William Tang
The US Mint announced the establishment of outstanding American women of all races quarters program, which will issue up to five new quarters each year from 2022 to 2025. The first Chinese-American actress in Hollywood Anna May Wong will be minted on a 25-cent coin to be released in 2022.
Picture 1. Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong, whose birth name was Wong Liu Tsong, began to use the stage name Anna May Wong when she was 11 years old. She was born on Journey 3, 1905 in Flower Street, north of Chinatown in Los Angeles, USA. She was the third generation of a Chinese family. Both her parents were American-born Chinese whose ancestral homes were in Taishan, Guangdong, China.
Anna May Wong was the first Chinese-American Hollywood star and the first Asian-American actress who gained international reputation. She starred in more than 60 films in her lifetime, and her acting career spanned silent films, sound films, TV series, stage plays and radio plays. She had one spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which is located at 1708 Vine Street.
Picture 2. Anna May Wong
The Movie Star Who Walked out of a Chinese Laundry
Anna May Wong’s father Wong Sam Sing ran a laundry. She was the second of eight children in the family.
In 1910 the Wong family moved to Figueroa Street where they were the only Chinese family in the neighborhood with mostly Mexican and Eastern European families which gave Anna May Wong an opportunity to integrate into the multicultural American society. She and her sister initially studied in a public school, but due to racial discrimination the sisters were often mocked and bullied by their classmates. Their parents transferred them to the Chinese Presbyterian School. The school taught in English while Anna May went to the Chinese school to study Chinese in the afternoons and on Saturdays.
Anna May Wong fell in love with Nickelodeon movie theaters and soon became hooked on Hollywood movies. She sometimes skipped school to save her lunch money to go to movies. Her father was disgusted with her hobby, but Anna May Wong decided to pursue a career in film industry.
In the 1910s, the American film industry began to move from the East Coast to the Los Angeles area of California. From time to time, the film crews were looking for shooting locations near Anna May’s home. Anna May, 9, often begged directors to cast her in the role, earning her the nickname C.C.C.(an acronym for Curious Chinese Child). At the age of 11, Anna May Wong began to use the stage name Anna May Wong.
In 1919, the film “The Red Lantern “ started filming, which required 300 girls to be extras. After being introduced, Anna May Wong played a girl with a red lantern in the film, an obscure little supporting role. This is her first appearance in a movie.
In 1921 Anna May, who was studying in Los Angeles High School, decided to give up her studies to become an actress. Her first full-length film appearance was in 1921’s “Bits of Life”, in which she played Chin Chow’s wife Toy Sing. This was the only time in her life she played a mother. She performed well in the film, which landed her on the cover of the British “Picture Show “ magazine.
“The Toll of the Sea” Made Anna May Wong an Instant Hit
Anna May Wong, 17, became an instant hit as the heroine in “The Toll of the Sea”, the first film to be filmed with Technicolor. The film has a Madame Butterfly-style plot. Anna May Wong plays the role of experiencing an exotic love affair between the East and the West, waiting for a foreign boyfriend who will never return, and becomes an unforgettable tragic oriental woman. After the film was released, several magazines spoke highly of Anna May Wong’s “extremely stunning” performance in the film. “The New York Times” commented: Miss Wong’s acting in the film is just to arouse the audience’s sympathy for the character. And its role is so complicated that nine out of ten actresses are difficult to interpret, but Miss Wong is the tenth one. She has no “acting” attitude in front of the camera, and she is comfortable in size. We should expect more wonderful works from her.
Picture 3. The post of “The Toll of the Sea” with Anna May Wong as the Heroine
Comments from all walks of life were optimistic about Anna May Wong, but it was difficult for her to get the chance to play the leading heroine because of her race and skin color.
Chinese Identity Limited Anna May Wong’s Development in the Film Career
In the years that followed, Anna May Wong appeared in exotic supporting roles, such as the concubine in “Tod Browning’s Drifting” (1923).
In 1924, 19-year-old Anna May Wong played a Mongolian slave girl in the mythical film “The Thief of Bagdad”. Although her role was small, her sexy appearance in the film made her a representative of Hollywood exotic actress, attracting the attention of audiences and critics, and made the film more than 2 million US dollars in box office revenue.
In addition to race and color, the anti-miscegenation laws that passed in the United States in 1850 were another obstacle to Anna May Wong’s film career. According to the laws, she could not kiss any European actor on screen. In the silent film era, the only slightly famous Asian actor in America was Sessue Hayakawa. At that time, oriental roles were usually played by white people, and it was impossible for Anna May Wong to play the heroine.
In 1927 Anna May Wong appeared on the cover of the sixteenth issue of “The Young Companion” in Chinese.
Picture 4. Anna May Wong on the cover of the 16th issue of “The Young Companion” on June 30, 1927
In 1928 in order to get rid of Hollywood’s stereotyped Chinese identity, Anna May Wong left the United States for Europe to shoot films. During this period, she starred in five British films.
Picture 5. Anna May Wong on the cover of a 1928 issue of “Time” magazine
In 1929 the British film “Piccadilly “ was released in Europe. She plays Shosho, a maid who overcame difficulties and became a dancer. Although she played the sexiest role in British films, she was still unable to kiss her lover in the play, and kiss scene that was supposed to be in the play was cut before the film’s release. Anna May Wong was invited to the British royal family banquet for her extraordinary performance in the film.
Anna May Wong recorded three versions of her lines in French, English and German in the film “The Flame of Love”(1930).
In 1931 the American film “Daughter of the Dragon “ with the stars of Anna May Wong and Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa and others was released in the United States.
In the 1932 film “Shanghai Express “ Anna May Wong and actress Marlene Dietrich were galloping play, the unique style of the two, one in China and one in the west, showing their own glamorous style. The film premiered in the U.S. with $3.7 million box office revenue.
Picture 6. Post of the movie “Shanghai Express”
In 1934 Anna May Wong was voted “the world’s best dressed woman” by the Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York. In 1938 she was named “the most beautiful Chinese woman in the world “ by “Look” magazine.
Wong played a wise and courageous Asian American heroine, a positive image, in the 1937 film “Daughter of Shanghai”.
In January 1936 Hollywood was preparing to shoot the film “The Good Earth” based on the story of Chinese peasants. Anna May Wong thought she should be the heroine of the film. No one expected that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer(MGM) actually hired a white actress Luise Rainer to perform as a Chinese peasant woman with special effects makeup. This time Anna May Wong was obviously pushed out, which hit her very hard.
On February 9, 1936 Anna May Wong arrived in Shanghai for the first time, and she held a press conference at the cruise ship ballroom. She stayed in China for nine months welcomed by people from all walks of life. Peking University also awarded Anna May Wong an honorable doctorate. After her visit to China she returned to Los Angeles.
Picture 7. A group photo of Anna May Wong and Hu Die, a famous Chinese female movie star
In 1942 the anti-Japanese propaganda films “Bombs over Burma” and “Lady from Chungking”, in which Anna May Wong acted, were released in the United States. She devoted all of her pay for the two films to the United Relief Society of China, then faded out of the film industry.
Controversial Art Life
Anna May Wong accepted the movies’ roles almost all of which were night club proprietors, prostitutes, showgirls, or the outcast Madame Butterfly. In an interview Anna May Wong expressed her disappointment: “I’m so tired of the characters l play over and over again. Why are the Chinese people in Hollywood movies always evil? Besides they were the worst murderers, or treacherous, cunning vile characters. But the truth is that we are not that kind of people.”
Picture 8. The movie “Dragon’s Daughter”
Anna May Wong plays Fu Manchu’s daughter in “The Dragon’s Daughter “. This is her controversial role.
From 1942 to 1943 Soong Mei-ling visited the United States to promote China’s anti-Japanese national salvation movement, which caused a sensation in all walks of life in the United States. But when Soong Mei-ling went to Hollywood to give a speech, someone around her advised her not to invite Anna May Wong. Many Chinese American celebrities were invited to participate, and poor Anna May Wong was blocked because Soong Mei-ling also believed that her roles were basically negative Chinese people.
From August 27 to November 21, 1951, Anna May Wong starred in the TV series “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong”, which she created for herself, in which she performed under her real name.
In 1960 Anna May Wong was the first Chinese star at the inauguration of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Picture 9. Anna May Wong’s name is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Anna May Wong’s love life was unfortunate. Her first love was a filmmaker who was 30 to 40 years older than her. They had reached the point of discussing marriage and planned to go to Mexico to get married, but eventually broke up because California laws at the time stipulated that Chinese women could not intermarry with whites. In addition Anna May Wong had a relationship with BBC reporter Eric Maschwitz, who wrote her a love song “These Foolish Things”. She had never been in love with a Chinese man in her life.
Anna May Wong felt desperate of marriage. She said: “Chinese men dislike me because I’m an actress, and white people can’t intermarry with Chinese people.” She never got married.
Anna May Wong died of a heart attack on February 3, 1961, at the age of 56. Although she was controversial all her life because of racial discrimination, she was the first Chinese who successfully entered the Hollywood film circle.
Translated by William Tang
