Anna May Wong’s incredible life and legacy: one of the first Asian-American Hollywood stars features in new biography Daughter of the Dragon, with Gemma Chan set to play her in a coming biopic
- Yunte Huang just published a biography of Chinese-American Hollywood star Anna May Wong, who lived during a time of racial discrimination in the film industry that used ‘yellowface’ over Asian actors
- Li Jun-li played a character inspired by the golden age icon in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and she even features on a US quarter coin and has a Barbie doll based on her
One of the earliest Asian-American Hollywood stars, Anna May Wong, has recently inspired a new biographical release titled Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History written by Yunte Huang.
Published on August 22 and featured in The Atlantic’s list for “Books to Get Lost in This Summer”, Huang’s biography about Wong details the golden age icon’s life in the US during a period where there were strict restrictions on immigration and racial discrimination.
Wong was born Wong Liu-tsong in 1905. Huang narrates the Chinese-American actress’ early days spent living in Los Angeles where her parents ran a laundromat; her time from silent films to talkies and television; as well as her relocation to Europe after she became disillusioned with Hollywood.
As Huang’s new biography is released, Style looks back at her life and career to celebrate her groundbreaking legacy.
Anna May Wong’s ascent from film extra to leading lady
As a young girl in Los Angeles’ bustling Chinatown, Wong felt a magnetic pull toward the burgeoning film industry. In 1919, she snagged her first role as a walk-on extra in The Red Lantern. It was a modest start, but her screen debut put her in the spotlight. Just a few years later, the budding starlet dropped out of high school to chase motion pictures full time.
In 1922, the 17-year-old Wong rose to fame for her breakthrough role in the silent film The Toll of the Sea, in which the Chinese-American icon played the lead role of Lotus Flower, a young Chinese woman deserted by her lover, per Teen Vogue. Two years later, Wong starred alongside renowned actor Douglas Fairbanks, playing a Mongol slave in The Thief of Bagdad, which became one of her most famous performances.
Her career amid stereotypical and racist depictions of Asians
