Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend

Abstract

"Anna May Wong is, undoubtedly, the most luminous Chinese American actress ever to grace the silver screen. Between 1919 and 1960 she starred in over fifty films and shared equal billing with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Marlene Dietrich, and Warner Oland. But her life, though glamorous, is almost the prototypical story of an immigrant's difficult path through America. Born in Los Angeles in 1905, she was the second daughter of eight children born to a laundryman and his wife. Growing up in Los Angeles fuelled her fascination with Hollywood, and in 1919 she secured a small part in her first film, The Red Lantern with Alla Nazimova. Her most famous film roles were in Toll of the Sea, Piccadilly, The Thief of Bagdad, Daughter of the Dragon, and most importantly, Shanghai Express, opposite Dietrich

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