Anna May Wong

Abstract

Anna May Wong (b. 1905–d. 1961) pioneered as the first Chinese American film star with celebrity status in every continent and the ability to perform in multiple languages. She starred or appeared in over sixty films, five plays, ten television shows, and her own vaudeville show that she staged throughout Europe in the 1930s and in Australia in 1939. She attempted to overcome racial prejudice even as her career suffered from being typecast with such stereotypes as “China doll” and “dragon lady.” Her early roles, including the leading role in the first-ever full Technicolor silent feature titled Toll of the Sea (1922), and the supporting role of a Mongol slave girl in The Thief of Bagdad (1924) made her the earliest embodiment and interpreter of Asian women on the international screen and stage. She crystallized the careers and roles of Asian actors in European and American filmmaking, and her achievement remains undimmed in the present day. Anna May Wong learned to code her talents and cultural references in spite of racist scripts and audiences fully ignorant of Asian culture. In supporting roles, she at times upstaged the lead actress; the most famous example was her performance with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (1932). Struggling in a racist and conservative Hollywood in an era when the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882–1943) was in effect, her strategy of sustaining her professional life and film career for two decades was through ocean-crossing—pursuing roles in the United Kingdom, the Weimar Republic, and Australia, then returning to Hollywood on her own will. Rejected for the role of a lifetime as O-Lan, the good wife, in the cinematic adaptation of Pearl Buck’s novel, The Good Earth (1937), she made a highly publicized trip to China. Upon her return, she starred in a series of B-movies with a positive view of China and its people. During World War II, Anna May Wong made several propaganda films and toured USO bases entertaining the troops. Never completely forgotten, Anna May’s legend was revived by scholars during the centennial of her birth in 2003. As an early cosmopolitan woman, a fashion icon, and an imposing photographed image, Anna May Wong inspired scholarly studies, as well as creative works including song, children’s books, documentaries, and recently, a multimedia work. In the era celebrating global cultures, Anna May Wong is recognized for defining a lifestyle that was unique then but is now considered distinctly modern. Nancy Gibbs named Anna May Wong as the woman of 1928 in her article “100 Women of the Year” for Time magazine’s 16–23 March 2020 issue to celebrate women of influence.