Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong to be first Asian American featured on U.S. currency
Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong to be first Asian American featured on U.S. currency
May 25th, 2013by Associated Press in Local – Breaking News
NEW YORK – Oscar-winner Anna May Wong hopes she has paved a new path for Asian women in the U.S. film industry.
The 76-year-old actress and veteran activist has won accolades for her work with civil rights groups in the 1950s and 1960s during a career that spans more than 40 years. The former Chinese immigrant to the U.S. was the first American-born Asian woman to star in a feature film, as well as the first Asian American to win an Academy Award.
She also earned a place as an ambassador for the non-profit Asian Pacific American (APA) organization, which has sent her on trips to China, where she says she’s had a “diverse” experience.
Wong was honored Saturday at the American National Museum’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Awards ceremony, held in New York City, and was the first Asian American to have a place on the $1 bill, issued by the Treasury Department.
The actress and activist is being recognized for her work that started in the 1950s and 1960s to help American citizens of Asian descent who wanted to live in the U.S. legally.
Though Wong did not become a citizen until 1976, her work has helped her rise in the Hollywood community. And now, she has been honored for it in a major way, said Nai-Lao Lee, a professor of theater arts and dance at the University of Southern California and director of the Asian Pacific American Studies program.
“The first Asian American actress to earn an Academy Award, the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first Asian American actress to be featured on our currency – she’s being honored in a way that I hope will inspire other Asian Americans to follow her path,” Lee said.
Lee was a teacher of acting when he met Wong in the early 1960s, and she became his first student. His research of Wong’s career helped him land an acting class with the legendary actress. They have since collaborated on theater and dance pieces, he said.
Wong was on the phone to her son, who lives in Seattle, when she learned of the
