Carl van Vechten, "Anna May Wong" 1932

CARL VAN VECHTEN (1880-1964) USA

Anna May Wong   1932

Signed: Anna May Wong 1932 (in pencil on back); PHOTOGRAPH BY CARL VAN VECHTEN CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION (ink stamp on back)

Size: H: 9 7/8”x W: 7 7/8”

Anna May Wong (1905 – 1961) was the first Chinese American actress to become a movie star in a career that spanned both the silent movie era and the advent of the talkies, along with starring roles on the stage, and in radio and television, even hosting her own television show at one point. This is all the more remarkable considering the racist times in which she worked. Many Asian actresses have been acclaimed since, under less adverse conditions, but none have reached Wong’s level. Some of her more notable silent movies include a leading role in The Toll of the Sea, one of the first color movies, The Thief of Bagdad, which starred Douglas Fairbanks, and Piccadilly. She was also featured in some notable talkies, including Shanghai Express, which co-starred Marlene Dietrich, and Daughter of the Dragon, in which she starred opposite an Asian leading man, Sessue Hayakawa. Early in her career, she was seen as a sex symbol, a feat other Asian actresses would not match for decades.