses and advisors to U.S. government agencies.

In addition to his wife, the Washington Post obituary listed four children, Jenny, Toni, Sunny and Sidney Jr., and five grandchildren.