Anna May Wong was born January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles. Her parents were Second generation Americans who owned a Chinese Laundromat. Around the time Wong was in elementary School, the U.S. motion picture production then in its infancy, began to relocate from the East Coast to Los Angeles. This area saw increased motion picture production, which would shoot on location. Movies were shot constantly around Wong's neighborhood. At the age of nine, she approached filmmakers for roles which they giggled at given her young age.
She caught her first break in 1919 when Metro Pictures (now MGM) needed 300 female extras to appear in "The Red Lantern." Wong worked the next two years as an extra in various silent movies. Wong dropped out of High School in 1921 to pursue a full-time acting career, much to her parent's dissatisfaction.
At 17, Wong played her first leading role in "The Toll of the Sea." Despite raving reviews by the New York Times, Hollywood was reluctant to create starring roles for Wong. The film industry capitalized on Wong's growing fame but relegated her to supporting roles severely limiting her pay.
Wong became disatisfied with typecasting and being passed over for lead roles, and lower pay. So she left Hollywood in 1928 for Europe. In Europe, Wong became a sensation; since movies were still silent films, it made little difference if she spoke German or French. She made her last silent film in 1929.
During the 1930s, American studios began looking for European talant. Ironically, Wong caught the attention of Paramount and was offered a contract with the Studios in 1930 and returned to the U.S.
Using her newfound celebrity status, she became politically active, she was outspoken about Japan's military expansion in the East (which eventually led to Americas entry in to the Second World War). She became critical of Hollywood's limited and stereotyping of Asian-Americans and the low pay. Wong returned to England, where she stayed for nearly three years. Still under contract with Paramount, she made several B movies in the late 1930s.
In the 1940s she appeared in anti-Japanese propaganda movies as America entered World War II. In several, she played the Heroin Chinese woman.
Wong invested in real estate in Los Angeles and owned several properties in Hollywood. She did very well in Real Estate although it caused her a good deal of stress effecting her health.
After a six-year absence, Wong returned to one more movie before begining her TV career.
On February 3, 1961, at 56, Wong died of a heart attack. Wong's films and public image, Chinese-American persona and glamour put to rest the notions that the East and West were inherently different in America. Wong has become a symbol of resilience in the face of Hollywood's discriminatory practices. For all these reasons this now obscure actress is now seen as a trailblazer, an icon and a woman way ahead of her time.