Discovering Anna May Wong

Anna May Wong (黄柳霜)

Born to a Chinese laundryman's family in 1905 in Los Angeles, she went on to become a Hollywood icon in a career that started in 1919 and went on till the 1960s.

Her career and personal life suffered because of California's anti-miscegenation laws. Despite this, she had a mixed reception in China where many people criticized her for bringing shame upon Chinese people in a way reminiscent of the treatment Zhang Ziyi sometimes gets at home, despite her popularity abroad.

Graham Russel Gao Hodges is the author of a recent book about her called Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend. This episode of Sexy Beijing is an interview by Su Fei with Professor Hodges.

You can buy Hodges' book on Amazon or at The Bookworm if you're in Beijing.