ASAM NEWS
Today’s Google Doodle celebrates one of the first Asian American movie stars, Anna May Wong.
According to CNET, Wednesday (Jan. 22) marks the 97th anniversary of the general release of a silent movie called The Toll of the Sea. It is the movie in which Wong claimed her first starring role.
In honor of that anniversary, Google created a slideshow of artwork depicting scenes from Wong’s life and roles. Sophie Dao is the artist who created the doodle, CNN reports.
“Asian American actors are underrepresented even now, so amazingly Anna May Wong was so active right at the beginning of film history, bridging the gap between silent films and talkies,” Diao told CNN.
According to CNET, as a child, Wong used to hang around film sets in her Hollywood neighborhood where she was born. At the age of 11, she landed her first role as an uncredited extra in Red Lantern.
When she was 17, she played opposite Douglas Fairbanks in The Thief of Baghdad in 1924. The international success of that film made her the first Asian American star.
Wong’s path to stardom wasn’t easy. She was often cast in supporting roles based on racial stereotypes. In 1928, she moved to Europe in order to pursue lead roles. Two years later she returned to Hollywood to star with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express, the movie many know her for.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, Wong appeared in several film, stage and television shows.
Wong died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 56. Her achievements in the film industry had been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a year earlier.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Several years ago, noting the lack of recognition given to AAPI actors and productions, Views From the Edge initiated an alternate award and called it the Anna Awards in her honor.
Wong’s path to stardom wasn’t easy. She was often cast in supporting roles based on racial stereotypes. In 1928, she moved to Europe in order to pursue lead roles. Two years later she returned to Hollywood to star with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express, the movie many know her for.
From the 1920s to the 1950s, Wong appeared in several film, stage and television shows.
Wong died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 56. Her achievements in the film industry had been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a year earlier.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Several years ago, noting the lack of recognition given to AAPI actors and productions, Views From the Edge initiated an alternate award and called it the Anna Awards in her honor.
Views From the Edge contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment