Anna May Wong on Television

Anna May Wong was the first major Chinese American star and the first major star of East Asian descent besides Sessue Hayakwa. In fact, from the Silent Era into the early Thirties she was a superstar, easily one of the best known actors in Hollywood. Sadly, Anna May Wong's career would be hindered by California's laws against interracial marriage (on screen she could not kiss an actor of another race), as well as the fact that most East Asian female characters in Hollywood movies at the time tended to be stereotypes. As a result Miss Wong could not maintain the level of success she had in her early career. That having been said, with the advent of television, Anna May Wong was still well known. This made it inevitable that she would appear on the new medium.

Indeed, Anna May Wong's television debut would be as the star of her own show. The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong (Miss Wong's birth name). On The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, Anna May Wong played a dealer in Chinese art who would often find herself involved in international intrigue and solving crimes. The DuMont Television Network aired ten episodes of the show from August 27 1951 to November 21 1951. The show was cancelled in 1952. That having been said, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong made television history. Not only was Anna May Wong one of the first female leads on American television, paving the way for characters from Honey West to Jessica Fletcher, but she was the first Chinese American lead and the first lead of East Asian descent on American television. Unfortunately, The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong no longer exists. Many of the DuMont Television Network's kinescopes were destroyed prior to 1958 to retrieve the silver content in the film prints. Those that remained were dumped into the Upper New York Bay in the mid-Seventies.

Her next appearance on television was on the show Producer's Showcase in the episode "The Letter," based on the same W. Somerset Maugham play of the same name as the 1940 movie The Letter. Much as in the play and the movie, the wife of a rubber plantation manager shoots and kills a man. Unfortunately, she had written a very compromising letter to the murder victim the day she had killed him. This letter then winds up in the hands of a blackmailer, played in the episode by Anna May Wong. The episode aired on October 15 1956.

It was only a little over a month later, on November 22 1956 that Anna May Wong appeared in the Climax! episode "The Chinese Game." The episode centred on a newspaper columnist who sees a vision of himself killing his wife for another woman while playing a game in a novelty show. Miss Wong's role in the episode may have been minor, as she is billed only as "clerk."

Her next guest appearance on a show would not be a minor role. In the February 11 1958 episode of Mike Hammer, "So That's Who That Was," Mike Hammer (Darren McGavin) investigates the murder of a friend, which also leads him to the murder of a prominent citizen of Los Angeles's Chinatown. Anna May Wong played the widow of the murdered Chinatown citizen, Madame Chu. It was one of her television roles that actually allowed Anna May Wong to exercise her dramatic talents.

Anna May Wong returned to Climax! in its May 1 1958 episode, "The Deadly Tattoo." The episode centred on a serial killer who marks his victim with a tattoo who comes to Anna May Wong's character, Mayli, for help. According to Anna May Wong: From Laundryman's Daughter to Hollywood Legend by Graham Russell Gao Hodges, she apparently had fun making the episode.  She researched her role by going to tattoo shops around Los Angeles and worked with a vocal coach so she could speak in pidgin English (Miss Wong was a third generation American who grew up in Los Angeles). She was also amused that she got to wear an eyepatch.

Anna May Wong's next guest appearances were on two episodes of the show Adventures in Paradise. Adventures in Paradise centred on Adam Troy (Gardner McKay), the captain of the schooner Tiki  III, who plied his trade in the Pacific. Anna May Wong played one of Troy's friends, the international moneychanger Lu Yang.  In the first episode, "Lady from South Chicago (which aired on November 2 1959), centred on a Frenchwoman (played by Paulette Goddard) who is visited by a friend, who turns out to be an escaped convict from Australia. In the second episode, "Mission to Manila" (which aired on November 23 1959), Adam Troy investigates the mysterious death of a friend's brother.

While Anna May Wong did not get a lot of screen exposure in her guest appearances on Adventures in Paradise, she played a major role in the Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp episode "China Mary" (which aired on May 15 1960). With racial unrest growing in Tombstone, Wyatt Earp (Hugh O'Brien) investigates the alleged murder of a white man at the hands of the Chinese population. As a result Wyatt's path crosses with China Mary (played by Anna May Wong), who controls much of what goes on in Tombstone's Chinese population. The episode gave Anna May Wong an important role and the opportunity to demonstrate her acting talent.

Here it must be pointed out that China Mary is an actual historical figure. Born Sing Choy, China Mary was the most important figure among the Chinese in Tombstone. She ran a store and secured jobs for many in the Chinese community there, guaranteeing their good behaviour. She also ran several illegal operations, from gambling to prostitution. That having been said, she was also known for her generosity. She was a respected figure in Tombstone, both by the whites and the Chinese. When she died in 1906, her funeral was attended by a large number of people and she was buried in Tombstone's Boothill Cemetery.

Anna May Wong's final television appearance was on an episode of The Barbara Stanwyck Show. An anthology series, The Barabra Stanwyck Show saw Miss Stanwyck playing a different role most weeks. Anna May Wong guest starred in the episode "Dragon by the Tail," which aired on January 30 1961. In the episode Barbara Stanwyck played Josephine Little (nicknamed Little Joe), who runs an import/export business. In the episode Josephine Little is recruited by the CIA to rescue a scientist being held by the Communists. In the episode Anna May Wong played Joe's amah, A-Hsing. A-Hsing is not merely a servant. She speaks her mind freely and Josephine takes what she has to say seriously.

Barbara Stanwyck appeared in three episodes of The Barbara Stanwyck Show as Josephine Little and and all three episodes were pilots for an episodic, adventure series. There is also an unaired episode of The Barbara Stanwyck Show titled "Little Joe and Hong Kong" in which Anna May Wong also appears, that appears to merely be another version of "Dragon by Its Tail." Had Barbara Stanwyck's series about Josephine Little sold and had Anna May Wong lived, it seems possible she could have been a regular character on the show.

Here it should be noted that Anna May Wong also appeared on the travelogue program Bold Journey on February 14 1956. She was interviewed by John Stephenson and showed her home movies of her trip to China in 1936.

Here it must also be noted that there was an Anna May Wong billed in episodes of the British shows The Voodoo Factor and Danger Man in 1960, and the movies The Savage Innocents (1960) and Just Joe (1960). This is not the Anna May Wong who was born Wong Liu Tsong and had a career stretching back to the Silent Era, but a different, younger actress.

Anna May Wong was set to play Madame Liang in the film adaptation of The Flower Drum Song (1961), but unable to do so because of ongoing issues with her health. She died of a heart attack on February 3, 1961, only four days after her final television appearance on The Barbara Stanwyck Show. She was only 56. It is difficult to say what would have happened had Miss Wong not had issues with her health and had lived to old age. It seems likely she would have appeared in The Flower Drum Song and that it would have revitalized her career. While roles for individuals of East Asian descent were not exactly common in the Sixties and many roles were still stereotypes, it was still an improvement over the Golden Age of Hollywood. While she may never have been the major star that she was in the Twenties and Thirties, it seems possible that she could have made a career out of guest appearances on television and the occasional appearance in movies. Anna May Wong may have made guest appearances on shows that used several East Asian actors, such as Hawaii Five-O and Kung Fu. We should perhaps be thankful that we have her few television appearances, some of which are readily available on streaming, allowing us to see a legendary performer display her considerable talent.