Results: Anna May Wong (Part 1 of 4)
Published on 06/27/2023
Blessed with beauty, talent, and screen presence, Anna May Wong was an international movie star; style icon; and courageous advocate for representation of Asian-Americans acting in films, TV, and on stage. Her career spanned from silent cinema, talkies, and the Golden Age of Hollywood to TV in the 1950's.
QUESTIONS
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Comments
1.
1.
I was reminded of Anna May Wong when I recently dug for change in my wallet, and came across a US quarter with her image on it. Her coin was the 5th in a 2022 collection called the "American Women Quarters Program". Have you seen an Anna May Wong quarter (in person)?
No, but I don't live in the US.
23%
507 votes
No, and I do live in the US.
47%
1030 votes
Maybe, I don't recall.
9%
203 votes
Yes
2%
52 votes
Yes, and I have at least one in my possession now.
2%
38 votes
N/A
17%
370 votes
2.
2.
(This photo shows some quarter honorees, 2022's Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, and Anna May Wong; and 2023's pilot Bessie Coleman, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and prima ballerina Maria Tallchief.) Are you familiar with the first five women honored in the program, those of the 2022 collection? (Descriptions are quoted from the US Mint.)
"Maya Angelou - celebrated writer, performer, and social activist"
33%
724 votes
"Dr Sally Ride - physicist, astronaut, educator, and first American woman in space"
35%
773 votes
"Wilma Mankiller - first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation"
8%
175 votes
"Nina Otero-Warren - suffrage leader and the first woman superintendent of Santa Fe public schools"
4%
98 votes
"Anna May Wong - first Chinese-American film star in Hollywood"
10%
219 votes
None
27%
602 votes
N/A
25%
555 votes
3.
3.
Wong was born January 3, 1905 to parents of Chinese heritage who were both born in California. She attended the Chinese Mission School in the Chinatown area of Los Angeles, and worked in her family's laundromat. She dropped out of high school to become a fulltime actress a few years after working as an extra at 14 in the 1919 film, "The Red Lantern". (The photo shows Anna in her mother's arms with her older sister, one of Anna's 6 siblings. To see the entire photo, right click and select, "Open image in new tab".) What do you think of Anna's quitting school at 16 to pursue a career in films?
It was a bad idea.
5%
110 votes
It was more common long ago.
26%
564 votes
It was bold.
16%
348 votes
Good for her, following her dream
24%
521 votes
N/A
30%
657 votes
4.
4.
Wong's gamble paid off when she landed her first leading role at 17 in the drama, "Toll of the Sea", a silent movie that was the first all-color, full-length feature made in Hollywood. It was a retelling of the Madame Butterfly story, but set in China instead of Japan. Have you ever seen a silent movie?
Yes
29%
631 votes
Yes, I even saw "Toll of the Sea".
4%
90 votes
No
39%
867 votes
I'm vision-impaired.
2%
34 votes
N/A
26%
578 votes
COMMENTS