
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 second-generation Chinese-American 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 Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932). In 1935 Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role in its film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer to play the leading role. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village and studying Chinese culture. In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese-Americans 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 Liu-Tsong, the first U.S. television show starring an Asian-American. 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 re-evaluated 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 CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie | Anna May Wong - Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend | Herself (archive footage) | 2007-01-01 |
Movie | The Savage Innocents | Hiku | 1960-03-20 |
Series | Danger Man | Unknown | 1960-09-11 |
Movie | Just Joe | 1960-07-01 | |
Movie | Portrait in Black | Tawny | 1960-07-27 |
Series | Adventures in Paradise | Unknown | 1959-10-05 |
Series | The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Unknown | 1955-09-06 |
Series | Climax! | Unknown | 1954-10-07 |
Series | The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong | Unknown | 1951-08-27 |
Movie | Impact | Su Lin | 1949-03-20 |
Movie | Lady from Chungking | Kwan Mei | 1942-12-21 |
Movie | Bombs Over Burma | Lin Ying | 1942-06-05 |
Movie | Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery | Lois Ling | 1941-03-24 |
Movie | Island of Lost Men | Kim Ling | 1939-08-16 |
Movie | King of Chinatown | Dr. Mary Ling | 1939-03-17 |
Movie | When Were You Born | Mei Lei Ming | 1938-06-18 |
Movie | Dangerous to Know | Lan Ying | 1938-03-11 |
Movie | Hollywood Party | Herself | 1937-04-03 |
Movie | Daughter of Shanghai | Lan Ying Lin | 1937-12-17 |
Movie | Limehouse Blues | Tu Tuan | 1934-12-11 |
Movie | Tiger Bay | Lui Chang | 1934-09-01 |
Movie | Java Head | Princess Taou Yuen | 1934-07-31 |
Movie | Chu Chin Chow | Zahrat | 1934-05-01 |
Movie | A Study in Scarlet | Mrs. Pyke | 1933-05-14 |
Movie | Hollywood on Parade | 1932-06-05 | |
Movie | Shanghai Express | Hui Fei | 1932-02-12 |
Movie | Daughter of the Dragon | Ling Moy | 1931-09-05 |
Movie | Flame of Love | Unknown | 1930-09-19 |
Movie | The Flame of Love | Hai Tang | 1930-03-07 |
Movie | Elstree Calling | Herself / Katherina in Taming of the Shrew | 1930-02-06 |
Movie | Pavement Butterfly | Hai-Tang | 1929-04-09 |
Movie | Piccadilly | Shosho | 1929-02-01 |
Movie | Across to Singapore | Singapore Saloon Girl (uncredited) | 1928-04-07 |
Movie | Souvenirs | The Captain's Chinese Love | 1928-02-15 |
Movie | Chinatown Charlie | Mandarin's Sweetheart | 1928-04-15 |
Movie | The Crimson City | 1928-04-07 | |
Movie | Song | Song | 1928-08-21 |
Movie | Streets of Shanghai | Su Quan | 1927-12-15 |
Movie | The Devil Dancer | Sada | 1927-11-03 |
Movie | The Chinese Parrot | Unknown | 1927-10-23 |
Movie | Old San Francisco | A Flower of the Orient | 1927-09-04 |
Movie | Why Girls Love Sailors | Delamar (scenes deleted) | 1927-07-17 |
Movie | The Honorable Mr. Buggs | Baroness Stoloff | 1927-04-24 |
Movie | Mr. Wu | Loo Song | 1927-03-26 |
Movie | Driven from Home | Unknown | 1927-01-15 |
Movie | A Trip to Chinatown | Ohati | 1927-01-03 |
Movie | The Desert's Toll | Oneta | 1926-11-14 |
Movie | The Silk Bouquet | Dragon Horse | 1926-06-25 |
Movie | Fifth Avenue | Nan Lo | 1926-01-24 |
Movie | Forty Winks | Annabelle Wu | 1925-02-02 |
Movie | His Supreme Moment | Harem Girl in Play (uncredited) | 1925-04-12 |
Movie | Peter Pan | Tiger Lily | 1924-12-29 |
Movie | The Alaskan | Keok | 1924-09-14 |
Movie | The Fortieth Door | Zira | 1924-05-25 |
Movie | The Thief of Bagdad | The Mongol Slave | 1924-03-18 |
Movie | Lilies of the Field | 1924-02-29 | |
Movie | Drifting | Rose Li | 1923-08-26 |
Movie | Mary of the Movies | Anna May Wong (uncredited) | 1923-05-27 |
Movie | The Toll of the Sea | Lotus Flower | 1923-01-22 |
Movie | Bits of Life | Toy Sing, Chin Chow's Wife | 1921-09-26 |
Movie | Shame | Lotus Blossom | 1921-07-31 |
Movie | A Tale of Two Worlds | 1921-03-13 | |
Movie | The First Born | 1921-01-30 | |
Movie | Outside the Law | Chinese Girl (uncredited) | 1921-01-06 |
Movie | Dinty | Half Moon | 1920-11-21 |
Movie | The Red Lantern | Eurasian woman (uncredited) | 1919-05-04 |