Anna May Wong, a legend of the silent film era, has transitioned into a new kind of fame. Her likeness will debut in new quarters in the United States on Monday, making her the first Asian American to do so.
Wong is the fifth woman to be honored in the American Women Quarters Program, which features images of influential women in U.S. currency. Maya Angelou, the poet and activist, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, Wilma Mankiller, the leader of the Cherokee Nation, and Nina Otero-Warren, a suffragist, are featured in the other four quarters produced this year. Both the latter two, as well as Wong, were picked thanks to reader votes.
Wong, who passed away in 1961, was a successful actor, director, and radio host for four decades. She shared the screen with stars like Marlene Dietrich, Joan Crawford, and Laurence Olivier and performed on Broadway and in London.
Wong, who was born in Los Angeles, began acting when she was 14 years old, and she landed the title role in the film “The Toll of the Sea,” which premiered in 1922.
Dietrich starred in Wong’s 1932 film Shanghai Express as a notorious courtesan who takes a three-day rail journey through China during the Chinese Civil War and is held hostage on board. Actor Wong played a fellow first-class traveler.