Asian Actresses in Hollywood

     In general, Asian actors and actresses did not fare well in Hollywood.  In the early years there were hardly any starring roles for Asians, and if there was a leading Asian role for an actor or an actress, it was filled with none Asians, "made up" to look like Asians!  Of course, things have changed now dramatically and there are many roles today filled with Asian actors and actresses.  But such was not the case in the past, especially in the early years of Hollywood and before World War Two.
     The first major Asian actress who was a star in Hollywood was of Chinese ancestry, born in Los Angeles, California.  Anna May Wong was a big star in the early years.  She managed to get some leading roles, but ultimately, the best roles always went to none Asians.  Her biggest disappointment was probably when she was not cast in a leading role in the movie version of Pearl S. Buck's novel, The Good Earth.  Although she tried out for the part, the role instead was given to Luis Rainer, a German born actress made up to look "Chinese."  Nevertheless, Anna May Wong was the first real Asian woman who became a Hollywood star.
     The next Asian actress that managed to get starring roles in Hollywood was Shirley Yamaguchi.  Born in China of Japanese parents, Yoshiko Yamaguchi became bilingual at an early age.  She got her first acting roles in Japanese sponsored Manchukuo Production movies.  She took on a Chinese stage name of Li Xianglan so that she could play roles of a Chinese woman.  She was also a very talented singer and popularized the theme song from the movie in which she starred, China Nights. Yes, the very popular song that most Americans are familiar with, China Nights (Shina no Yoru in Japanese), was a theme song from a Japanese movie in which she starred. 
     She was called Shirley in Western films because many thought she resembled Shirley Temple!Shortly after the war ended she came to the States and was quite a hit as a singer and made several movies.  She played opposite Robert Stack in the 1955 movie, The House of Bamboo.  But her career, though successful, was short lived.  She returned to Japan in the 1960s and entered politics and served in the Diet (Japanese Congress).
     About the only other Hollywood actress of note in the 1950s was Miiko Taka.  Not that there weren't any actresses available, it is just that roles were very hard to come by.  Miiko would probably not have had the chance to star in a movie if it had not been for a twist of fate.  When casting began for the female role opposite Marlon Brando in the movie Sayonara, based on James Michener's novel, Audrey Hepburn was offered the role!  However, to her credit, Hepburn turned down the role saying that the role should be given to an Asian actress, that it should not be played by an occidental actress!  For Hepburn to turn down the role and say that was huge.  In the 1950s, Marlon Brando was one of the biggest, if not the biggest young male movie stars in Hollywood.  His roles in The Streetcar Name Desire and On the Waterfront not only made him a huge international star but won him an Oscar!  So, one did not turn down a role to play opposite Brando so lightly.  But Hepburn, who was also a huge star at the time, turned down the role, forcing the producers to look for someone else.  It was decided to use someone completely unknown, so in a typical Hollywood fashion Miiko was "discovered" while she was working in a drug store!
     Miiko Taka, a Nisei raised in L.A. was a complete unknown.  But, she managed to carry off the role quite well.  However, Hollywood was not through casting non-Asians in roles of Asians.  In that movie, although they couldn't get Hepburn, they got Ricardo Montalban, a Mexican born actor no less, to play the role of a Japanese Kabuki actor!  Why?  Who knows!
     So, in the pre war and early post war years, it was very slim pickings for Asian actresses.  However, things began to improve somewhat, and, of course, today we have many Asian actresses, both American born and foreign born.