Quick Facts

American actress Anna May Wong worked in silent and sound films, television, theater, and radio throughout her career. She developed a love of movies and started performing in them at a young age. She appeared in The Toll of the Sea (1922), one of the first color movies, and Douglas Fairbanks’ The Thief of Bagdad during the silent film era (1924). Wong was hailed as one of the top fashion icons during the 1920s and 1930s. While she was in Europe, she appeared in a number of renowned plays and films, including Piccadilly (1929). She traveled extensively between the United States and Europe throughout the first half of the 1930s for theatre and cinema roles.

She was a part of early sound era movies including Daughter of the Dragon (1931), Java Head (1934), Daughter of Shanghai (1937), and Shanghai Express with Marlene Dietrich (1932). Later, she spent her time traveling through China, researching Chinese culture, visiting her family’s ancestral town, and filming the experience at a period when there weren’t many well-known female directors in Hollywood. She acted in several B pictures for Paramount Pictures in the late 1930s that portrayed Chinese and Chinese Americans favorably. She has a heart attack on February 3rd, 1961, and passes away at the age of 56.

How much is the Net worth of Anna May Wong?

Anna May Wong was a gifted and prosperous actress who amassed a large fortune from her profession. At the time of her death, it was estimated that she had a net worth of $25 million. The entertainment sector was her main source of riches.

She had even made real estate investments and possessed a number of homes in Hollywood. She created four apartments out of her house on San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica, which she dubbed “Moongate Apartments.” From the late 1940s until 1956, when she moved in with her brother Richard on 21st Place in Santa Monica, she worked as the apartment house manager. She had an opulent lifestyle before she passed away.

When did Anna May Wong die?

The last breath Anna May Wong ever took was on February 3, 1961. At the age of 56, she passes away. Her heart attack contributed to her death. Two days after doing her final on-screen appearance on The Barbara Stanwyck Show in the episode “Dragon by the Tail,” she passed away at her Santa Monica home. (Wong had previously made an appearance in a different story from the same series.) At Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, her cremated bones were buried next to those of her mother. The Chinese names of her sister Mary (on the left), her mother Anna May (on the right), and her Anglicized name for her mother are written down the sides of the tombstone.

Early Years | Who were the parents of Anna May Wong?

On January 3, 1905, Anna May Wong was given the name Wong Liu-tsong. She was up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood of Chinese, Irish, German, and Japanese people on Flower Street in Los Angeles, one block north of Chinatown. She was of mixed race and American-Chinese nationality. Also, She celebrated her 56th birthday for the last time. She was one of seven kids born to Sam Kee Laundry owner Wong Sam-sing and his second wife Lee Gon-toy.

Her paternal grandparents had lived in the country since at least 1855, and her parents were second-generation Chinese Americans. A Wong Wong, her paternal grandfather, managed two shops in Michigan Bluffs, a gold-mining community in Placer County. Her father spent his formative years traveling back and forth between the United States and China, where he wed his first wife and had a son in 1890. In the late 1890s, he made his way back to the United States, and in 1901, while still helping to maintain his family in China, he wed Anna May’s mother.

Lew-ying (Lulu), her older sister, was born before the end of 1902; Anna May was born in 1905; and then there were five more kids. Her father passed away in Los Angeles in 1949 at the age of 91. When Wong was 11 years old, she created the stage name Anna May Wong by combining her English and family names. She left Los Angeles High School in 1921 in order to focus solely on her acting career.

What is the Professional Career of Anna May Wong?

She first started working at the Ville de Paris department store in Hollywood when Metro Pictures required 300 female extras for Alla Nazimova’s movie “The Red Lantern” (1919). She was able to get an uncredited job as an extra holding a lantern thanks to one of her pals. Wong’s first screen credit for “Bits of Life” came in 1921. She debuted in a major part at the age of 17 in the early Metro two-color Technicolor film “The Toll of the Sea.” In the 1924 Douglas Fairbanks film “The Thief of Bagdad,” she was placed in a supporting part as a cunning Mongol slave. She then appeared in “Drifting” and “The Alaskan,” where she played an Eskimo.

In “Peter Pan,” she played the role of Princess Tiger Lily. She then appeared in “Forty Winks” before appearing in Old San Francisco, Mr. Wu, The Silk Bouquet, and The Crimson City.
She made major cinema appearances in Schmutziges Geld (also known as Song and Show Life, 1928) and Großstadtschmetterling before departing Hollywood for Europe in 1928. (Pavement Butterfly). Her first stage performance in the UK was in the play “A Circle of Chalk,” which London producer Basil Dean arranged for her to star in alongside the young Laurence Olivier. “Piccadilly,” her final silent picture, was created in 1929.

The Flame of Love was her first talkie (1930). As soon as she was back in Hollywood, she started acting in movies including “Dangerous to Know,” “Daughter of the Dragon,”  Shanghai Express,” “The Son-Daughter,” and “The Bitter Tea of General Yen.” She visited Britain once again and acted in the films The Good Earth (1935) and Java Head (1934). (1937), She disclosed travel schedules for a yearlong tour of China, including stops in Taishan to see her father and his family. Wong was harshly condemned by the Nationalist government and the film industry throughout her trips in China. Wong produced a number of B movies in the late 1930s to fulfill her contract with Paramount Pictures. She then appeared in King of Chinatown (1937) and Daughter of Shanghai (1937)

She also frequently appeared on radio, playing the character “Peony” in Pearl Buck’s The Patriot on Orson Welles’ The Campbell Playhouse in 1939. Also, She didn’t make many movies between 1939 and 1942; instead, she participated in activities and made public appearances in favor of the Chinese fight against Japan. She then appeared in Lady from Chungking (1942) and Bombs over Burma (1942). (1942). Wong made his film debut again six years later, in 1949, with a supporting role in the B picture “Impact.” From August 27 to November 21, she starred in the DuMont Television Network in “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong,” a detective show that was created especially for her. She also appeared in cameos on a number of TV shows, including The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Adventures in Paradise, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp.

Who was the spouse of Anna May Wong?

Anna May Wong never got married while she was alive. There were reports that she had relationships with white men and Dietrich. She was never married and died alone. She was straight in her sexuality.

Body Stats | What was Anna May Wong’s height?

Anna May Wong was a stunning actress who stood 1.69 meters tall. Her total body weight is 54 kg. She had black hair and brown eyes. Also, She had skin that was fair. She has a slender body type.

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