The mystery of Anna May Wong and Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star: “They tried to tear her apart!”

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aNa May Wong was Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star and a talented actor who didn’t let racism or sexism get in the way of her career. Although she was one of the most popular celebrities of the silent era, she was often cast in humiliating roles, either mini, exotic, or doomed, sinister, and dangerous. Wong was gorgeous, naughty, and cavalier (Zendaya would be the modern-day equivalent of Wong in terms of her figure and demeanor). But Hollywood studio heads were “blinded by their own biases,” says Katie Gee Salisbury, author of the star’s new autobiography. The book details how Wong left for Berlin and then London in search of her more nuanced roles.

The gamble paid off. European films that Wong made in his late 2000s – song, Pavement Butterfly and piccadilly – All politically provocative and beautifully lit pieces are center stage for her. In close-up shots, her often agonized eyes look like melted ice cream. Hollywood got the message by making talkies. Upon his return to the United States, he was (albeit reluctantly) offered better parts. In the 1932 classic shanghai express, Wong is a sarcastic and fearless sex worker who enjoys the company of a lustful gal pal played by Marlene Dietrich. The chemistry between the two is legendary.

But Salisbury says their alleged affair is just one more story about Wong. not your china doll – Take on challenges. Ms. Salisbury, speaking by video call from her apartment in Brooklyn, New York, tells me that many existing biographies of stars don’t capture the real Wong. First of all, they’re all written by men, Salisbury says, pushing theories that “sound more like male fantasy than truth to me.”

As for Wong’s sexuality, well, it doesn’t make her happy to state the facts. “I think it’s great how she’s been accepted by the queer community, and I don’t want to be the person who says, ‘Eh, I guess she wasn’t!'” she said. laugh. “But there’s nothing to support that.”

This is why Salisbury “disagrees” with Graham Russell-Hodges and Yun-te Huang, the authors of the previous two Wong biographies. “They bring up rumors that Wong and Marlene Dietrich were having an affair,” she says. “They ask, ‘Did Anna Mae Wong have relationships with other women?'” As a woman, I believe that based on a single photo of Wong, Dietrich, and Leni Riefenstahl, I have some doubts about people projecting these ideas of love affairs. Based on that photo, everyone decides, “Oh, maybe they’re all sleeping together!” ”

Salisbury describes Hodges’ 2004 book (Anna May Wong: from washerwoman’s daughter to Hollywood legend) as “very dry”, noting that Hodges is “a white American who didn’t grow up in Asian culture, so he sees Asian culture as an outsider.” She added: On the other hand, in Mr. Huang’s book, dragon’s daughterpublished 9 months ago – “He is both Chinese and an immigrant to this country, the United States. His understanding of what things are is a little different. He doesn’t have that perspective.”

Salisbury was born in California and raised by a Chinese-American mother, which she says has given her special insight into Chinese-American identity and ancestry. “I’m approaching this as an insider,” she proudly declares. This is reflected in her book’s continued focus on Wong’s dual identity. Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsung in 1905, and she changed her name to “Anna” when she was 11 years old. Anna May Wong’s parents were California-born and expected their daughter to grow up to be a faithful Chinese wife and mother. But she was determined to carve out her own future. “Don’t think I will easily deviate from my traditions,” Wong once wrote. “That’s something I think about a lot: Am I on the right path?” This uncertainty fascinates Salisbury. “She knows this is what she has to do, whether it’s what her parents want or not.”

Wong specifically scandalized his family by not attending his mother’s funeral in 1930, choosing instead to continue working in Broadway plays. If she had returned to her home, she would have been a stand-in on the show. Touchingly, her father kept her mother’s body in a vault until Ms. Wong was able to fly to Los Angeles. Then, in 1936, the two put aside their differences and traveled to Chang’an, his ancestral village in China. They were followed by a documentary film crew hired by the media-savvy Mr. Wong.

As Salisbury was discussing this visit, she suddenly stopped. She put her hand on her chest, clearly upset. “He looked so happy when he saw them walking arm in arm through the countryside,” she said. “It’s difficult. Wong’s conflict with her father reminds me of my own relationship with my own Chinese-American mother. I get a little emotional when I talk about Asian parents and expectations.” ..I feel like I know very personally some of the things that Anna Mae felt. It’s hard to explain to people how you can love your parents even when you’re at odds with them. ” Salisbury’s eyes water. She says, “It gets very emotional because you know they want what’s best for you, but your definition of what’s best is very different.”

Salisbury points out that during the same trip to China, Wong also came under intense pressure from the Chinese media. In one of the book’s most fascinating chapters, Wong arrives at his SS. president grantHowever, he has a strange and bewildering encounter with his fellow passenger. As a result, Mr. Wong fumbled all subsequent goodwill, alienating the press and the well-meaning crowd to the point where mini-riots broke out (someone said, “Down with me!” he shouted). Wong was overwhelmed. Everyone involved saw the normally poised Hollywood movie star covered in “tears and snot.”

“It gives you a sense of the impossible expectations placed on her,” Salisbury says. “People felt that she represented all of China. She was trying to humble herself and celebrate her heritage. During this visit, the press was very mean. They… “It is still questionable whether Anna May Wong can be counted as Chinese,” he said. They tried to tear her girlfriend away! ”

Just to be clear, America has always been a hostile environment for Wong. After her return from Europe, she continued to be shunned by Hollywood, and she was passed over for roles by white actors in yellowface. She was also banned from on-screen kissing with her white co-stars. Off-screen, she was constantly reminded of who she could and couldn’t marry. Salisbury notes that “interracial marriage was first legalized in California in 1948.” That’s possible, but Wong’s fame has made that choice difficult. She said, “If Wong had married someone of a different race, she would have caused a stir.”

Wong was aware of all these cultural tensions and often weaved them into his work. As part of a cabaret performance throughout Europe in 1933, Wong sang Noel Coward’s song “Half Caste Woman”. “That song,” says Salisbury, “is about a half-Asian, half-white woman who lives in a poor city in Asia, and her only claim to fame is to work as a prostitute for the foreign men who come to her. That’s how Wong sees himself. She was both and was never fully accepted in either field. ”

In 1940, Wong’s sister Mary, who was also an actress, died by suicide. For various reasons, including worries about his job and money, Wong soon began drinking heavily, and in 1953 he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver. According to Salisbury, researching this part of the book was “painful.” For a while, she even hoped to find proof that Wong was not an alcoholic, that “the doctors got it wrong.” But that’s not the case. “The clincher was a letter he wrote about a disastrous gathering with friends in New York,” Salisbury says. “That was in 1955, when she was about 50 years old. She arrived drunk and we had to take her out of the restaurant.” Mr. Wong died of a heart attack in 1961 at the age of 56. died in

Still, Salisbury doesn’t want to dwell on the negative aspects of Wong’s life. She would rather focus on the star’s achievements, she thinks. In the late 1930s, Wong insisted on starring in a number of pulpy crime thrillers. daughter of shanghaiIn , she and Korean-American actor Philip Ahn (her gay childhood friend) are the main characters. “Two Asian Americans are starring!” Salisbury was surprised. “She really flipped the script. I don’t know if anyone at the time realized how revolutionary it was.” Salisbury also notes that readers will appreciate Wong’s erudition (she wrote great essays). (she wrote), her interest in current events (she was friends with performer-turned-political activist Paul Robeson), and her wit. Wong once signed her publicity photos with “Orientally yours.”

Wong will be played by Gemma Chan in the planned biopic, but Salisbury says he doesn’t know if Wong’s life could be accurately portrayed in a traditional film. “I don’t know how they do it,” she says. “Gemma Chan is a little older. Anna May Wong started out as a teenager, so it doesn’t seem realistic for Gemma to play that period of her life… In her early years, another actress I don’t know if it will be used or not.” She is glad that David Henry Hwang, who wrote the famous play, wrote it. M.Butterfly, I’m currently writing the script. “He’s like the leading Asian American playwright. I can’t think of a better person to write this work.” Still, she’s not jealous of his work. isn’t it. “It would be very difficult to condense her life into a two- or three-hour movie. I should know. It was tough to do in a book!”

Ms. Salisbury has not yet made any plans for her future (“I might want to write about mixed-race identity in the United States”). Just to be clear, Salisbury’s father is Irish-American, which poses its own problems. After all, she doesn’t consider herself a true insider and is “prepared” for awkward questions during her in-person press conferences. She said, “I’m just waiting for someone to ask me, ‘You’re not Chinese, so why did you decide to write this book?’

Salisbury’s book is about women who have been told they are too Chinese or not Chinese enough. However, despite all the hardships she faced, Wong always found a way to accept her own position as an in-betweener.After reading not your china doll, watch her movies. Wong Liu Tsong is her own masterpiece, and even though it’s her silent film, she somehow managed to get the last word.

Katie G. Salisbury’s “Not Your China Doll” released by Penguin Putnam