May 21, 2020
In another special quarantine episode, we discuss Anna May Wong, who appears as a character in Ryan Murphy’s recent Netflix series Hollywood. We are getting to know the real life actor, trailblazer, and queer icon who died in 1961. You Might Know Her From Shanghai Express, The Toll of the Sea, Piccadilly, The Thief of Baghdad, Daughter of the Dragon, and The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong. We get into Anna May’s transition from silent film actor to star of the talkies, the Asian actresses that came after her, and most importantly (to us) her lesbian cred.
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Discussed this week:
Dakota Johsnon calling out Ellen DeGeneres
Melanie Griffith lighting 16 year old Dakota’s cig
Niciky Hilton and Rod Stewart’s daughter
Young people we like: Florence Pugh, Keke Palmer (she’s 26 not 36), Theo Germaine
Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood (Netflix)
We talked with Katie Finneran about Lucy Liu (she called her while on mic)
Lucy Liu has star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame next to Anna May Wong
Other Asian and Asian-American stars: Constance Wu, Mindy Kaling, Joan Chen, Lea Salonga, Sandra Oh, Priyanka Chopra, Ming Na
Wikipedia lists 2 Asian women have been nominated for Best Actress Oscars: Merle Oberon (Dark Angel, 1935), Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Jackie) WHAT?
First Asian woman nominated for an Oscar Miyoshi Umeki (Sayonara, 1957)
Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog, 2003), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, 2006)
Jennifer Tilly (Bullets Over Broadway, 1994) and Meg Tilly (Agnes of God, 1985) are half Chinese
The Toll of the Sea (1922); Peter Pan (1926);
Did The Chalk Circle in London with Laurence Oliver
The Good Earth (1931 book by Pearl S. Buck)
Anna May Wong rumored to be cast. Screen test was apparently fantastic.
Anti-miscegenation laws on the books
Makes her own documentary on China in 1936
Donated money from Hollywood’s propaganda films to the China Relief Fund
Was set play Madam Liang in Flower Drum Song but passed before filming
Replaced by Juanita Hall who also played Bloody Mary in South Pacific film
Shanghai Express (1932, dir: Josef von Sternberg)
The Sewing Circle term for a secret group of Hollywood lesbians.
Term coined by Alla Nazimova
Rumored affairs with Nazimova, Marlene Dietrich, Dolores del Rio
Picture: Anna May Wong, Marlene, Leni Riefenstahl
She said I’m “wedded to my career”
The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961)
Portrait in Black (1960) w/ Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn, and Sandra Dee where Anna May plays a housekeeper named “Tawny” and aggressively pets a Siamese cat.
First Asian American woman to star in her own TV show:The Gallery of Madame of Liu Tsong (1951) which had its footage dumped in the East River (Vulture article)
Anna May Wong’s haircut inspired Edith Head’s and Damian says Linda Hunt’s