Anna May Wong was born Wong Liu Tsong on January 3, 1905 in Los Angeles, California. Anna and her siblings helped out at their family's laundry business in Chinatown, one of the only professions available to Chinese Americans at the time. Although her parents were born in America as well they were all treated like outsiders, with Anna and her sister being heavily bullied in school. At the age of 14 she secured her first role in The Red Lantern, then two years later she dropped out of school to fully pursue her career in acting. Her work began to gain more and more traction over the next few years, though her parts were still limited; most audiences wanted Anna portraying stereotypes of either the passive young woman or murderous villainess. Some of the most prominent struggles she faced included many states' anti-miscegenation laws prohibiting interracial couples on-screen, white actresses often playing Asian characters by donning Yellowface, and despite her commercial fame having to constantly prove her citizenship.
Even though she was playing offensive roles, Asian Americans were excited to see her on-screen, and inspired that Asian women could be successful professionals, while white audiences saw her as "Oriental". It seemed as if Anna could never win; when she decided to visit China in 1936, she was heavily criticized for playing typecast roles and then attempted to mend her image by becoming an advocate for her country. One way Anna also fought prejudice was by developing a flapper lifestyle (independent, freespirited, defying conventions). She was vocal about Hollywood's limited portrayals of Asian characters, and in 1924 she even attempted to open her own company to create films about her culture but it was shut down. While she was portrayed in media as an all-American, glamorous Hollywood actress, newspapers from the beginning would also nickname her the "Chinese Cinderella" and in earlier articles often referred to her as a "little Chinese girl".
In 1928 Anna was offered a role to star in a movie in Berlin and she took it, hoping that European audiences would be more welcoming; she even joked that she would move to Europe, as she was still facing constant discrimination in America and tired of having to play stereotypical roles. After Berlin, Anna found success in various parts of Europe, and got to try many new things such as starring on magazine covers and learning to sing and dance on-stage. However, she was still being cast to play generic "Oriental" characters combining generalized Asian stereotypes; in one of her most famous films, Piccadilly (1929), Anna had to do a Siamese dance. Throughout the 1930s Anna was quite popular in Europe, while still visiting Hollywood often, but she hit a roadblock in 1935 when a white actress wearing Yellowface received the big role she'd hoped to get.
It was after WWII when Anna's career and health began to deteriorate; Anna was drinking heavily, and wasn't able to play the kinds of roles she had done when she was younger. She attempted to make a final comeback in 1961, but couldn't make it to set due to ordered bedrest; she then suffered a fatal heart attack and passed away. After her death, the Asian-American Arts Awards and the Asian Fashion Designers group named annual awards after her. Despite the blatant racism and barriers Anna had to overcome, she paved the way for greater Asian American representation by being the first Chinese American movie star in Hollywood. Her contributions were also honored by being featured on the U.S. quarter in 2022.