American born in California, Anna May Wong was very young when she started to work in films where she acts among other extras to give the illusion of China in films in the United States, she made her way into silent movies by using the exotic card, alternately playing the victim or the seductive evil but never in the starring role.
Anna May Wong
Tired of racism in Hollywood, the elegant Anna then appeared on European screens where she is treated with much more respect, even attracting some form of adulation. Not only her roles are more consistent but boasts her undeniable sense of style and she soon becomes – well before the term has a meaning – a fashion icon. Today, her photos demonstrate this unique style strict, heavily oriental and always impeccable.
Back in Hollywood, she is exasperated about not getting the starring role in the adaptation of the massive bestseller Pearl Buck “The Good Earth” when the part is given to a Caucasian actress while the character is Chinese. Nevertheless she follows her career in the cinema but stereotypes ‘die hard’ and even now Hollywood hardly ever welcomes Sino-American actress for most important roles.
Anna May Wong never became a superstar but with her stylish signature square fringe, supernaturally immaculate complexion and makeup accentuating the perfect symmetry of her doll like face, she was truly, one of a kind. Her long, thin curved eyebrows, black eye liner and dark crimson lips framed by the severe line of shiny jet black hair gives her a timeless, beautiful and classy image. AM x
