Anna May Wong Was the Breakout Star of the Floating City
‘Not Your China Doll’ by Katie Gee Salisbury
I got to know about the movie star Anna May Wong (1905–1961) in Katie Gee Salisbury’s new biography Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong. I often think about this era of American history, and it was fun to learn about the West Coast filmmaking scene, especially with a focus on such a vibrant actor.
Wong was born in Los Angeles and grew up a few miles outside Hollywood. Her family ran Sam Kee Laundry, where, as Salisbury tells us, “hot coals used to heat the eight-pound sadirons and vats filled with boiling water kept the entire establishment at a sweltering temperature.” Anna May worked in it too.
The family had to carve out a place for themselves in their own city. After white classmates taunted Anna May and her sister for being Chinese, they switched to the Chinese Mission School. When she was eight, her father was arrested for running the laundry in violation of a local ordinance, and he took his case to the California Supreme Court.
Becoming a Movie Star
Wong recalled that, as a young girl, “I’d stare and stare at these glamorous individuals, directors, cameramen, assistants, and actors in grease-paint, who had come down to…
