Anna May Wong, Chineses-American Movie Star
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2836 x 3850 px | 24 x 32.6 cm | 9.5 x 12.8 inches | 300dpiPhotographer:
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Promotional photo of Wong from the 1930s. Anna May Wong (January 3, 1905 - February 3, 1961) was the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American actress to gain international recognition. During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color and The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she played in Hollywood, Wong left for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several notable plays and films She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. She was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Shanghai Express (1932) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937). In 1935 MGM refused to consider her for the leading role of the Chinese character in the film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer. 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 WWII, when she devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. She 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 series lead. She had been planning to return to film in Flower Drum Song when she died in 1961, at the age of 56.