Was Anna May Wong a real actress?
The legendary Hollywood star Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to appear on US currency. Starting Monday, Wong’s image will be imprinted on quarters across the country. Recognized as Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star, she acted in over 60 films across a decades-long career. Wong called for greater representation of Asian…
The legendary Hollywood star Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to appear on US currency. Starting Monday, Wong’s image will be imprinted on quarters across the country. Recognized as Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star, she acted in over 60 films across a decades-long career.
Wong called for greater representation of Asian people in Hollywood and challenged stereotypical depictions at a time when “yellowface” dominated the industry and the Chinese Exclusion Act was still the law.
Was Anna May Wong a real actress?
Wong Liu Tsong, known professionally as Anna May Wong, was an American actress, considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood and the first Chinese-American actress to gain international recognition.
In 1935, Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in the film version of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth. MGM instead cast Luise Rainer to play the leading role in yellowface.
