Wong Liu Tsong (stage name Anna May Wong), was born on January 3rd, 1905 in Los Angeles Chinatown, California. Her grandfather immigrated to a former gold town in the 1850s. Her parents ran a laundry mat in a diverse neighborhood, North Figueroa Street in LA, where she and her seven siblings helped out. When she and her older sister attended a predominantly white public school, they were bullied and called racial slurs, and had to move to a Chinese Mission School in Chinatown where they were accepted among other Asian Americans. She was interested in the movies at a young age, and got her first small, uncredited role at 14 in The Red Lantern. At 16 she dropped out of high school to become a full-time actress. Her first leading role at age 17 was in The Toll of The Sea (1922), the first feature-length film made by Technicolor.
Anti-Chinese sentiments were strong during that time period. From the government-issued 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, 1875 Page Act, immigrant quotas,... to hostility from labor unions and white business owners, Chinese immigrants faced a lot of discrimination. For Anna, it was the typecast - oversexualized Dragon Lady or oriental Madame Butterfly, the anti-miscegenation laws that prohibited her from getting leading roles in romance movies, and competition with non-Asians for Asian roles. Despite this, she continued to star in over 60 movies, and found success in Europe as well. Some of her most famous films are Josef von Stenberg's Shanghai Express, Piccadilly, and The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first US TV show to be led by an Asian American.
"There seems little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles."
As the first Asian American film star, she's an inspiring person, and was able to gain professional success and international fame despite the stereotypes and racism, which she also spoke up against. She adopted a flapper lifestyle to contradict the demure, submissive characters she played on screen. Anna also interacted with other artists like Josephine Baker. Additionally, was a cultural ambassador for China - she filmed many films there to show the US audience an authentic portrayal of the country, and also raised funds for the United China Relief, a non-profit organization aiming to help Chinese people during WWII.