whatilearned
Read more: https://www.britannica.com/story/after-hollywood-thwarted-anna-may-wong-the-actress-took-matters-into-her-ownhands
TIL that Hollywood’s first Chinese-American film star Anna May Wong had to support herself by becoming an Australian vaudeville chanteuse, a British theatrical luminary and a B-film pulp diva because of the shortage of roles for Asian actors and Hollywood tending to cast white actors in those roles
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From this article published in March, 2022 by a Wong biographer:
>The U.S. Treasury describes her as “the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.” And she certainly did dazzle in her roles.
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>To me, this characterization diminishes her chief accomplishment: her capacity for reinvention. Hollywood continually stymied her ambitions. And yet out of the ashes of rejection, she persevered, becoming an Australian vaudeville chanteuse, a British theatrical luminary, a B-film pulp diva and an American television celebrity.
Hollywood stars have always done non-movie work.
And, sadly, it has always preferred younger women for the roles. It still does.
As stars age, they can go out of fashion for many reasons. Racism may be one of them.
“Australian Vaudeville Chanteuse Was the Name of My Band in Middle School” was the name of my band in high school.