Renowned Death Hag
She was a beautiful Asian American actress who got the short end of the stick from both ends! Poor woman couldn't win for losin', but she made her mark in this world.They wouldn't even let her play the lead in The Good Earth. I have a BA in Chinese studies (which means NOTHING) so I get very upset by this particular incident.
Comments....
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
It's how it was in Hollywood back then. She did as well with it as she could have.
Beautiful lady, and taken a bit early of stomach cancer I believe.
Didn't she have an affair with Marlene Dietrich?
Renowned Death Hag
I believe so, Screwtape. Who didn't!?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
Me. I'm left out of everything.
Renowned Death Hag
I hear ya! If only I could have been born 20 years earlier! Then I'd be 57 instead of 37!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
Exactly....who didn't?Originally Posted by joplinfrk
I think I did....and I wasn't even out of diapers yet when she was still hot.
True, but check out Shanghai Express sometime.
I know that Dietrich played the lead, but Anna May Wong was far from forgettable.
the good earth was a good book..you would think they would let her play the lead cuz she is Chinese.. but it wasn't till years later that i found out that it was written by a white women.
I got anna may wong mixed up with nancy kwon.. >.< i never heard of anna till now thank you !
..and didn't Luise Rainer win the Oscar for that role? That really had to hurt.
Renowned Death Hag
There's little question that the prejudices of the times hindered her career. Odd too since, though of Chinese heritage, ANNA MAY WONG was born in Los Angeles ! She died at 56 from a heart attack with accompanying liver ailments. Stranger still is how she lost out on so many parts that were of an Asian woman, and yet she lost those parts to caucasian actresses. Case in point: THE LETTER. She would have been great; the part went to the exotic looking GALE SONDERGAARD.
ANNA MAY' cousin was famed & sought after cameraman JAMES WONG HOWE shown here in 1951 between LILLIAN GISH and JANET GAYNOR. The other two women are GLORIA SWANSON on the left and MARY PICKFORD on the right. The man next to HOWE and between GAYNOR and PICKFORD is silent film legend and murder victim RAMON NAVARRO.
KELT' HOME FOR WAYWARD YOUTH-
Helping Young Men To Turn Around For Over Twenty Years !
If I recall correctly, there were some who did disagree with Katherine Hepburn and Agnes Moorhead playing Asians, at least in the version of "The Good Earth" I saw, is that the one we're discussing?
A BA in Chinese studies, that's very fascinating to me! That would seem a very complicated subject. Jop are you interested in Japan as well? Just curious.
So 57 is the new 37 then!
Happy Chinese New Year everyone!
Wasnt she gorgous !
Renowned Death Hag
I think that you're thinking of DRAGON SEED, which came out in 1944. Both DRAGON SEED & THE GOOD EARTH were written by author(ess) PEARL BUCK. THE GOOD EARTH came out 7 years earlier and starred LUISE RAINER (who just turned 98 !). MOOREHEAD made her film debut in 1941 in CITIZEN KANE.
KELT' HOME FOR WAYWARD YOUTH-
Helping Young Men To Turn Around For Over Twenty Years !
She had a HUGE nose! Wow!
Renowned Death Hag
atleast she didn't try to change her face, as they are doing now. i think our current actors/actresses would do well to use facial imperfections to their advantage, i think it would lend a better reality to some of the perfect little dollybirds we see on the boring screens today!they all look the same!! boringgggggg give me a big nose, a crooked smile, weird eyes, etc. lol
pull the string!
Renowned Death Hag
While dining with her mother in a studio cafeteria in the late '20's, a drunken at noon Wallace Beery walked up to the two and remarked, "Two Wongs don't make a white".
Last edited by MagnusDippytack; 06-11-2008 at 04:29 PM. Reason: spelling
"Everybody is born, and everybody dies. Being born wasn't so bad , was it?"
Peter the Hermit
It is so hard to think that back then it was acceptable to say that kind of shit.
She was beautiful. It's too bad they don't make a movie about her life.
Renowned Death Hag
She also had a romantic relationship with
movie director Tod Browning.
She was an amazing actress. I read a biography about her. She may have faced true prejudice but she still managed to become the sole Asian female star in America. She did the best with what roles were given her.
Renowned Death Hag
I read that book, too. She was absolutely stunning.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
Exquisite ...
PBS is currently running a documentary on her.
http://www.pbs.org/program/anna-may-wong/
Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the first Chinese American movie star. She grew up in L.A., daughter of a laundryman. She first starred, at age 17, in Toll of the Sea, a silent version of Madame Butterfly. Her best-remembered film is Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich.
She made dozens of films in Hollywood, London and Berlin. She was glamorous; photographers flocked to take her portrait. She was worldly and articulate, with friends like Carl van Vechten, Evelyn Waugh and Paul Robeson. Yet she spent most of her career typecast either as a painted doll or a scheming Dragon Lady.
Last edited by Giada; 05-29-2014 at 02:18 PM.
Renowned Death Hag
True, she was very pretty.
Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.
Senior Death Hag
Anna is being honored on U.S. currency, the first Asian-American woman to be featured.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anna-ma...on-us-quarter/
Administrator
Anna is being honored on U.S. currency, the first Asian-American woman to be featured.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anna-ma...on-us-quarter/
Renowned Death Hag
This is very nice and about time.
Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.
Renowned Death Hag
She should have played the part Luise Rainer got in The Good Earth that won her an Oscar. Anna would have been more convincing since she was Asian. That was 1937 and only now is Hollywood casting appropriately!
Today you could be standing next to someone who is trying their best not to fall apart. So whatever you do today, do it with kindness.
Senior Death Hag
In 1951, Wong made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian American series lead. She had been planning to return to film in Flower Drum Song when she died in 1961 of a heart attack ....
Renowned Death Hag
I so agree with this.
Carolyn(1958-2009) always in my heart.
Renowned Death Hag
Sad that no print was saved. I would love to have seen it.
Today you could be standing next to someone who is trying their best not to fall apart. So whatever you do today, do it with kindness.
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