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Anna May Wong (born Wong Liu Tsong) was a pioneering American actress regarded as old Hollywood’s first Chinese American International film star.
Her career, which spanned silent films, talkies, television, stage, and radio, broke barriers in an era of limited opportunities for Asian performers.
Wong was born in Los Angeles on January 3, 1905, to second-generation Taishanese Chinese American parents. She developed an early passion for film, deciding to pursue acting at only 11 years old.
Wong landed her first role as an extra in The Red Lantern (1919), before gaining recognition during the silent film era. Wong starred in one of the first color films, The Toll of the Sea (1922), and in The Thief of Bagdad (1924), alongside Douglas Fairbanks.
By 1924, Wong was an international fashion icon, known for her flapper look, and was voted the “world’s best-dressed woman” by the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York in 1934, further solidifying her fame.
Despite her success, Wong grew frustrated with the limited and often stereotypical roles she was offered in Hollywood. In 1928, Wong left for Europe and starred in a series of films, including the acclaimed Piccadilly (1929), dividing her time between the U.S. and Europe over the next several years.
In the early sound film era, Wong appeared in Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Shanghai Express (1932) with Marlene Dietrich, Java Head (1934), and Daughter of Shanghai (1937). However, her most significant career setback came in 1935, when MGM cast Luise Rainer in the lead role of the Chinese character O-Lan in The Good Earth (1937), a part that many believed should have gone to Wong. The decision, made amid the constraints of the Hays Code and the industry’s racial prejudices, left Wong devastated. Despite screen tests for the supporting role of Lotus, the seductress, the role went to another actress. It still remains unclear whether Wong turned it down or was rejected.
Undeterred, Wong immersed herself in her cultural heritage, spending a year touring China in the late 1930s and documenting her journey on film (an impressive feat considering the era’s lack of female directors).
In the 1940s, Wong shifted her focus from acting, dedicating her time and resources to China’s fight against Japan during World War II.
Wong made a spectacular return to the spotlight in the 1950s with several television appearances, making history as the star of The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong in 1951 as first Asian American lead in an American television series.
Though she had plans to return to film in Flower Drum Song, Wong tragically passed away from a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 56.
In the decades following her passing, Wong’s legacy was honored and immortalized in books and retrospectives, shedding new light on a groundbreaking career and the barriers she broke for future generations of Asian American performers.
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