Trivia

Lucy Liu dedicated her Hollywood Walk of Fame speech to her. Their stars are adjacent to each other.

Anna once had an affair with noted silent film director Marshall Neilan. Most of her romances tended towards Caucasian men, as many Chinese men looked down on actresses as prostitutes.

Spoke French and German fluently along with her native English and Chinese.

The second of seven children, her siblings were Richard, Lulu, James, Frank, Roger and Mary. Mary once served as Anna's film understudy but died suddenly in early adulthood. Her father disapproved of Anna's acting career, which caused a severe strain in their relationship. Following Anna's mother's death in a car accident in 1931, they grew even further apart. Anna's will disinherited her father.

Was thought to be buried in an unmarked grave in Angelus Rosedale Cemetary in Los Angeles, California. However, this turns out she was buried under her Chinese name beside her mother and sister in a family plot.

Converted her Santa Monica, California home into several apartments and titled them "Moongate Apartments" and was the manager from the late 1940s until 1956 when she moved in with her brother Richard.

She starred in the first full length color movie Fleur de Lotus (1922).

Took her first and only trip to China in 1936. The trip was filmed and would later be broadcast on television in the 1950s including narration from Anna May.

Desperately wanted the role of O-Lan in the romance film La terre chinoise (1937). However, due to her being ethnically Chinese and the male lead Paul Muni being Caucasian, she was turned down for the role. She was given an opportunity to play Lotus, a Chinese peasant girl, which she turned down.

Once coached Dorothy Lamour, who was appearing as a Eurasian girl in the film Le souffle de la vie (1939).

She donated her salary from both films Bombs over Burma (1942) and Lady from Chungking (1942) to the then United China Relief.

It is believed by some that Wong never kissed her leading man on the lips on screen but she does share just such a kiss with John Loder in Java Head (1934). Such a scene was filmed for her film L'amour, maître des choses (1930) with John Longden but was deleted by censors who felt that moviegoers might be offended by an interracial kiss. Also in Lady from Chungking (1942), Harold Huber, a Caucasian playing a Japanese general, kisses her on the lips as the scene fades, in the 63rd minute of the film.

Her younger sister Mary Wong committed suicide by hanging herself in her garage in Los Angeles, California on July 15, 1940 at age 30. She had a small role in the romance film La terre chinoise (1937).

Her Chinese name, Wong Liu Tsong in Cantonese, means "Willow Frosted, Yellow" (according to the Western custom) or "Yellow, Willow Frosted" (according to the Chinese custom).

Anna attended Hollywood High School, where she became a photographer's model.

Cousin of cinematographer James Wong Howe.

She was the first Asian American Actress to have a series lead role for the show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong. The role was specifically written for her.

Became the first Asian American to appear on US Currency October 19, 2022.

She was more often cast in "sinister oriental" roles only after actresses like Nita Naldi were forced out of motion pictures owing to the coming of sound.

Made her debut on the London stage with Laurence Olivier in a play called "The Circle of Chalk". English critics and audiences complained that her American accent was too strong for her to be understood.

Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 1708 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. Also there is a lifesize statue of her part of the Four Ladies Hollywood Gazebo which also features other actresses of color including Dorothy Dandridge. It is located at the Western Part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In the late 1930s, Anna May Wong had two pet Pekinese dogs she named Maskee and Dumshaw. They were given to her by T.K. Chang, Chinese consul for Los Angeles, California.

In the 1930s, she toured in vaudeville and with her own one-woman show, traveling through Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the Scandinavian countries. In London, she had a widely praised nightclub engagement at the Embassy Club, where she sang and danced.

In 1956, Anna received a long-deferred chance to play a role she lost out on in 1940s Hollywood. Playing the Asian blackmailer in W. Somerset Maugham's "The Letter" on television, the director of the series was none other than William Wyler, who had originally nixed the idea of her playing the role in Bette Davis's classic film version of La Lettre (1940). The role instead went to non-Asian Gale Sondergaard.

On January 22, 2020, she was honored with a Google Doodle.

In 1960, actor Anthony Quinn co-starred with Anna in her last film Meurtre sans faire-part (1960). Quinn also starred as an Inuit in Nicholas Ray's Les dents du diable (1960). Co-starring with him was actress Marie Yang, who in this film was for some reason billed as Anna May Wong. This may be the only instance ever of an actor appearing with two actresses of the same name in the same year.

Enjoyed horseback riding, golfing and skiing in her spare time.

She was a Democrat who strongly supported Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Producer Ross Hunter cast her in the film version of Au rythme des tambours fleuris (1961). However, she became sick in December 1960 and was replaced by Juanita Hall.

During production of the crime film Tip-Off Girls (1938), Paramount Pictures offered Anna May Wong the opportunity to rent her two Pekinese dogs Maskee and Dumshaw to appear in the movie. Miss Wong declined the offer.

In May 2022, she was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

Her mother was struck by a car and died several days later.

According to the British Film Institute biography, her birth name was Luong Liu Tsong.

Is portrayed by Michelle Krusiec in the Netflix Series Hollywood.

Her television series, "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" (1951) lasted for only 10 episodes. Her real name was Liu-Tsong Wong. The kinescopes from the DuMont network were destroyed in the 1970s.

Was a childhood acquaintance of actor/coworker Philip Ahn.

She was the inspiration for the character Lady Fay Zhu in "Babylon" (2022).

She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Le voleur de Bagdad (1924), Peter Pan (1924), & La fille de Shanghaï (1937).