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When many people define "Americans", they tend to only think of uber-pale skin and blond hair. However, that's only one type of American, as the U.S. is very diverse - and one of those diverse Americans is today's star: the lovely Miss Anna May Wong!
1905 - 1961
Anna May was a third-generation American (born as Liu Tsong Wong) to a Chinese American family. A Los Angeles native, Anna May grew up in an integrated neighborhood, among many different races and ethnicities. As a child, Anna May became fascinated by movies, or "flickers" as they were sometimes called, and often skipped school to go to the cinema! She decided from a young age that she wanted to be an actress, much to the disapproval of her parents. They firmly believed that "A good man will not be a soldier, and a good girl will not be an actress". Harsh. Nevertheless, Anna May chose her screen name, a blend of American and Chinese names, and ventured into film work as an extra when she was 14.
Anna May's first appearance as an extra was in a film called "The Red Lantern" in 1919. She was one of the Chinese girls in a scene, carrying a lantern. When the film was released, Anna May was so excited to see herself on the screen that she brought several friends to see the movie with her. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell which girl with a lantern she was! Well, that was disappointing... But Anna May found that she truly enjoyed acting, and continued working as an extra for 2 years.
Being jabbed by Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
ABOVE & BELOW: Promotional photos for The Thief of Bagdad. Or, "How to P!ss Off Your Family in 2 Easy Lessons"
In 1921, Anna May dropped out of high school to concentrate on acting. Yeah, her parents were REALLY thrilled with that plan. She figured that even if she was not successful as an actress, she would still be young enough to change course and do something else. Thankfully, she never had to worry about that! In 1922, Anna May got her first lead role in the "technologically advanced" film (for it's time), The Toll of the Sea! This would be the first completely Technicolor movie made in Hollywood, and the first color film that did not need a special projector to present it in theaters. Anna May received rave reviews for her excellent acting, and her career began to take off...
One of the many magazine covers featuring Anna May (1932)
However, it being a very racist time in American history, Hollywood studios consistently gave Anna May supporting roles that were either that of a conniving villain or a self-sacrificing "shrinking violet". Her acting abilities were extremely limited due to these types of roles, and much like our friend Sessue Hayakawa, she grew tired of always playing negative Asian stereotypes. Fun fact: Anna May worked with Sessue in a 1930's film called "Daughter of the Dragon"! Unfortunately, Anna May was repeatedly overlooked for leading lady roles, because it was forbidden (by law!) for people of different races to marry. Therefore, Anna May (in any role) was never allowed to kiss the leading (white) man on screen or end up marrying him in the end, and was thus regulated to only supporting roles - ALL BECAUSE AN ASIAN PERSON COULD NOT KISS A WHITE PERSON ON SCREEN, DON'TCHA KNOW THAT WE CAN'T BE GIVING PEOPLE "IDEAS"?!
Needless to say, Anna May got tired of it all. Who wouldn't?! So, just as Sessue did, Anna May tried to start her own production company. However, her business partner was caught doing some pretty shady things with the money - so Anna May sued him and closed the company before it even started. Get him, Anna May!! Racism also took place in the form of exploitation, like the time Sid Grauman had Anna May drive in the first rivet for his new theatre (The Chinese Theatre). Drumming up publicity by having a Chinese actress drive the first rivet is one thing, but Sid never even bothered to have Anna May put her footprints in the cement like the other (white) stars! Epic fail, Sid.
ABOVE: Anna May in her last European film, Piccadilly (1929)
Ironically, Anna May wasn't even allowed to play Asian leading lady roles - as they typically involved a romance with the leading (white) man. So these more positive Asian characters were given to (guess who?) white actresses! At one point, Anna May was denied the part of an Asian heroine in an MGM film, and then was offered a smaller, negative supporting role in the same film. She promptly turned it down. SO. WOULD. WE. In 1928, Anna May had had enough and left Hollywood for Europe, hoping to find some creative satisfaction as an actress. She was a hit in several German films, as Germany was fascinated with her uniqueness and played up her Chinese heritage (while neglecting to note her American roots!). She also worked in theatre, playing parts in fluent German! She also worked in film and on stage in Great Britain, where she was also quite successful.
ABOVE & BELOW: (1930s) Anna May was a fashion icon in her time, and was photographed quite frequently modeling the latest styles
In 1930, Anna May received an offer for a contract from Paramount Pictures. They were looking for (get this!) EUROPEAN TALENT when one of her (European) films caught their attention. So back to Hollywood she went, with plenty of stage training under her belt, prepared for "talkies". Although she continued working in film, Anna May also appeared on stage in several plays (including Broadway!) and had her own traveling cabaret act. Yes, this lady could also sing - although we do not have any recordings of her singing voice! As far as her film roles, not much had changed, prompting her to say in an interview,
"Why is it that the screen Chinese is always the villain? And so crude a villain – murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass! We are not like that. How could we be, with a civilization that is so many times older than the West?"
Anna May was in an odd predicament to say the least, as Americans saw her as too Chinese, and the Chinese saw her as too American - even as a disgrace to China! Newspapers in China had criticized her since she first started her acting career with such headlines as "Paramount Utilizes Anna May Wong to Produce Picture to Disgrace China". And you people thought Twitter was a jungle... Anyway, no matter how hard she tried, Anna May could not please either side. She visited China in the 1930's, and while the wealthy (more liberal) Chinese were kind to her, many others were anything but - even going so far as causing a stampede situation with hateful chants against her! Anna May had to flee to the Philippines for a while, and let things "cool off" before visiting her Chinese relatives.
In 1961, Anna May appeared on television in The Barbara Stanwyck Show. 2 days later, she died of a heart attack. Decades of depression and frustration around her career had led Anna May to drink and smoke excessively, which wreaked havoc on her health. She had no spouse or children, and Anna May was cremated and interred with her mother and sister at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Her talent was great, and it is truly a shame that she was hindered by the racism, ignorance and arrogance that was so prevalent in the early 20th century. It's even more of a shame that even in today's modern age, many historians downplay Anna May's accomplishments, or exclude her completely. As we are so fond of doing here at SCS, we give Miss Wong a standing ovation, along with all of the unsung heroes of Hollywood's illustrious history - and we encourage you to do the same! See the film that launched her into stardom (The Toll of the Sea) below:
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