Sunday, May 7, 2023

Celebrating Asian America Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Anna May Wong, first Chinese American film star



Anna May Wong, born January 3, 1905 as Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles California, is the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood and the first Chinese American actress to gain international recognition.  She began acting early and her first role (uncredited) was Dinty in 1920.  She starred in The Toll of the Sea, a silent movie and one of the first to be filmed in color.  

In the late 1920s, she traveled to Europe, becoming frustrated by the stereotypical roles she reluctantly played. In 1935, she was refused for the leading role in the movie adaption of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth.  She was also refused the role of the Asian blackmailer in W. Somerset Maugham's The Letter, in both the Bette Davis version and the television role in 1956.

She is the first Asian American to appear on US Currency.

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 1960. Wong passed away in February 1961 from a heart attack.


No comments: