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

Hodges, Graham Russell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312293194 ISBN 13: 9780312293192

Publisher: St Martin's Press, 2004

Synopsis

A portrait of Anna May Wong, Hollywood's first Chinese-American actress, describes her childhood as the daughter of a laundryman, her early roles in film, the discrimination and prejudice she faced as an Asian-American actress, and her long and successful career.

About this title

Review:

'Graham Russell Hodges's fascinating biography of Anna May Wong is an important contribution to not only film studies but Asian American history and women's history. The facts of Wong's life - her humble origins as laundryman's daughter, her tragic love affairs, her international political activism and her celebrity status as the nation's first Chinese American movie star - is far more compelling than any of her roles on film.' - Iris Chang, New York Times bestselling author of The Rape of Nanking and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History

'In Anna May Wong, the talented and beguiling Anna May Wong receives the attention she has long deserved. With great sympathy and insight, Hodges tells the story of the actress who was too 'Oriental' for the America of the time but too Westernized to be accepted by the Chinese. This eminently readable and well-researched biography rescues a trail-blazing figure from the fringes of film and Asian-American history.' - Stella Dong, author of Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City

'Graham Hodges has woven a spellbinding tale that sweeps you into Anna May Wong's star-crossed life, with rich details of the passions and lost loves, conflicts and triumphs, brilliance and frustrations of this daring woman born far ahead of her time. Like a scene with the great diva, this book has nuance, complexity, and drama - and I did not want it to end.' - Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People
'[Important to] understanding her limbo between two worlds, unacceptable to racist Hollywood and to the conservative Chinese establishment.' - Publishers Weekly

'In this groundbreaking biography, Colgate University history professor Hodges reveals this captivating woman, offering readers a sense of the struggle her career represented.' - Publishers Weekly

'...an important contribution to not only film studies but Asian American history and women's history.' - Iris Chang, New York Times bestselling author of The Rape of Nanking and The Chinese in America: A Narrative History

'...eminently readable and well-researched...' - Stella Dong, author of Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City

'...a spellbinding tale... this book has nuance, complexity, and drama - and I did not want it to end.' - Helen Zia, author of Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People

Synopsis:

Anna May Wong is undoubtedly, one of the most well-known and most popular Chinese-American actresses ever to have graced the silver screen. Between 1919 and 1960, she starred in over 50 movies. She shared equal billing with Douglas Fairbanks Sr, Marlene Dietrich and Werner Oland. Her life, though, is almost the prototypical story of an immigrant's difficult path through assimilation into American culture. She was born in Los Angeles in 1905 and was the second daughter of six children born to a laundryman and his wife. Her life in Los Angeles fuelled her fascination with Hollywood and in 1919 she secured a small part in her first film, "The Red Lantern". Her most famous film roles were in "Thief of Baghdad", "Old San Francisco" and, most of all, "Shanghai Express" opposite La Dietrich. Discrimination against Asians continued, however, and when it came time to make a film version of Pearl Buck's "The Good Earth", she was passed over for the role that was ultimately given to Luise Rainer. Apparently, Wong was "too Asian" for the role.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0312293194
• ISBN 13: 9780312293192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304