As far as Asian representation in Hollywood is concerned, there is still a long way to
go, but there are pioneers who have set the stage for today's talent.
While fighting against stereotypes in their performances, movies, and activism, Asian
and Asian American actors are carrying the torch that the Golden Age performers who came
before them kindled.
So join FactsVerse as we recognize the groundbreaking Asian American performers of the Golden Age
who shaped the Hollywood of today.
Anna May Wong Anna May Wong, an American of Chinese ancestry
who made her acting debut in the 1922 film The Toll of the Sea, is often considered to
be the most famous Asian performer of Hollywood's Golden Age.
Anna May Wong's career spanned from 1919 through 1961, making her the first Chinese-American
film star.
She was born Wong Liu-Tsong and has appeared in over 60 films, as well as television, theatre,
and radio.
Wong was also a fashion plate, having been named the "world's best-dressed woman" by
the New York-based Mayfair Mannequin Society in 1934.
However, one of the worst setbacks in Wong's career was when she was passed over for the
lead role of the Chinese heroine O-Lan in MGM's 1937 production of The Good Earth by
Pearl S. Buck, which ultimately went to a white actress.
Wong was successful in her own right, yet she still spoke out about the shortage of
good Asian casting in Hollywood.
She claimed to be sick and tired of the roles she was asked to play, which drove her to
take a hiatus from acting in 1949.
By the time her 1957 show, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong aired, Wong had become the
first Asian American to star in a mainstream television series.
Bruce Lee There is little debate that Bruce Lee is one
of the most well-known and influential Asian actors of all time.
Before his death in 1973, he only appeared in five feature films as a leading man, yet
he single-handedly destroyed the stereotype of the weak Asian.
Before Lee's time, Asian males were frequently portrayed as immature and infantile in American
popular culture, as coolies, domestics, etc.
However, a film and media studies professor at Colorado State University named Hye Seung
Chung told ABC News in 2005 that Bruce Lee had disproved these stereotypes about Asian
men with his excellent physique, strength, and attractiveness.
Sessue Hayakawa Sessue Hayakawa, a Japanese actor, became
a Hollywood superstar during the golden age of silent cinema.
Hayakawa was pigeonholed by American culture as a gorgeous, gloomy villain, making him
a sex icon among female audiences.
During the 1910s and 1920s, he was a prominent Hollywood heartthrob, right up there with
Valentino.
The Japanese actor rose to prominence after appearing in Cecil B. DeMille's 1915 silent
thriller "The Cheat."
The movie was an instant hit, and filmgoers at the time marvelled at the film's apparent
interracial sexuality.
After relishing his heartthrob moments in Hollywood, Sessue spent the next several decades
enjoying great success on Broadway before making his way back to the silver screen.
Among Hayakawa's more than eighty film credits are Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and the
Academy Award-nominated classics The Bridge on the River
Kwai (1957).
James Shigeta James Shigeta was a third-generation Japanese
American who participated in the Korean War and was born in Hawaii.
When he returned to America, he launched a career as a nightlife performer under the
alias "Guy Brion."
Shigeta shot to fame after being cast as Wang Ta in the 1961 film adaption of the musical
Flower Drum Song.
The movie made history because it included an ensemble cast that was primarily comprised
of Asian Americans, something that had never been done before in Hollywood.
The film was well-received by audiences of all kinds, but notably those of Asian descent;
it was nominated for five Academy Awards.
Shigeta became well-known for his roles in films including Bridge to the Sun (1962),
Walk Like a Dragon (1960), and The Crimson Kimono (1959).
(1961).
When interviewed for the 2006 documentary The Slanted Screen: Asian Men in Films and
Television, Shigeta recalls being informed by an MGM director that he would be much more
successful if he were white.
That statement, he claims, led him to believe that discrimination was more of an issue for
most Asian actors.
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Miyoshi Umeki One of the most well-known Asian Hollywood
actresses of the 1950s was Japanese-born Miyoshi Umeki.
Miyoshi is most recognized for her Oscar-winning role as Katsumi, a Japanese war bride, in
the 1957 film 'Sayonara.'
In addition to Umeki, Youn Yuh-Jung is the only other actress of Asian descent to have
won an Academy Award, making her the first Asian woman to receive it.
Youn Yuh-Jung got her Academy Award in 2021 for her performance in 'Minari'.
Umeki, who is also a talented vocalist in her own right, was up for both a Tony and
a Golden Globe in the '50s.
By the early 1970s, Umeki had retired from performing after a successful career in television,
Broadway, and the movies.
Keye Luke As an Asian American actor, Keye Luke made
his Hollywood debut in the 1934 film The Painted Veil, costarring Greta Garbo; however, his
role was uncredited.
Three years after his birth in China, Luke and his family relocated to the United States.
According to Turner Classic Movies, he was chosen for The Painted Veil when an MGM executive
was searching for a Chinese actor with excellent English diction.
But prior to becoming famous, Luke had a career as a commercial artist in Hollywood, creating
advertising for Fox and RKO theatres.
Luke's breakthrough role was as Charlie Chan's "Number One Son," Lee Chan, in a series of
films based on the comic character of the same name.
The fictional Charlie Chan, police chief of Honolulu in the Charlie Chan films, was a
mash-up of Sherlock Holmes with the stereotypical Asian wise man.
His breakthrough came with the release of Charlie Chan in Paris (1935).
Merle Oberon The fact that this stunning woman was the
first Indian actress ever nominated for an Oscar was largely overlooked at the time.
In order to advance her career, several Hollywood officials covered up her Anglo-Indian heritage
for the entirety of her career.
Prior to her death in 1979, Oberon claimed to be an Australian of Tasmanian descent,
but it was later discovered that she was born and brought up in Mumbai.
The Trouble With Merle, a 2002 documentary examining Oberon's life, was directed by Marée
Delofski.
And according to him, the studio rewrote her biography and she had to live that life narrative
for as long as she wanted to be an actress.
Nancy Kwan The first significant role of Nancy Kwan's
career came in the British-American romantic drama movie The World of Suzie Wong, in which
she portrayed the title character (1960).
The Chinese American actress also appeared in Flower Drum Song, a movie based on the
1958 Broadway musical, the following year as Linda Low.
The Los Angeles Times published an article and photo shoot on Kwan in 1960, and in it,
they admitted that she was frequently cast in similar roles.
Nancy Kwan, who is of mixed European and Asian ancestry, had disturbing premonitions of being
typecast as a geisha girl, Madame Butterfly, or the protagonist of a James Michener novel.
So she made her way to a photographer's studio and spent some time changing into and out
of various disguises.
In an interview published in May 2021 on the Filipino news website Rappler, Kwan reflected
on her career and recalled that there were only a small number of Asian actresses working
in the early 60s, but that they were always there to support each other.
Benson Fong and Maylia Fong Benson Fong, who started his career in an
uncredited appearance in Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), was born in Sacramento, California.
Soon after, Fong was cast as "Number Three Son" Tommy Chan in a number of Charlie Chan
movies.
In addition to his part as Master Wang in Flower Drum Song, he has played a variety
of different characters in films, including a Japanese officer, a Chinese clerk, a houseboy,
a scout from South Korea, a chef, and a guerrilla.
In 1946, Benson married actress Gloria Suie Chin, who was primarily known as 'Maliya'.
In 2016, the Hollywood Reporter published an obituary for the late actress, where it
was revealed that she had signed a deal with Columbia Pictures and been assigned the stage
name Maylia, which translates to "beautiful" in Cantonese.
Maliya made her acting debut in the 1947 movie Singapore, where she played a maid, and went
on to portray an orphaned Chinese adolescent in the 1950 flick, To the Ends of the Earth.
Saloma Saloma was a symbol of '50s pop culture and
fashion, as well as a singer and actor in Malaysian films.
She was recognized as Malaysia's "National Songbird" in 1978 and was dubbed "Marilyn
Monroe of the East" by Marlon Brando for her trademark style and glamorous appearance.
Although she went on to have a successful career as an actor, she always maintained
that singing was her first passion.
Her first year as a professional vocalist was spent honing her skills with Orkes Fajar
Murni under the direction of Yusof Osman.
In the 1960s, she was also a part of the Panca Sitara orchestra.
Tsuru Aoki Tsuru Aoki, a silent film star, is arguably
the first Asian actress to achieve widespread acclaim in the heyday of Hollywood's Golden
Age.
At the turn of the twentieth century, the native of Toyko emigrated to California, where
she made her film debut in The Oath of Tsuru San (1913).
Aoki regularly appeared on screen alongside her husband, Sessue Hayakawa, whom she married
in 1914.
Aoki retired in 1924 to focus on raising her three children with her husband Hayakawa after
having worked on more than 40 films during the 1910s.
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