Did you know that Anna May Wong was the first Chinese American film star? She lived from 1905 to 1961. Her given name was Wong Liu Tsong, but she used the name Anna May Wong as her professional name. Wong traveled the world living her dream of starring in movies.
As a child, Wong worked in her family’s laundromat and attended school. When the movie-making industry moved to Hollywood from New York, Wong was excited. She kept sneaking onto movie sets to watch the actors and actresses, dreaming of a film career. When she was 14, she heard of a movie being filmed called The Red Lantern. The director wanted Chinese American women as extras in the movie. Wong asked a family friend to introduce her to the assistant director. She got a part in the movie, and her career quickly started!
Wong became a full-time actress in 1921. A year later, she got her first leading role in The Toll of the Sea. This movie was the first filmed in color! Unfair laws in the 1920s prevented actors of different races from kissing in movies, so Wong was not allowed to have a leading role in romantic movies.
Fed up with losing out on lead roles and constantly being cast as stereotypes (inaccurate ideas people have of someone or something), Wong left America and traveled to Europe. Eventually she became a star in movies and plays. She learned German so she could perform in operas. In the 1930s, she got a message from Paramount Studios, asking her to come back to Hollywood and promising her more leading roles!
Anna May Wong died in 1961, having achieved many firsts for Chinese American women. Her name is on awards given every year by the Asian American Arts Awards and the Asian Fashion Designers Group. She is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was even the first Asian American woman to be featured on a US quarter!
What Do You Think? How is Anna May Wong a role model?
Photo Credit: cineclassico / Alamy Stock Photo
