Lucy Liu, Brenda Song, Gemma Chan and a slate of other Chinese and Asian American actors owe a huge debt of gratitude to Anna May Wong. A trailblazer who earned notoriety in Hollywood as a huge talent in the 1920s and ’30s, she singlehandedly challenged the industry to redefine its concept of what constitutes a leading lady. According to Paramount film producer A.C. Lyles, her hard work and success so impressed production houses that they decided a Chinese leading lady was long overdue. 

While a hugely significant accomplishment, Hollywood—citing a legal concern—made the unfortunate decision to cast a white women wearing yellowface over a well-proven Anna May Wong in a MGM’s 1937 adaptation of Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth. She was offered a supporting part of the seductress, Lotus—a stereotypical role she did not accept. Tired of Hollywood’s type-casting, she took her talents to Europe where she was welcomed and celebrated. 

Returning to the U.S., she performed on Broadway and successfully transitioned from silent films to sound films—something many Hollywood actors failed to achieve. During World War II, Wong toured with the United Service Organizations and worked with the United China Relief Fund.

In 1951, Wong made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show…