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Anna WongThe first Hollywood film actress of Chinese origin to achieve fame. She acted in silent and sound films.
Date of Birth: 03.01.1905
Country:  China |
Content:
- Biography of Anna Wong
- Breaking Barriers and Discrimination
- European Success and Return to Hollywood
- Later Career and Legacy
Biography of Anna Wong
Early Life and CareerAnna Wong, the first Hollywood actress of Chinese descent to achieve fame, was born on January 3, 1905, in a neighborhood of Los Angeles populated by Irish and German immigrants, not far from Chinatown. Her parents, Wong Sam Sing and Lee Gon Toy, second-generation immigrants, owned a laundry business on the second floor of which the entire extended family lived, including Anna and her six siblings. In 1907, the Wong family moved to the Chinese quarter, but two years later, they settled in a neighborhood of Mexican and Eastern European immigrants. From childhood, Anna was passionate about movies and dreamed of becoming an actress. In 1919, thanks to her father's friend who worked in the film industry, twelve-year-old Anna appeared as an extra in the drama "The Red Lantern," starring the star of the time, Alla Nazimova. It was then that she adopted her stage name. Her father disapproved of her career choice and subsequently distanced himself from her. From 1921, Anna's name began to appear in credits, and in 1922, she landed her first leading role in the melodrama "The Toll of the Sea." This film, depicting the tragic love story of a Chinese woman named Lotus Flower and the white man she saves, was notable for being the first Hollywood color film (though its color palette was limited to red and green). In 1924, she solidified her success by playing a Mongolian slave in Douglas Fairbanks' "The Thief of Bagdad." From then on, whenever Hollywood needed an actress to play a Chinese princess or a slave, producers would call upon Wong.
Breaking Barriers and Discrimination
Anna Wong was one of the first Asian actresses to portray Eastern women on screen. Previously, such roles were played by white actresses. For example, in 1915, Mary Pickford played a Japanese woman in the drama "Madame Butterfly." Anna's early major works were well-received by the public, but her ethnicity became a barrier to her fame. Racial discrimination, prevalent at the time, limited the rights of people of color, including in the film industry. In the early days of cinema, there were occasional films that ignored the rules and depicted interracial romantic relationships. However, starting in 1930, according to the film industry's code, such storylines were prohibited. From the mid-1920s, Wong worked extensively. The press referred to her as a star, but she mostly played supporting roles because there were few projects in Hollywood at that time that centered around a Chinese woman. An exception was the 1926 drama "The Silk Bouquet," where Wong starred alongside Asian actors. Some of her notable films from that period included "Mr. Wu" with Lon Chaney and "Old San Francisco" with Dolores Costello (both in 1927), Fred Niblo's melodrama "The Devil Dancer" (1927), and "The Crimson City" with Conrad Nagel and Miriam Loy (1928).
European Success and Return to Hollywood
In 1928, Wong traveled to Europe and spent three years working in Germany and the United Kingdom. At that time, there was no prejudice against actors of East Asian descent in those countries, so Wong's talent found recognition. In the 1929 German film "The City Butterfly," her character, Hai-Tan, became beloved by audiences, and Wong went on to play Chinese women with the same name in several subsequent films. Some of Wong's films from that period reached American audiences, although in a slightly edited version. As interracial romances were prohibited in America at the time, a scene in Wong's 1930 musical drama "The Flame of Love" where her character kisses the British actor John Longden was removed by the censors. Additionally, in the UK, Wong made her debut on the theater stage in the play "Chalk Circle," where she starred alongside Laurence Olivier. She also performed in Vienna in the play "Spring."
Wong returned to America in 1930 after Paramount Pictures offered her a contract and guaranteed her leading roles. That same year, she made her Broadway debut in the play "On this Spot." Despite landing the lead role in the crime drama "Daughter of the Dragon" in 1931 (an adaptation of Sax Rohmer's novel), Wong continued to face discrimination, particularly in the form of lower pay compared to other actors. For example, she was paid only $6,000 for her role in the melodrama "Shanghai Express," while Marlene Dietrich received around $78,000 (despite playing a supporting role). In the 1930s, Wong started facing more rejections during auditions due to the changing climate in Hollywood. In 1932, she was denied a role in the drama "Daughter of the Dragon" and lost the part of a Chinese woman to Helen Hayes. In 1937, she auditioned for two roles in the film "The Good Earth" - O-Lan, the wife of Paul Muni's character, and his mistress named Lotus - but they went to Louise Rainer, a German-born actress, and Tilly Losch, an Austrian actress, respectively. The reason, once again, was the prohibition of on-screen relationships between people of different races, even when both actors were portraying Eastern characters.
Later Career and Legacy
Realizing the difficulties she faced in her career due to these restrictions, Wong returned to the UK in 1934 and again worked in the theater and appeared in three films. Among them was the musical romantic comedy "Chu-Chin-Chow," a loose adaptation of the Arabian Nights tales. However, later that year, her contract with Paramount Pictures required her to return to the US. In the late 1930s, Wong continued to be cast in lead roles for some time. She played the brave Lan Ying Lin in the drama "Daughter of Shanghai" (1937), the gangster's mistress Lan Ying in the crime film "Dangerous Knowledge" (1938), and more. Her film career began to decline with the onset of World War II. In 1941, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor led to hostility towards Japanese and all Asians in the US, despite Japan's occupation of parts of China. Wong only appeared in four films throughout the entire decade, two of which were leading roles in anti-Japanese propaganda films titled "Lady from Chungking" (1942) and "Bombs over Burma" (1943).
In the 1950s, Wong worked in theater and appeared on television, starring in several TV series. Her last film appearance was in 1960 in the drama "Portrait in Black," where the leading roles were played by Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn. Anna Wong died of a heart attack on February 2, 1961, at the age of fifty-six. She was later honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1936, Wong visited China, touring Beijing and Shanghai. However, due to protests from citizens who believed that her work in Hollywood brought shame to the country, she was not allowed to visit her ancestral village.
Wong was in romantic relationships with white Americans, but due to the ban on interracial marriages, which was lifted only in 1948, she never married.
In 1933, Wong auditioned for the role of Ma-Li in Frank Capra's drama "The Bitter Tea of General Yen," but ultimately lost the role to Japanese actress Toshia Mori.
