Anna May Wong

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Anna May Wong January 3 1905 February 3 1961 was an American actress the first Chinese American movie star and the first Asian American to become an international star Her long and varied career spanned both silent and sound film television stage and radio Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to secondgeneration ChineseAmerican parents Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age During the silent film era she acted in The Toll of the Sea 1922 one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks The Thief of Bagdad 1924 Wong became a fashion icon and by 1924 had achieved international stardom Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood she left for Europe in the late 1920s where she starred in several notable plays and films among them Piccadilly 1929 She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work Wong was featured in films of the early sound era such as Daughter of the Dragon 1931 and Daughter of Shanghai 1937 and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternbergs Shanghai Express 1932 In 1935 Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career when MetroGoldwynMayer refused to consider her for the leading role in its film version of Pearl S Bucks The Good Earth choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer to play the leading role Wong spent the next year touring China visiting her familys ancestral village and studying Chinese culture In the late 1930s she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures portraying ChineseAmericans in a positive light She paid less attention to her film career during World War II when she devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own series in 1951 The Gallery of Madame LiuTsong the first US television show starring an AsianAmerican She had been planning to return to film in Flower Drum Song when she died in 1961 at the age of 56 For decades after her death Wong was remembered principally for the stereotypical Dragon Lady and demure Butterfly roles that she was often given Her life and career were reevaluated in the years around the centennial of her birth in three major literary works and film retrospectives Interest in her life story continues and another biography Shining Star The Anna May Wong Story was published in 2009 Description above from the Wikipedia article Anna May Wong licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia