Anna May Wong

The life of Anna May Wong/Wong Liu Tsong is one that highlights the success and struggles of a career as an Asian American movie star.

Anna May Wong was born with the name Wong Liu Tsong on January 3rd, 1905, in Los Angeles, California. She was the second born of eight children to Sam Sing Wong and Gon Toy Lee. Her grandfather, Leung Chew Wong, immigrated from Taishan, China to Michigan Bluffs, California, and he died a hero when he saved a woman from dying in a well. In her early life, Wong endured racial harassment due to her Chinese ethnicity and had kids pull her hair whilst taunting Wong with racial slurs. She spoke perfect English, but her parents disliked her American accent when speaking English. Wong was sent to a Chinese school where she was told to keep her in touch with her heritage.

Unfortunately, Wong was cast into roles with the “Dragon-Lady” stereotype— which normalized the portrayal of Chinese and/or biracial white and Chinese women into evil seductresses who lured men with deceit and power. She was also cast into roles that dehumanized Chinese women and depicted them as exotic creatures that deserved mistreatment and abuse. Wong was also kept from roles in romantic movies due to American laws that did not allow interracial intimacy. After constantly being cast into supporting roles and unsympathetic characters, she moved to Europe in 1928.

People associated Wong with “dangerous sexuality” due to her not being married and wearing costumes such as a tuxedo and a top-hat. Furthermore, Wong was cast into another role as a villain in Daughter of the Dragon (1931), which tells the story of a Chinese aristocrat in conflict with her father. Wong appeared in other notable roles but continued to face discrimination as she was rejected from roles in movies about Chinese people like The Son-Daughter in 1932 and A Good Earth in 1937. These movies were about the Chinese people, yet cast White actors and actresses dressed in yellowface.

In 1936, she went on her first and only trip to China, where she was criticized by mainlanders for fulfilling negative stereotypes about Chinese people in movies and failing to fulfill the expectations of a Chinese woman. These expectations included having a family and marrying a man. Wong did not appear in films from 1939-40, and as a result, she started to appear in fewer rated films.

In other forms of entertainment, she was a part of radio casts, stage performances, and even wrote a preface for one of the first Chinese cookbooks in the US. During World War II. She also worked for Chinese charities, relief agencies, and auctioned off her costumes for money. However, she suffered from depression and alcoholism. She eventually got her own television series titled The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong in 1951 and became the first Chinese American to star in her own show.