Learn and talk about Portrayal of East Asians in Hollywood, Asian-American culture, Asian-American issues, Cultural appropriation, Ethnic and racial stereotypes

East Asians have not always been accurately represented in Hollywood. Many times, Asian characters have been portrayed predominantly by white actors, often while artificially changing their looks with makeup in order to approximate East Asian facial characteristics, a practice known as "yellowface". Media portrayals of East Asians in the American media's history have predominantly reflected a dominant Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors.^[1]

These portrayals are considered an example of the racism in the United States and overt racism common to the times. During the late 19th Century and early parts of the 20th, numerous anti-Asian sentiments were expressed by politicians and writers, especially on the West Coast, with headlines like "The 'Yellow Peril'" (Los Angeles Times, 1886) and "Conference Endorses Chinese Exclusion" (The New York Times, 1905)^[2] and the later Japanese Exclusion Act. The American Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of Asians because they were considered an "undesirable" race.^[3]

1 Early Asian American Actors
2 Early history
3 Early Film
4 Classical Hollywood Cinema
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links

Early Asian American Actors [edit]

Lee Tung Foo was a well known singer due to his performances in vaudeville around the 1910s.^[4]

Around the same time, Sessue Hayakawa began appearing in films.^[5] Signed to Paramount Pictures, he had roles in more than 20 silent films including The Wrath of the Gods (1914) and The Typhoon (1914).^[5] When Hayakawa's contract with Paramount expired in 1918, the studio still wanted him to star in an upcoming movie, but Hayakawa turned them down in favor of starting his own company.^[5] He was at the height of his popularity during that time.^[5] His career did suffer due to Anti-Japanese sentiment in the 1930s, but he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the The Bridge on the River Kwai.^[5]

Anna May Wong, considered by many the first Chinese-American movie star,^[6] was acting by the age of 14 and in 1922, at 17 years old, she became the first Asian to break Hollywood’s miscegenation rule playing opposite a white romantic lead in Toll of the Sea. Even though she was internationally known by 1924, her film roles were limited by stereotype and prejudice; tired of being both typecast and being passed over for lead Asian character roles in favor of non-Asian actresses, Wong left Hollywood in 1928 for Europe.^[6] Interviewed by Doris Mackie for Film Weekly in 1933, Wong complained about her Hollywood roles: "I was so tired of the parts I had to play."^[7]^[8] She commented: "There seems little for me in Hollywood, because, rather than real Chinese, producers prefer Hungarians, Mexicans, American Indians for Chinese roles."^[9] In 1935, she was considered for the leading role in The Good Earth, which went to Caucasian actress Luise Rainer. Wong refused the role of the villainess, the stereotypical Oriental Dragonlady.

Keye Luke was one of the most successful actors of his time, starring as the "Number-One Son" Lee Chan in the popular Charlie Chan films (which also featured white actors Warner Oland or Sidney Toler playing Charlie Chan in yellowface), as well as the original Kato in the 1940s Green Hornet, and Detective James Lee Wong in Phantom of Chinatown (1940), another role previously played by a caucasian actor (Boris Karloff).

Korean-American actor Philip Ahn, after rejection for speaking English too well, braved death threats after playing Japanese villains. Ahn would go on to have a prolific career, however.

Some Asian-American actors nonetheless attempted to start careers. Merle Oberon, a mixed-race Anglo-Indian, was able to get starring roles after concocting a phony story about her origins and using skin whitening make-up. There were others pioneering Asian American actors like Benson Fong (who played the Number Three son in the Charlie Chan films), Victor Sen Yung (who played the Number Two son in the Charlie Chan films), Richard Loo (who also played many Japanese villain roles), Lotus Long (known for her role as Lin Wen opposite Keye Luke in the Phantom of Chinatown), Suzanna Kim, Barbara Jean Wong, Fely Franquelli, Chester Gan, Honorable Wu, Kam Tong, Layne Tom Jr., Maurice Liu, Rudy Robles, Teru Shimada, Willie Fung, Toshia Mori and Wing Foo; all began their film careers in the 1930s and 40s.

With the number of Asian-American actors available, actor Robert Ito wrote an article that described that job protection for Caucasian actors was one reason Asians were portrayed by Caucasians. "With the relatively small percentage of actors that support themselves by acting, it was only logical that they should try to limit the available talent pool as much as possible. One way of doing this was by placing restrictions on minority actors, which, in the case of Asian actors, meant that they could usually only get roles as houseboys, cooks, laundrymen, and crazed war enemies, with the rare "white hero's loyal sidekick" roles going to the big name actors. When the script called for a larger Asian role, it was almost inevitably given to a white actor."^[10]

Early history [edit]

In 1767, Arthur Murphy's theatrical work The Orphan of China was presented in Philadelphia.^[11] In this early production, the actors and the audiences had never seen an Asian. On screen, Mary Pickford, a white Canadian, played Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly in (1915).

The Welsh-American Myrna Loy was the "go to girl" for any portrayal of Asian characters and was typecast in over a dozen films, while Chinese detective Charlie Chan, who was modeled after Chang Apana, a real-life Chinese Hawaiian detective, was portrayed by several white actors including Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and Peter Ustinov.

The list of actors who have donned makeup to portray Asians at some point in their career includes: Lon Chaney, Sr., Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Anthony Quinn, Shirley MacLaine, Katharine Hepburn, Rita Moreno, Rex Harrison, John Wayne, Mickey Rooney, Marlon Brando, Alec Guinness, Tony Randall, John Gielgud, Max von Sydow, Linda Hunt, David Carradine, Joel Grey, and many others.

The use of yellowface makeup continues to endure in modern Hollywood as a common practice while blackface makeup has become a social taboo.^[12] In the 21st century, Grindhouse, Balls of Fury, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Crank: High Voltage, and Cloud Atlas all featured yellowface and non-Asian actors as Asian caricatures.^[13]

Recurring stereotypes such as the Fu Manchu-style Asian villain or the Madame Butterfly-style Asian female love interest (with a white hero) were going largely unchallenged.^[when?] Asian Americans formed advocacy groups such as the East West Players and Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) to counter the practice.^[14]

The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry censorship guidelines which governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It was originally popularly known as the Hays Code, after its creator, Will H. Hays. With these guidelines, portrayals of miscegenation were forbidden.

Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that banned interracial marriage and sometimes sex between members of two different races. In North America, laws against interracial marriage and interracial sex existed and were enforced in the Thirteen Colonies from the late seventeenth century onwards, and subsequently in several US states and US territories until 1967.

Early Film [edit]

Madame Butterfly [edit]

Madame Butterfly was originally a short story written by John Luther Long.^[15] An Italian opera, Madama Butterfly was created by Giacomo Puccini after he saw a London play by David Belasco that was based on the short story.^[16] The original production premiered on February 17, 1904, at La Scala in Milan.

It is the story of a teenaged Japanese maiden, Cio-Cio San, who marries and has a child with a white American navy lieutenant named Pinkerton.^[17] The Lieutenant leaves Cio-Cio San and returns home where, unknown to Cio-Cio San, he marries a white American.^[17] When he returns to Japan with his new wife, Cio-Cio San, who has given birth in the interim to Pinkerton's baby, kills herself.

The opera remains immensely popular but it has been criticized for misogyny and racism and has generated much controversy for its worldwide use of Yellowface.^[16] It is seen as perpetuating the notion of the dominant white male lording it over the subdued Asian female, who can be cast aside at will.^[18] Nonetheless, the opera does paint Pinkerton's conduct as reprehensible and the libretto seeks to portray Cio-Cio San as a wronged individual worthy of sympathy and respect.

In 1915, the silent film version was directed by Sidney Olcott and starred Mary Pickford as Cio-Cio-San.^[19]

There was also a film version of the stage musical, Miss Saigon that featured East Asian actors as well as caucasian actors playing East Asian roles.

The Forbidden City [edit]

The Forbidden City was released in 1918. The plot centers around an inter-racial romance between a Chinese princess (Norma Talmadge) and an American. When palace officials discover she has fallen pregnant she is sentenced to death. In the latter part of the film Talmadge plays the now adult daughter of the affair, seeking her father in the Philippines.

Mr. Wu [edit]

Mr. Wu was originally a stage play, written by Harold Owen and Harry M. Vernon. It was first staged in London in 1913; the first U.S. production opened in New York on October 14, 1914. The actor Frank Morgan was in the original Broadway cast, appearing under his original name Frank Wupperman.

Matheson Lang was the first actor to portray Mr. Wu (in the 1913 West End production), who became so popular in the role that he starred in a 1919 film version. Lang continued to play Oriental roles (although not exclusively), and his autobiography was titled Mr. Wu Looks Back (1940).

Lon Chaney, Sr. and Renée Adorée were cast in the 1927 film. Cheekbones and lips were built up with cotton and collodion, the ends of cigar holders were inserted into his nostrils, and the long fingernails were constructed from stripes of painted film stock. Chaney used fishskin to fashion an Oriental cast to his eyes and grey crepe hair was used to create the distinctive Fu-Manchu moustache and goatee.

Broken Blossoms [edit]

The film Broken Blossoms is based on a short story, "The Chink and the Child" taken from the book "Limehouse Nights" by Thomas Burke.^[20] It was released in 1919, during a period of strong anti-Chinese feeling in the USA, a fear known as the Yellow Peril. Griffith changed Burke's original story to promote a message of tolerance. In Burke’s story, the Chinese protagonist is a sordid young Shanghai drifter pressed into naval service, who frequents opium dens and whorehouses; in the film, he becomes a Buddhist missionary whose initial goal is to spread the word of Buddha and peace (although he is also shown frequenting opium dens when he is depressed). Even at his lowest point, he still prevents his gambling companions from fighting.

Classical Hollywood Cinema [edit]

The Good Earth [edit]

The Good Earth (1937) is a film about Chinese farmers who struggle to survive.^[21] It was adapted by Talbot Jennings, Tess Slesinger, and Claudine West from the play by Donald Davis and Owen Davis, which was itself based on the 1931 novel The Good Earth by Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin, Victor Fleming (uncredited) and Gustav Machaty (uncredited).

The film's budget was $2.8 million, relatively expensive for the time, and took three years to make. Although Pearl Buck intended the film to be cast with all Chinese or Chinese-American actors, the studio opted to use established American stars, tapping Paul Muni and Luise Rainer for the lead roles. Both had won Oscars the previous year; Rainer for her role in The Great Ziegfeld and Muni for the lead in The Story of Louis Pasteur. When questioned about his choice of the American actors, Thalberg responded by saying, "I'm in the business of creating illusions."

In 1935, when MGM Studios was looking to make The Good Earth into a movie, Anna May Wong was considered a top contender for the role of O-lan, the Chinese heroine of the novel. However, because Paul Muni was of European descent, the Hays Code's anti-miscegenation rules meant his character's wife had to be played by a white woman. So, MGM gave the role of O-lan to a white actress and offered Wong the role of Lotus, the story’s villain, but Wong refused to be the only Chinese American playing the only negative character, stating: "...I won't play the part. If you let me play O-lan, I'll be very glad. But you're asking me - with Chinese blood - to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters."^[22] MGM's refusal to consider Wong for this most high-profile of Chinese characters in U.S. film is remembered today as "one of the most notorious cases of casting discrimination in the 1930s".

The Good Earth was nominated for a total of five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Direction (Sidney Franklin), Best Cinematography (Karl Freund), and Best Film Editing (Basil Wrangell). In addition to the Best Actress award (Luise Rainer), the film won for Best Cinematography.^[23] Ironically, the year The Good Earth came out, Wong appeared on the cover of Look magazine's second issue, which labeled her "The World's Most Beautiful Chinese Girl." Stereotyped in America as a dragon lady, the cover photo had her holding a dagger.^[24]

Breakfast at Tiffany's [edit]

Main article: I.Y. Yunioshi

The 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's has been criticized for its portrayal of the character Mr. Yunioshi, Holly's bucktoothed, stereotyped Japanese neighbor. Played by Mickey Rooney, Rooney wore makeup to change his features to a caricatured approximation of a Japanese person.

In the 45th anniversary edition DVD release, producer Richard Shepherd repeatedly apologizes, saying, "If we could just change Mickey Rooney, I'd be thrilled with the movie".^[25] Director Blake Edwards stated, "Looking back, I wish I had never done it ... and I would give anything to be able to recast it, but it's there, and onward and upward".^[25] In a 2008 interview about the film, 87-year-old Rooney said he was heartbroken about the criticism and that he had never received any complaints about his portrayal of the character.^[26]

Fu Manchu [edit]

In 1929 the character Fu Manchu made his American film debut in The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu played by the Swedish-American actor Warner Oland. Oland repeated the role in 1930's The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu and 1931's Daughter of the Dragon. Oland appeared in character in the 1931 musical, Paramount on Parade where the Devil Doctor was seen to murder both Philo Vance and Sherlock Holmes.

In 1932, Boris Karloff took over the character in the film The Mask of Fu Manchu.^[27] The film's tone has long been considered racist and offensive, but that only added to its cult status alongside its humor and Grand Guignol sets and torture sequences. The film was suppressed for many years, but has since received critical re-evaluation and been released on DVD uncut.

Charlie Chan [edit]

Main article: Charlie Chan

Charlie Chan was played by Warner Oland as well as Sidney Toler. Warner Oland's films included Shanghai Express, The Painted Veil, and Werewolf of London.

Other Films [edit]

Film
Year	Film	Actor/s	Notes
1932	The Hatchet Man	Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young	Makeup artists had noticed that audiences were more likely to reject Western actors in Asian disguise if the faces of actual Asians were in near proximity. Rather than cast the film with all Asian actors, which would have then meant no star names to attract American audiences, studios simply eliminated most of the Asian actors from the cast.^[28] Oriental Hollywood excesses make for rather uncomfortable viewing today, even when directed by such cinematic experts as William Wellman. The director obviously wished to address the clash between ancient culture and modern American life, tradition versus modernity,^[who?]but the bizarre "Oriental" makeup of Occidental stars Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young simply gets in the way of the message, especially when contrasted to such genuine Asian supporting players as Toshia Mori and Willie Fung, both briefly spotted skulking about in the background.^{[citation needed]} Made during the few years before strict enforcement of the Hollywood Production Code, The Hatchet Man has elements that would not be allowed later such as adultery, narcotics and a somewhat graphic use of a flying hatchet.
1932	Frisco Jenny	Helen Jerome Eddy	Helen Jerome Eddy, portrays Frisco Jenny's loyal servant Amah. Although not a success on the original release, in recent years, Frisco Jenny has been among the pre-Code films rediscovered and re-evaluated thanks to theatrical revivals and cable television screenings. New fans have been impressed by Chatterton's depiction of a tough woman who takes charge of her own destiny long before women's liberation and Wellman's energetic direction and creative camera placement.^[29]
1932	Thirteen Women	Myrna Loy	Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was subjected to harsh bigotry from the other women during her school days due to her mixed-race heritage. Georgi exacts revenge by using a suborned swami to manipulate the women into killing themselves or each other. Not a popular success either critically or financially, Thirteen Women has achieved a "cult classic" status in recent years. A pre-code era film, modern critics have stated that its theme was ahead of its time and out of step with the tastes of 1930s cinema patrons.^[30]
1933	The Bitter Tea of General Yen	Nils Asther	General Yen was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the hundred best films in The Century of Films. According to a New York Times Review, Mr. Asther's make-up is impressive, with slanting eyes and dark skin. He talks with a foreign accent.^[31] Toshia Mori who in 1932 became the only Asian actress to be selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star, an annual list of young and promising film actresses, was billed third in the film's credits, behind Barbara Stanwyck and Nils Asther. This was her most significant film role, she returned to minor characters in her subsequent films.
1934	The Mysterious Mr. Wong	Bela Lugosi	Bela Lugosi stars as Mr. Wong, a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. They did not even bother to disguise Lugosi's thick Hungarian accent. It was directed by William Nigh, who three years later directed Karloff in the Mr. Wong detective films.
1937	Lost Horizon	H.B. Warner	H.B. Warner as Chang, an ancient Chinese man who rescues the plane crash survivors and takes them to Shangri-La. H.B. Warner lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor to Joseph Schildkraut for the same film. Lost Horizon was named one of the 10 best films of 1937 by The New York Times and later won two Academy Awards, for Best Film Editing, and Best Art Direction.^[32]
1937–1939	Mr. Moto film series	Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto film series	Between 1937 and 1939 eight motion pictures were produced by 20th Century Fox starring Peter Lorre^[33] as Mr. Kentaro Moto.^[34] Unlike the novels, Moto is the central character, wears glasses, and no longer has gold teeth. He is still impeccably dressed in primarily Western suits, only wearing a yukata when he is relaxing at home. The stories are action-oriented due to Moto’s liberal use of judo (only hinted at in the novels) and due to his tendency to wear disguises. Mr. Moto is described as being just over 5 feet tall in the film Danger Island. (Lorre was actually 5 feet 5 inches).
1939	Island of Lost Men	Anthony Quinn	Anthony Quinn is in yellowface and portrays Chang Tai, a "Chinese" agent.
1939	The Mystery of Mr. Wong	Boris Karloff	Boris Karloff was in yellowface as the detective. Amongst the Asians in the background: Chester Gan, Lotus Long as the maid, Lee Tung Foo as Mr. Wong's Butler and door opener.
1940	The Letter	Gale Sondergaard	Sondergaard plays a Eurasian, a trope of the Dragonlady. Variety said, "Never has [the W. Somerset Maugham play] been done with greater production values, a better all-around cast or finer direction. Its defect is its grimness. Director William Wyler, however, sets himself a tempo which is in rhythm with the Malay locale . . . Davis' frigidity at times seems to go even beyond the characterization. On the other hand, Marshall never falters. Virtually stealing these honors in the pic, however, is Stephenson as the attorney, while Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat".^[35]
1942	Little Tokyo, U.S.A.	Harold Huber as Takimura, American-born spy for Tokyo, June Duprez as Teru	In its day, Little Tokyo, U.S.A. exemplified yellowface at its most pernicious. While other works had used Asian make-up to ridicule or vilify Asian features, this B movie used yellowface directly to deny a group of Asian Americans their civil rights.^[36] Twentieth Century-Fox seized on one of the most controversial aspects of the homefront, the roundup and internment of people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Little Tokyo basically developed the theme that anyone of Japanese descent, including American citizens, was loyal to the emperor of Japan and a potential traitor to America. The movie employed a quasi-documentary style of filming. Twentieth Century sent its cameramen to the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles to shoot the actual evacuation. However, after the evacuation, night shots were difficult in the deserted "Little Tokyo". Night scenes were filmed in Chinatown, instead-who would notice that the street signs had Chinese instead of Japanese characters? This assumption carried over to casting: Chinese actor Richard Loo played one of the lead Japanese roles in the film. The movie argues that all Japanese and Japanese Americans were secret traitors wishing to betray the United States.^[37]^[38]
1944	Dragon Seed	Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Turhan Bey, Agnes Moorehead, J. Carrol Naish, and Hurd Hatfield	Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese war. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors, but Jade (played by Hepburn), a headstrong woman, stands up to the Japanese. Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. In Lion of Hollywood author Scott Eyman wrote that this was one of the worst of all MGM pictures (p. 364).^[39]
1946	Anna and the King of Siam	Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, and Gale Sondergaard	At the 19th Academy Awards ceremony, the film received two Oscars; for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, William S. Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes) ^[40]
1946	Ziegfeld Follies	Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer	Limehouse Blues: Conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs in an unfortunate, racially stereotyped setting.
1955	Blood Alley	Anita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix, and Mike Mazurki	Despite the star power of its lead actors and director, Blood Alley received a lukewarm reception from critics.^[41] The New York Times proclaimed, "Blood Alley, despite its exotic, oriental setting, is a standard chase melodrama patterned on a familiar blueprint."^[42] Far better were Paul Fix, Berry Kroeger, and Anita Ekberg, who weren't the most convincing "Chinese" in the world but who seem to fit right in with the blood-and-thunder proceedings.^[43] Today's critics have focused on Blood Alley's anti-communist aspect, website sover.net calling it "only a banal actioner" ^[44] and DVDtalk proclaiming it "preposterous but entertaining" and claiming that "Wayne and Bacall have no chemistry at all".^[45]
1955	Love is a Many Splendored Thing	Jennifer Jones	Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from Mainland China (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society. Apart from Jennifer Jones, the rest of the family were cast with East Asian Actors. The film won Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Music, Song (for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster for "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing"). It was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Lyle Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Jack Stubbs), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording.^[40]
1956	The Conqueror	John Wayne	The picture was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s), which is remarkable given the stature of the cast. Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast. (He was so "honored" by The Golden Turkey Awards.)
1956	The King and I	Yul Brynner and Rita Moreno	Brynner, Russian born (although of part Buryat descent), reprised his role as King Mongut of Siam from the original Broadway production; Moreno, who is of Puerto-Rican heritage, played Tuptim. The film was banned in Thailand (formerly Siam in King Mongkut's days).
1956	The Teahouse of the August Moon	Marlon Brando	Brando spent two hours a day for the standard prosthetic eyepieces and makeup. His role was made all the more noticeable because he is the only actor in yellowface in a sea of Asian extras and secondary characters.^[46] Brando actually attempted an "authentic" Japanese accent and he even has some Japanese dialogue.
1958	The Inn of the Sixth Happiness	Curd Jürgens and Robert Donat	The two leads, British actor Robert Donat and German actor Curt Juergens who were not of East Asian descent portrayed Chinese characters. The film makers, since release, have also been criticised for casting, Ingrid Bergman, a tall woman with a Swedish accent, as Gladys Aylward who was in fact short and had a cockney accent.
1961	Flower Drum Song	Juanita Hall	The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese-American author C.Y. Lee. In 1960 producer Ross Hunter cast Anna May Wong, in Flower Drum Song. However, Wong became ill in December 1960 and was replaced by Juanita Hall. This movie was unusual (for its time) in featuring nearly all Asian-American cast members (one of the few speaking Caucasian parts being that of a mugger), including dancers, though two of the singing voices were not by Asian ones. Starring in this movie were Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, James Hong, Reiko Sato and the original Broadway cast members Jack Soo, Miyoshi Umeki and Juanita Hall (an African-American actress who previously played the Pacific Islander Bloody Mary in the Broadway and film productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific). In 2008, Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[47]
1962	The Manchurian Candidate	Henry Silva
1962	My Geisha	Shirley MacLaine
1962	A Majority of One	Alec Guinness
1963	55 Days at Peking	Flora Robson
1964	7 Faces of Dr. Lao	Tony Randall
1965	Pierrot le fou	Anna Karina	Lead actress Anna Karina donned yellowface makeup during a mid-film skit satirizing the American involvement in the Vietnam War. Director Jean-Luc Godard is famed for his edgy, unapologetic political statements in his films which was especially prevalent in his work during the 60's and 70's.
1965	Genghis Khan	Robert Morley, James Mason and others
1965	Gilligan's Island	Vito Scotti
1965	Get Smart	Leonard Strong (actor)	As "The Claw", in the episode: "Diplomat's Daughter". "Not Craw, Craw!"
1965	The Return of Mr. Moto	Henry Silva	In 1965 Mr. Moto's character was revived in a low-budget Robert Lippert production filmed in England starring Henry Silva.^[48] In Mr. Moto Returns, a.k.a. The Return of Mr. Moto, Mr. I.A. Moto is now a member of Interpol. The extremely tall Silva conveyed an almost James Bond-like playboy character; in the fight scenes he is clearly not proficient in martial arts. He speaks in a lazy 'Beatnik' manner. Nowhere in the film is it even mentioned that Moto is Japanese. He is referred to as an "oriental" and, oddly, in the trailer, Moto is referred to as a “swinging Chinese cat.” It is only when he is disguised as a Japanese oil representative, Mr. Takura, that a more stereotypical portrayal of a Japanese businessman is given.
1966	7 Women	Woody Strode and Mike Mazurki

End of the 20th Century [edit]

After 1967, anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the United States of America.

Film
Year	Film	Actor/s	Notes
1970	The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go	James Mason as Y.Y. Go
1972-1975	Kung Fu	David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine	David Carradine wore Yellowface makeup/prostethics to look more East Asian
1973	Lost Horizon	John Gielgud as Chang
1975	One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing	Peter Ustinov and others
1976	Murder by Death	Peter Sellers	Peter Sellers plays Inspector Sidney Wang, based on Charlie Chan and appropriately accompanied by his adopted, Japanese son Willie (Richard Narita). Wang wears elaborate Chinese costumes, and his grammar is frequently criticized by the annoyed host. It could be argued that Sellers' role is in itself a parody of yellowface casting in earlier films.
1978	Revenge of the Pink Panther	Peter Sellers	Inspector Clouseau had many disguises and this included the quintessential Chinaman stereotype.
1980	The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu	Peter Sellers
1980	Flash Gordon	Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming	Ming the Merciless is the sci fi version of Fu Manchu.
1981	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	Peter Ustinov as Charlie Chan	In 1980, Jerry Shylock proposed a multi-million dollar comedy film, to be called Charlie Chan and the Dragon Lady. A group calling itself C.A.N. (Coalition of Asians to Nix) was formed, protesting the fact that two white actors, Peter Ustinov and Angie Dickinson, had been cast in the primary roles. Others protested that the film itself contained a number of stereotypes; Shylock responded that the film was not a documentary.^[49] The film was released the following year as Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen and was an "abysmal failure."^[50] More successful was Wayne Wang's Chan is Missing (1982), which was a spoof of the older Chan films.^[51] An updated film version of the character was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and ... a martial-arts master",^[51] but the film did not come to fruition.^[51]
1981	Hardly Working	Jerry Lewis
1982	Conan the Barbarian	Gerry Lopez as Subotai	the character Subotai is a 'Hyrkanian' who in the mythos of Conan the Barbarian are the ancestors of Asians and further the character is named after Subotai one of the general so Genghis Khan, but the character however is played by the white actor Gerry Lopez.
1982	The Year of Living Dangerously	Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan	The Year of Living Dangerously was entered into the 1983 Cannes Film Festival^[52] where it was well received by audiences and critics.^[53] Actress Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[54]
1982	Marco Polo (TV miniseries)	Leonard Nimoy as Achmet	American television mini-series
1984	Sixteen Candles	Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong	(add properly formatted reference to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88591800 and/or /wiki/Sixteen_Candles#Controversy here)
1985	Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins	Joel Grey as Chiun	Film based on the Destroyer book series. The role garnered Joel Grey a Saturn Award and a second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor".
1993-1997	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine	David Carradine once again wore Yellowface makeup/prosthetics to make him look East Asian
1994	Sabotage	Adam Yauch	Beastie Boys music video.
1996-1999	Tracey Takes On...	Tracey Ullman as Mrs. Noh Nang Ning	Ullman wore prosthetics to make her look East Asian.
1997	The Pest	John Leguizamo	Leguizamo used Yellowface twice in the film to disguise himself as both a Chinese and Japanese man to try and escape hunters trying to kill him and in both situations his character Pest portrayed them as stereotypical Asian caricatures.
1999	Galaxy Quest	Tony Shalhoub as Fred Kwan / Tech Sergeant Chen	Shalhoub (an American of Arab descent) plays an actor with a Korean family name; Shalhoub wears makeup which makes him look more East Asian

21st Century [edit]

Film
Year	Film	Actor/s & Role	Notes
2001	Attila	Gerard Butler as Attila the Hun Tommy Flanagan as Bleda and most of the cast	The Huns an ethnic group traditionally known by majority scientific and historical accounts to have looked physically mongoloid were portrayed as caucasian in the miniseries except for Bleda (Attila's brother) where his portrayer used Yellowface makeup to appear East Asian.
2001	Not Another Teen Movie	Samm Levine as Bruce	A parody of racist stereotypes in teen films, most notably Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles.
2005 Australian television series	We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year	Chris Lilley as Ricky Wong	Ricky Wong is a 23-year-old Chinese physics student who lives in the suburb of Wheelers Hill, Melbourne, Victoria. He is often exuberant and tells his colleagues that "Physics is Phun" and that they are in the "Wong" laboratory. This character is largely a vehicle for parodying the stereotypical "Chinese overachiever", or model migrant.
2006	Cloud 9	Paul Rodriguez as Mr. Wong	Cloud 9 ^[55]
2007	Balls of Fury	Christopher Walken as Feng	Feng is a parody of the yellow peril and Fu Manchu stereotype.
2007	Norbit	Eddie Murphy as Mr. Wong	For his portrayal Eddie Murphy received a Golden Raspberry Award. Worst Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy; as Mr. Wong) ^[56]
2007	Grindhouse	Nicolas Cage as Dr. Fu Manchu	Fake Trailer: Werewolf Women of the SS ^[57]
2007	I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry	Rob Schneider as the Asian minister and photographer	Schneider is in fact one quarter Filipino by descent, but wore prosthetics for the role which were criticised as an offensive stereotype. Nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor but lost to Eddie Murphy.
2008	My Name Is Bruce	Ted Raimi as Wing
2008	21	[Almost the entire main cast was Caucasian]	The true story of the MIT Blackjack Team was mainly compiled of Asian-Americans. The casting of all white actors led to a public outcry. The only Asian actors within the main cast, Aaron Yoo and Liza Lapira, were negatively portrayed as a kleptomaniac and a slot playing loser.
2008	Speed Racer	[Almost the entire main cast was Caucasian]	Speed Racer is based on the original Japanese anime respectively called Speed Racer.
2009	Crank: High Voltage	David Carradine as Poon Dong	Poon Dong, played by the late David Carradine, is the head of the Chinese Triad. In Crank: High Voltage. The name of the character is a pun, being both a stereotypical Chinese-sounding name and slang for genitalia.
2009	Dragonball Evolution	[Almost the entire main cast was Caucasian]	The original Dragon Ball series originated in Japan. The casting of the main characters of the film with Caucasian actors led to an outcry. The only Asian actors in the film were secondary characters. The original creator of the Dragon Ball series, Akira Toriyama, was shocked in terms of the casting. Luke Thompson of E! Online referred to the film as a "surreal mess" and questioned the use of a Caucasian in the main role and felt Chow Yun-Fat was "overacting like never before." The filmed was panned by critics and audiences.
2009	Chanel - Paris - Shanghai A Fantasy - The Short Movie	Freja Beha, Baptiste Giabiconi	Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face.^[58] Lagerfeld defended this as a reference to old films. “It is an homage to Europeans trying to look Chinese,” he explained. “Like in ‘The Good Earth’, the people in the movie liked the idea that they had to look like Chinese. Or like actors in ‘Madame Butterfly’. People around the world like to dress up as different nationalities.” "It is about the idea of China, not the reality." ^[59] Chinese persons played the maid, a courtesan and background characters. The film is currently on YouTube ^[60]
2009	Hanger	Wade Gibb as Russell	A black comedy in which a Chinese man with Down syndrome is portrayed by a Caucasian actor under heavy prosthetics and make-up.
2010	The Last Airbender	[Almost the entire main cast was Caucasian]	The original critically acclaimed series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, was set in a world which was influenced by Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tibetan, Indian and Inuit cultures. The live-action film, on the other hand, had a cast that consisted almost completely of Caucasian actors, with Asian actors being either secondary or villainous characters. Jackson Rathborne, who portrayed Sokka in the film, said in an interview with MTV: "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan. It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit." Reception of the casting decision was negative; the Hollywood Reporter said the lack of correct casting caused the film to lose substantial credibility in regard to its source material. Ultimately, the film was critically panned by both critics and audiences.
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Robert Downey, Jr.	The character of Sherlock Holmes donned Yellowface to disguise himself as a Chinese man for a short while in the film.
2012	Cloud Atlas	Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, John D'Arcy, and Keith David	A significant number of cast members applied makeup, focusing mostly on the eyes, to make their features appear more Korean/East Asian in one of the film's stories. The film is based on the idea of having the same actors reappear in different roles in six different story lines, one of which is set in 'Neo Seoul' in the year 2144. The film thus also has Asian actresses Doona Bae and Zhou Xun appear in non-Asian roles, and African-American actress Halle Berry portrayed a white character. Blackface is not used in the film, however.
2013	Iron Man 3	Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin	Director Shane Black has called the character as he appeared in the comics a "racist caricature."
2013	47 Ronin	Keanu Reeves	Based on the true story of the 47 Ronin, a fantasy approach has been adopted in order to allow Keanu Reeves to be cast in the lead.
2014	All You Need Is Kill	Tom Cruise	Based on a Japanese science-fiction light novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka.
Unannounced	Akira		Sources state that the actors being considered for the lead roles are all Caucasian with the exception of Ken Watanabe. George Takei spoke with The Advocate in April 2011 about the casting rumors at that time, stating that any decision to cast white actors in Akira would offend both Asians and the fans of the original manga or animated film.

References [edit]

^ Kashiwabara, Amy, Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center
^ "Conference Indorses Chinese Exclusion; Editor Poon Chu Says China Will Demand Entrance Some Day. A Plea for the Japanese Committee on Resolutions Commends Roosevelt's Position as Stated in His Message". The New York Times. December 9, 1905.
^ History World: Asian Americans
^ Lee Tung Foo and the Making of a Chinese American Vaudevillian, 1900s-1920s by Moon, Krystyn R., Journal of Asian American Studies - Volume 8, Number 1, February 2005, pp. 23-48
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e www.goldsea.com Sessue Hayakawa: The Legend
^ ^a ^b Chan, Anthony B. Perpetually Cool: The Many Lives of Anna May Wong (1905–1961). Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8108-4789-2 p. xi, p. 42.
^ Leong, Karen J. The China Mystique: Pearl S. Buck, Anna May Wong, Mayling Soong, and the Transformation of American Orientalism. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2005. ISBN 0-520-24422-2. pp. 83, 187.
^ Wollstein, Hans J. "Anna May Wong." Vixens, Floozies, and Molls: 28 Actresses of late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0565-1. p. 252.
^ Parish, James and William Leonard. "Anna May Wong." Hollywood Players: The Thirties. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House Publishers, 1976, pp. 532–538. ISBN 0-87000-365-8.
^ www.brightlightsflim.com A Certain Slant
^ muse.jhu.edu Misreading the Chinese Character: Images of the Chinese in Euroamerican Drama to 1925 (review) Asian Theatre Journal - Volume 18, Number 1, Spring 2001, pp. 117-119
^ www.imdiversity.com Yellowface: Asians on White Screens
^ "The Practice of Yellow Face," by Vickie Rozel, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley In The Works theatreworks.commercialmedia.com
^ www.ejumpcut.org Rising Sun: Interview with activist Guy Aoki - Total eclipse of the Sun by Robert M. Payne
^ www.logos-verlag.de Analysis of John Luther Long's "Madame Butterfly"
^ ^a ^b japantimes.co.jp Madama Butterfly, Puccini's masterpiece transcends its age By Benjamin Woodward
^ ^a ^b Puccini opera is 'racist': News24: Entertainment: International www.news24.com] Puccini opera is racist
^ The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient, Sheridan Prasso, 2005
^ Madame Butterfly (1915) at the Internet Movie Database
^ www.tcm.com Spotlight: Broken Blossoms
^ www.asian-studies.org What's So Bad About "The Good Earth" by Charles W. Hayford.
^ www.asiaarts.ucla.edu Profile of Anna May Wong: Remembering The Silent Star by Kenneth Quan
^ tcm.com Spotlight: The Good Earth
^ www.time.com Anna May Wong Did It Right by Richard Corliss
^ ^a ^b Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Making of a Classic
^ Calvert, Bruce (September 9, 2008). "Sacramento Bee: Racism in reel life". sacbee.com. Retrieved 2008-11-02. ^{[dead link]}
^ The Mask of Fu Manchu at the Internet Movie Database
^ http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=29914&mainArticleId=182320
^ http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article.jsp?cid=182333&mainArticleId=182320
^ Basinger, Jeanine (June 16, 2008). "Few female ensemble films". Variety.
^ Hall, Mordaunt (January 12, 1933). "Radio City Music Hall Shows a Melodrama of China as Its First Pictorial Attraction". The New York Times. ^{[dead link]}
^ http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=17870
^ Peter Lorre at the Internet Movie Database
^ Mr. Moto at the Internet Movie Database
^ Variety review
^ http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~ksoroka/hollywoodfilm.html
^ "Movies: About Little Tokyo, USA". The New York Times.
^ "At the Palace". The New York Times. August 7, 1942. ^{[dead link]}
^ Dargis, Manohla (July 10, 2005). "'Lion of Hollywood': Mogul of Make-Believe". The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b "NY Times: Anna and the King of Siam". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blood_alley/
^ Dargis, Manohla (February 7, 2005). "We're Sorry". The New York Times.
^ http://www.allmovie.com/dvd/blood-alley-66154
^ http://www.sover.net/~ozus/bloodalley.htm
^ http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?id=15726
^ http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/18/18_yellow.html
^ http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/FLOWER_DRUM_SONG_Among_25_Films_Inducted_Into_Registry_20081231 /'FLOWER DRUM SONG' Among 25 Films Inducted Into Registry
^ The Return of Mr. Moto at the Internet Movie Database
^ Chan (2001), 58.
^ Pitts (1991), 301.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sengupta (1997).
^ "Festival de Cannes: Forbidden Relations". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
^ Dionne, E.J. (May 23, 1983). "Cannes Over, Films Face the Public". The New York Times. p. 13.
^ Worrell, Denise; Gerald Clarke (April 23, 1984). "The Night off the Great Prom". Time. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403946/
^ "Gold Derby". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 2009.
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2mdUG-_Bp4
^ Karl Lagerfeld Talks Shanghai and Fashion
^ Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face -- The Cut http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/12/chanel.html#ixzz0ZyXNpJ5a
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrOf9wQydso&feature=related |Chanel - Paris - Shanghai A Fantasy - The Short Movie

External links [edit]

Hollywood Chinese Hollywood Chinese, a 2007 documentary film about the portrayals of Chinese men and women in Hollywood productions.
"Yellowface: Asians on White Screens", by Yayoi Lena Winfrey, IM Diversity.com.
"A Certain Slant." by Robert B. Ito, Bright Lights Film Journal.
Asian American Media Watch.
Asian Images in Film Introduction.

Original courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrayal_of_East_Asians_in_Hollywood — Please support Wikipedia.
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Portrayal of East Asians in Hollywood

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