Anna May Wong

[voodoo_mary]

i love this thread! does anyone know what happened to her?

 

[Orchide]

thank you so much for this thread Anna May is a favorite of mine.
I live very near to LA's Chinatown district where she grew up.
Of note, on Hollywood blvd. at the start of the Walk of Fame is an art deco themed silver "gazebo" type structure with 4 classic Hollywood actresses represented. Amongst them are Mae West, Delores del Rio, Dorothy Dandridge and Anna May Wong. I was just right there the other night as a dance club I go to is right there...I always make it a practice to touch Anna as I pass and say "Hi"
Here are pictures of that:

(bayimages.net)
I happen to own the dvd of "Piccadilly" which I LOVE!
If you haven't seen it, see it now.
I also wrote about Anna May a month or so ago on my blog with a bunch of pictures and a review of that movie and some pictures not on here yet- here is the direct link to that:
http://tarnishedlady.typepad.com/tarnishedlady/2006/04/capering_about_.html

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Oh that's fantastic, Orchide! Thanks so much for sharing!!

 

[Luxury's Lap]

i love this thread! does anyone know what happened to her?

Here's what I found on imdb.com:

Her career in motion pictures was virtually finished after the war. Wong got her own TV show in 1951, "The Gallery of Madame Liu Tsong" on the Dumont Network, playing a Chinese detective in a role written expressly for her, a character who was even given her real Chinese name. The half-hour program, which ran weekly from August 27th to November 21, 1951, was the first TV show to star an Asian-American. She was poised to make a comeback as a character actress on the big screen toward the end of her life, having appeared as Lana Turner's maid in Ross Hunter's sudsy potboiler "Portrait in Black" (1960). She was cast in the role of Madame Liang in the movie version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song," but before shooting could begin, she passed away. Anna May Wong died of a massive heart attack on February 3, 1961, in Santa Monica, California after a long struggle against Laennec's cirrhosis, a disease of the liver. She was 56 years old.

Anna May Wong loved reading, and her favorite subjects spanned a wide range, everything from Asian history and Lao Tzu to Shakespeare. She never married, but occupied her time with golf, horses, and skiing. Wong smoked, drank too much, and suffered from depression. Wong's personal relationships typically were with older Caucasian men, but California law forbade marriage between Asians and Caucasians until 1948. One of her white lovers offered to marry her in Mexico, but their intentions became known and he backed off when his Hollywood career was jeopardized. Wong mused about marrying a Chinese man at times, but the Chinese culture held actresses to be on par with prostitutes, which made her suspect marriage material. She was afraid that the mores of her culture likely meant that marrying a Chinese would force her to quit her career and be an obedient wife.

 

[Luxury's Lap]

I have a lot more photos, but I was just so bad about reposting on the first page that I wanted to take the time to get organized before I posted more.

Dramatic posing....

(elmo.academyart.edu; ebay; trove.net; pictureshowman.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Candid/publicity shot from 1936...

This was written on the back of the photo:
"CHINESE ACTRESS TO SEE CHINA FIRST TIME - The movie actress, ANNA MAY WONG, known on several continents for her portrayal of Oriental roles, reveal that she has never seen China, as she sails on the President Hoover. The star says she plans to study the Chinese theater and may take a group of Oriental players on a world tour. She was born in California."

More on her trip from imdb.com:
On a trip to China in 1936, Anna May Wong was welcomed by the country's cultural elite in cosmopolitan Beijing and Shanghai, but she had to abandon a trip to her parents' ancestral village when her progress was blocked by a crowd of protesters. Someone in the crowed denounced her with "Down with Huang Liu Tsong -- the stooge that disgraces China. Don't let her go ashore."

Upon her return from China, Wong was determined to more authentically play Chinese characters, but her only option was to reject roles she deemed racist, or to try to soften them from within inside the belly of the beast. Ultimately, for this proud woman, it was a losing battle.

(ebay)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Anna's next film (after 1930's "The Flame of Love") was 1931's "Daughter of the Dragon"

Princess Ling Moy, a young and beautiful Chinese aristocrat lives next door, unbeknownst to her, to Dr. Fu Manchu, a brilliant but twisted genius who is out to rule the world. She is involved with Ah Kee, a handsome young man, who also unbeknownst to her, is a secret agent out to thwart the heinous plots of Fu Manchu. As it turns out, Fu is not only her next-door neighbor, he is also, (unbeknownst to her), her father. When she finds out, will she take her father's part and fight the men out to get Fu, or will she become a brave heroine and save the world even if it is from the devious doings of her own Dad?

Anna plays Princess Ling Moy; Warner Oland plays Dr. Fu Manchu (the older, mustached gentleman), and Sessue Hayakawa plays Ah Kee (a successful Japanese-American silent film actor making his "talkie" debut)...

(dacre.org; njedge.net; ebay; members.fortunecity.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

More from "Daughter of the Dragon"....

(silentladies.com; netropolisusa.biz; bmovies.de; ebay)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Candids from "Daughter of the Dragon"...

Anna with Hayakawa, and Anna reading her script.

(njedge.net; ebay)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Here's the Spanish poster from "Daughter of the Dragon"...

(njedge.net)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

I love these ultra-modern photos...

(lts.brandeis.edu)

 

[Orchide]

These are great LL
I like also how on one of her head shots on the first page, she signs her name as "Orientally Yours" very tongue in cheek/saucy I am sure...what a brilliant lady ahead of the times!

 

[Luxury's Lap]

I like also how on one of her head shots on the first page, she signs her name as "Orientally Yours" very tongue in cheek/saucy I am sure...what a brilliant lady ahead of the times!

I hadn't noticed that!
She was very ahead of her time. Sometimes I think she's even ahead of our time...

(ebay)

 

[miss-lilly]

Very interesting thread! Thanks for starting it Luxury's Lap!
She's very beautiful!!

 

[Luxury's Lap]

I wanted to post a photo montage-comparision thing. Most of what Anna wore in her free time was a combination of modern "American" clothes and a modern interpretation of traditional Chinese clothes. Some of the costumes for her film roles were rather traditional, so I thought it'd be interesting to compare the three - Traditional, Modern/Traditional, and Modern.
First is traditional...

(ebay; silentladies.com; netropolisusa.biz; goldenageautographs.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

A modern intrpretation of traditional...

(ebay; silentladies.com; members.fortunecity.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

And now for the modern...

(ebay; babyjaneofhollywood.com; film.virtual-history.com; npg.org.uk)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

A few candids....

(ebay; silentladies.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Anna with her sister...

(ebay; film.virtual-history.com)

 

[Luxury's Lap]

Another one with actress Marlene Dietrich and actress/filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, in 1928...

(ebay)