Potret Anna May Wong, Aktris Asia-Amerika Pertama yang Eksis di Dolar AS

Anna May Wong (January 3, 1905 Ð February 3, 1961) was an American actress, the first Chinese American movie star, and the first Asian American to become an international star. Her long and varied career spanned both silent and sound film, television, stage, and radio. Born near the Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles to second-generation Chinese-American parents, Wong became infatuated with the movies and began acting in films at an early age. During the silent film era, she acted in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first movies made in color and Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad (1924). Wong became a fashion icon, and by 1924 had achieved international stardom. Frustrated by the stereotypical supporting roles she reluctantly played in Hollywood, she left for Europe in the late 1920s, where she starred in several notable plays and films, among them Piccadilly (1929). She spent the first half of the 1930s traveling between the United States and Europe for film and stage work. Wong was featured in films of the early sound era, such as Daughter of the Dragon (1931) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and with Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's Shanghai Express (1932). In 1935 Wong was dealt the most severe disappointment of her career, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to consider her for the leading role in its film version of Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, choosing instead the German actress Luise Rainer to play the leading role. Wong spent the next year touring China, visiting her family's ancestral village and studying Chinese culture. In the late 1930s, she starred in several B movies for Paramount Pictures, portraying Chinese-Americans in a positive light. She paid less attention to her film career during World War II, when she devoted her time and money to helping the Chinese cause against Japan. Wong returned to the public eye in the 1950s in several television appearances as well as her own series in 1951, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the

Anna May Wong merupakan aktris kelahiran 3 Januari 1905 yang eksis di era film bisu tahun 1920-an. (Foto: Pictures From History/Universal /Pictures from History)

Kariernya di Hollywood terbilang bersinar dan ikonik hingga disebut-sebut sebagai aktris Asia-Amerika pertama. (Foto: Pictures From History/Universal /Pictures from History)

November 1928: American-Chinese actress Anna May Wong (1907 - 1961) sitting on the floor wearing a wrap. (Photo by William Davis/General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Dari film bisu, Anna May Wong kemudian meneruskan karier aktingnya di Hollywood di tengah diskriminasi terhadap masyarakat Asia pada masa itu. Dia kemudian memasuki era film berwarna dengan membintangi The Thief of Bagdad (1924) karya Douglas Fairbanks. (Foto: Getty Images/William Davis)

circa 1931: Chinese-American film star, Anna May Wong (1905 - 1961). (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)

Selain di dunia akting, Anna May Wong juga jadi ikon mode dan berada di puncak popularitasnya di tahun 1924. Sempat merasa Hollywood selalu memberikan peran stereotip kepadanya yang keturunan Asia-Amerika, Anna May Wong memutuskan pindah ke Eropa. (Foto: Getty Images/John Kobal Foundation)

Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong strikes a dancer's pose in a costume of veils. Photograph circa 1920s.

Di tahun 1929 film Eropa pertamanya adalah Piccadilly yang kemudian meledak. Di era film bersuara awal sekitar tahun 1930-an, Anna May Wong juga main di beberapa produksi seperti Daughter of the Dragon (1931) dan Daughter of Shanghai (1937) dan dengan Marlene Dietrich dalam Shanghai Express (1932). (Foto: Bettmann Archive/Bettmann)

circa 1930: American-Chinese actress Anna May Wong playing a guitar. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Berkat pencapaiannya, Anna May Wong digambarkan sebagai salah satu sosok perempuan Hollywood di patung Gateway to Hollywood bersama Dolores del Río (Hispanik Amerika), Dorothy Dandridge (Afrika Amerika) dan Mae West. (Foto: Getty Images/General Photographic Agency)

10th March 1929: Anna May Wong (1907 - 1961) the stage name of Wong Liu Tsong. (Photo by Sasha/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Anna May Wong meninggal dunia pada 3 Februari 1961 di usia 56 tahun karena serangan jantung. (Foto: Getty Images/Sasha)

Sebelum wafat dia sempat menerima bintang Hollywood Walk of Fame dan tahun 2022 ini wajahnya akan mejeng di uang pecahan 25 sen dolar AS, sebagai perempuan Asia-Amerika pertama. (Foto: Getty Images)