Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American movie star, was born Wong Liu Tsong on January 3, 1905, in Los Angeles, CA to laundryman Wong Sam Sing and his wife Lee Gon Toy. A third-generation American, she managed to have a substantial acting career during a deeply racist time when the taboo against miscengenation meant that Caucasian actresses were cast as "Oriental" women in lead parts opposite Caucasian leading men. Even when a role called for playing opposite a Caucasian in Asian drag, Wong was rejected as she did not fit a Caucasian's imagined ideal look for an Asian woman. The discrimination she faced in the domestic industry caused her to go to Europe for work in English and German films.
(ebay; babyjaneofhollywood.com)