Anna May Wong – A Chinese American Hollywood Superstar Who Started Her Acting Career at The Age of 14 in The Film “The Red Lantern”

Who is Anna May Wong?

Anna May Wong was an actress from America. Anna was the first one to get the tag as the Chinese American Hollywood superstar. Also, she was the first one to earn international gratitude. Anna is mostly remembered for being the first Asian descent actress who earned popularity known as “Oriental temptress”, which was a component of melodramas in the old 1920s and 1930s. During her career, she covered sound films, silent films, stages, radio, as well as television.

Biography

Anna May Wong was born on January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, California, US. Firstly, Anna’s birth name was Wong Liu Tsong, which meant “willow frost”. She was born in a unified community of Chinese, German, Irish, and Japanese citizens. She was the third-generation Chinese American.

Anna was born to her father Wong Sam Sing, and his second wife Lee Gon Toy, as the second child of seven children. Her father grew up in Sacramento, California, as her grandfather moved to California during the Gold Rush, where thousands flocked to the state in hopes of fascinating it rich with gold. Anna grew up with an older sister and five younger brothers, living in an apartment over the family’s run-down laundry. Her first remembrance was of consistent steam and intense smell of hot-ironed linen.

Early Career

During her childhood, she became mesmerized with the world of movies. Moreover, she bunked her Chinese school in the evenings and went to watch movies at the local theatre. When she was just eleven years old, she became determined to be a movie actress. Also, she had her first role at the age of fourteen when an agent signed three hundred Chinese girls as extras in the film “The Red Lantern” in 1919. Though she had a negligible role, she got more few other minor roles.

Furthermore, for about two years, Anna worked as an extra after school, giving no idea about this to her parents. At the age of seventeen, her father found her a job of secretary, however, she rejected after a week as unqualified. When she went back home she expected her father to be angry with her, but she found a letter from a director’s office providing her a role in the film “Bits of Life”, which would be her first movie as a major role.

She played the character in Lon Chaney’s film. However, her father opposed her in this decision but gave her a chance in a condition that he would be with her on the film sets all the time. Then, during her shoot, he accompanied her, and when there was free time, he locked her into the room. Likewise, she also gained one of the few romantic major roles like, “Toll of the Sea“.

The popularity of Anna May Wong

When Anna was 19 years, she got a supporting role in the movie “The Thief of Bagdad”. She played the character of “Dragon Lady”, which made her gain popularity, with the film earning more than $2 million. Moreover, during the time, she dated the director Tod Browning which became the hot news then. Furthermore, the attention, she got after the “The Thief of Bagdad”, she gained many offers for movies. She made her appearance in “The Alaskan” as Eskimo, and in “Peter Pan” as a native American girl.

Besides her movie characters, Anna also worked as a model. She went to Europe being exaggerated with Hollywood roles. There, she co-performed in “Piccadilly” starring Charles Laughton. After the success of the movie, precise for her, director Basil Dean composed a Chinese play named, “A Circle of Chalk”, where she played amazingly opposite to Laurence Olivier in London’s New Theatre.

Anna lived and worked in Europe for three years, and was recognized and praised for her film and stage appearances.  In addition, she formed a foreign adaptation of her British films in Germany and France. Also, that was the first sound picture in Germany. Her both speaking of German and French was so smooth that any commentator would be confused that she was a foreign actress. Moreover, she herself learned to speak Chinese, English, Italian, German, and French.

Furthermore, Anna plays in the next movie, “Daughter of the Dragon” as the role of the daughter of Dr. Fu Manchu. Wong became hit in the box. Likewise, she also appeared in the thriller movie “Shanghai Express” featuring Marlene Dietrich. Though her play in the movie was of a bad girl, she received many good reviews.

Retirement

Particularly, in 1942, done with the Hollywood techniques, Anna decided to retire from the movie screen at the age of 35. In 1942, her two movies “Bombs over Burma” and “Lady from Chungking” released. Anna donated her salary of both the film to the United China Relief.

Later, Anna spent in real estate and purchased some properties in Hollywood. Also, she had Moongate Apartments. From the late 1940s to 1956, she worked as the apartment house manager and relocated to Santa Monica with her brother Richard.

Having a six-year absence on the screen, Anna returned to the film “Impact” in 1949 with a small role. Also, she took occasional small parts on television, on her own series, “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong” playing the role using her birth name. Likewise, in 1960, she reappeared in the film, “Portrait in Black“. 

Death

Anna was likely to play in the movie, “Flower Drum Song”. However, due to her failing health, she was unable to take the role. Sadly, on February 3, 1961, Anna died of a heart attack at the age of 56. Her cremated remains covered up in her mother’s grave. The tombstone is marked with her mother’s Anglicized name on the top, the Chinese names of Anna May on the right, and her sister Mary on the left.