Asian Americans in arts and entertainment
have been involved in the U.S. entertainment industry since the 19th century, when Afong Moy started a series of shows that evolved into essentially one-women shows. In the mid-19th century, Chang and Eng Bunker became naturalized citizens and were successful performers in the United States. Sadakichi Hartman, originally from Japan, was a successful playwright in the 1890s. Acting roles in television, film, and theater were relatively few, and many available roles were for narrow, stereotypical characters. Early Asian American actors such as Sessue Hayakawa, Anna May Wong, and Bruce Lee encountered a movie-making culture and industry that wanted to cast them as caricatures. Some, like actress Merle Oberon, hid their ethnicity to avoid discrimination by Hollywood's racist laws.
In the 21st Century, Asian Americans are rapidly gaining access to the American mainstream.
Recently, young Asian American comedians and filmmakers have also found an outlet on YouTube and the Internet, allowing them to gain a strong and loyal fanbase. Notable YouTubers include comedians such as Ryan Higa and Kevin Wu; entertainers such as Dan Chan and Christine Gambito; musicians such as MC Jin, Far East Movement, Sam Tsui, David Choi, and Kina Grannis; and the filmmaking group Wong Fu Productions. These entertainers have gained notable followings, mainly with young Asian American students, through solo and collaborative videos, short films and tours.
Several Asian American fashion designers have risen to prominence in the world of fashion, such as Vera Wang, Anna Sui, and Monique Lhuillier. Sandy Liang and her fashion label brand has garnered attention especially in New York City for pieces that exude and revolutionize femininity and romance.
As for literature, Asian American authors have received numerous awards and recognitions in both fiction and nonfiction works. Some include Linda Sue Park's A Single Shard, Cynthia Kadohata's Kira-Kira, Erin Entrada Kelly's Hello, Universe, and Tae Keller's When You Trap a Tiger receiving Newbery Medals. Maxine Hong Kingston and Bharati Mukherjee won National Book Critics Circle Awards in 1976 and 1988 for their respective works The Woman Warrior and The Middleman and Other Stories.
Additionally, other Asian American music artists have broken out into mainstream audiences beyond the Asian American community. Popular artists and performers include those such as Bruno Mars, Darren Criss, Awkwafina, Jhené Aiko, Olivia Rodrigo, Conan Gray, and The Slants.
Asians have been influential in fine arts as both subjects and artists, despite Asian American artwork being rather underrepresented in many art collections and museums. Some recognized artists include Sueo Serisawa, David Choe, Isamu Noguchi, and George Tsutakawa. Notable architects include Minoru Yamasaki, Maya Lin, and Fazlur Rahman Khan. Asian American graphic artists such as Larry Hama and Jim Lee have also been influential in the comic book industry.
Award (Golden Globe and Academy Awards)
19th century
1834, Afong Moy, the first recorded woman to migrate to the United States from China, arrived in the United States and began what could be considered as something between a one-woman show and an advertisement for Chinese goods and language. Her performances would later evolve into more one-woman shows only. She would later go onto to meet U.S. President Andrew Jackson. She was the first Chinese person to meet a U.S. president. Her performances were recreated for the 2022 theatrical work: The Chinese Lady, at the Public Theater in New York City, which was written by Lloyd Suh, directed by Ralph B. Peña, and co-produced by the Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Moy was also the subject of the 2019 book named, The Chinese Lady: Afong May in Early America by curator emeritus at the National Museum of American History, Nancy E. Davis.Sadakichi Hartman, was born in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan in 1867. His mother, Osada Harman, was also from Japan. He migrated to the United States, arriving in Philadelphia in 1882. He was a well-known playwright starting in the 1890s. Between 1890 and 1900, he had written the following controversial plays classified as Symbolist theatrical works:
- Christ: A Dramatic Poem in Three Acts
- Buddha: A Drama in Twelve Scenes
He was later an influential art critic and, in 1901, he authored the two volume History of American Art in 1901. At the dawn of the 20th century, he was an occasional performer in 1905 at the Miner's Theater in New York City.
Magician Chung Ling Foo brought his show from China to the 1898 Trans-Mississippi International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. His shows were at the Chinese Village of the exposition. He did a following show in 1899 at the same village.
Chang and Eng Bunker had a stable career in entertainment.
Cheng and Eng Bunker were conjoined twins who rose to popularity known as the "Siamese Twins" in the 19th century. They were born in 1811 in a village sixty miles from Bangkok. Cheng and Eng were conjoined at the chest at birth, thus starting their career as a human spectacle. They were gawked at in their own country before coming to America at age eighteen. Touring city to city, they were well received, giving performances that featured their unique physiognomy and also highlighted their distinctive wit and innate intelligence. After ten years, at the age of twenty-eight, Chang and Eng retired and decided to settle down in Wilkes County in western North Carolina where they also adopted the surname "Bunker." In North Carolina, they married sisters Sarah Anne and Adelaide Yates and began their lives as southern gentlemen by managing their individual households, plantations, and slaves. The former Siamese Twins from the countryside outside of Bangkok became the wealthiest men in the county and the patriarchs of two large families. When need be, they returned to touring in order to accumulate more funds. In 1874, both Chang and Eng died at age sixty-two.
Despite few Asian/Asian-American entertainers in the 19th century, many entertainment platforms attempt to depict accurate occurrences in 19th-century Asia, such as Dunhuang Performative Arts company and their performances exhibiting the journey of the Silk Road in "Dunhuang, My Dreamland." The show portrays Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu in accurate garb and performed by an appropriate actor, Chen Yizong. The playwright sets the stage at the Dunhuang Magao Caves which was historically important for travelers along the Silk Road, especially Buddhist monks from India and central Asia while on their journey to Chang'an. Among meditations, the caves were used to reference the monastery's texts and records.
Actor/Actress Transitions from Film to Television and Visa Versa
Film
Film actors / actresses
1920s
Anna May Wong
was the first Asian American to have become an international acting star. She became a fashion icon during the silent film era, beginning with her success in the film The Toll of the Sea, the first color feature to be made in Hollywood. During her career she sought roles that portrayed Chinese and Asian Americans in a positive light, but these films never became famous except for a select few such as the film Daughter of Shanghai. In 1935, Anna May Wong wanted to be cast in the film adaptation of “The Good Earth” but lost the role to white actress Louise Reiner. Due to anti-miscegenation laws, producers did not even consider Wong to play the role even when publicly explaining her desire for the role. Furthermore, Wong found out that “ she was never considered because the producers wanted a white male actor for the Chinese lead, and anti-miscegenation laws prevented a nonwhite woman to be cast opposite a white man.” ” Frustrated by being stereotyped and typecast during her career in the United States, she moved to Europe, where she appeared in many plays and films, the most notable of which was the British film Piccadilly. She later returned to the United States in an ironic twist, at a time when American studios were searching Europe for fresh new talent, despite the fact that she is an American. She returned with promises of leading roles, but these did not come about due to racism in the United States. She eventually stopped acting in professional films and turned to stage, cabaret, B movies, and anti-Japanese propaganda films such as Bombs Over Burma due to her being an advocacy against the Japanese aggression in China. She was set to make her comeback with the film Flower Drum Song but was unable due to failing health. Despite a prolific career Wong's only film to have ever been a truly big success was Shanghai Express. For her later work in television, please see [|Television 1950s]. On February 8, 1960, Wong became the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Sessue Hayakawa
was the first and one of the few Asian American/Asian actors to find stardom in the United States and Europe and was also the first leading Asian male actor in the United States. He became the first male sex symbol of Hollywood long before and the precursor to Rudolph Valentino. His fame rivaled that of Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin. His fame began during the silent film era, leading into sound pictures in his later life. He became a film actor in a somewhat reluctant and accidental manner when the famous producer Thomas Ince saw his theater play The Typhoon and wanted to turn it into a silent film and when it was released the film was an instant hit. With rising stardom he was eventually offered film contract by Famous Players–Lasky now Paramount Pictures. His second film with the production company, The Cheat, was a success and made him a romantic hit with U.S. female audiences. He became a leading man of romance films, considered a heartthrob and a sex symbol; many actresses wanted to work with him in films, in which he was often cast as the exotic male Asian lover that women desired. After years of being typecast as a villain and exotic Asian lover that white women could not have, he decided to start his own production company, where he eventually made 23 films; he produced, starred in, and directed them, and contributed to their design, writing and editing. His films also influenced the way the United States viewed Asians. He personally chose American actress Marin Sais to appear opposite him in his films such as The City of Dim Faces and His Birthright. Hayakawa's collaboration with Sais ended with the film Bonds of Honor. In 1919, Hayakawa made what is generally considered one of his best films, The Dragon Painter. After some bad business, he left the United States and for the next 15 years he worked in Europe and Japan where he made many popular films and plays such as the films The Great Prince Chan and the play Samurai which he performed for the king and queen of the United Kingdom at that time King George V and Queen Mary and a stage play version of The Three Musketeers. His fame in France came from France's fascination with anything Asian. In the 1930s with the rise of Talkies and growing Anti-Japanese sentiment due to World War II. During the war, he tried to perform in Europe but eventually became trapped by the Germans and for years was not able to work as an actor until Humphrey Bogart tracked him and down and offered him a role in his film Tokyo Joe which became a hit and afterwards he did another successful film Three Came Home. After the war his image in films this time was as the honorable villain which he became typecasted as and from it he starred in what is considered to be his most famous film of his entire career The Bridge on the River Kwai for which he was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award. On February 8, 1960, in a joint ceremony with Anna May Wong, Hayakawa became the first Asian American actor to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.File:Phillip ahn as kan.JPG|thumb|Phillip Ahn as Master Kan on the television series Kung Fu