For the first time in history an Asian American will appear on US currency. On Monday, October 24, new quarters are issued by the US Mint featuring the silent film era movie star Anna May Wong.
Anna May Wong is considered the first Chinese-American movie star in Hollywood. Being a third-generation Asian American this woman of incredibly strong appeared in more than 60 movies.
Although Wong was dubbed an 'actress of transcendent talent' and a 'great beauty,' as an Asian-American she faced hardships getting roles in Hollywood movies.
The new coin commemorating her life and career is the fifth in a series by the Mint honoring notable American women. Wong will be featured on one side and President George Washington on the other.
According to US Mint director Ventris C. Gibson, Wong has been chosen to be pictured on US quarters because she was "a courageous advocate who championed for increased representation and more multi-dimensional roles for Asian American actors."
"This quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments by Anna May Wong, who overcame challenges and obstacles she faced during her lifetime," she added.
The coin release is scheduled on October 24.
Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong (Liu Tsong literally meaning "willow frost") in 1905 in Los Angeles. She was the second of seven children born to Wong Sam-sing, a laundry owner. The girl got fascinated with movies in her early childhood. She began acting in films at age 14 aspiring to become a worldwide known star. During her first years in the movie industry she was a background actress. She worked hard and was able to get a major role in The Toll of the Sea.
Despite this breakthrough Hollywood proved reluctant to offer starring roles to Wong. Due to her ethnicity she wasn't seen by US filmmakers as a leading lady. She was casted mainly stereotyped roles of a villain.
Being fed up with the roles of a dragon lady, in 1928 Wong left America for Europe because she hoped that there she would be taken more seriously.
The 1929 movie Piccadilly in which Wong played Shosho, a dishwasher turned West End dancer, made her famous.
In the 1930s Wong returned to the US where she faced the same problem. She was still offered to play stereotypical roles in second rate-movies. Her biggest disappointment was when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer refused to cast her for the leading role of the Chinese character O-Lan in The Good Earth preferring Luise Rainer to play in yellowface.
When Wong eventually died of a heart attack in 1961, Time magazine dubbed her as 'the screen’s foremost Oriental villainess.'
The American Women Quarters Program began this year and will feature five women each year until 2025.
The first coin in the series featured poet and civil-rights activist Maya Angelou and was the first US coin to honor a black woman.
Source: Daily Mail
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