Suzie Wong star Nancy Kwan’s book talks about overcoming stereotypes and racial barriers
In her memoir The World of Nancy Kwan, the actress who was born in Hong Kong tells her story of being Asian in Hollywood in a different era
Demure, submissive and erotic, Suzie Wong is a bigger-than-life stereotype, a caricature Asian women grew up with in the US.
We may have also secretly hoped to play that geisha-like image to win our way out of our oppression. But over the years, some of us grew to resent it, fight it and reject it, hoping to claim our true identity and dignity as a person.
In The World of Nancy Kwan, a memoir by the pioneering Hollywood star, we hear from the real-life woman who played Suzie Wong.
We learn that for an Asian actor, getting to play an Asian role was a victory back in those days, as the roles were often taken by white actors wearing make-up.
Kwan was born in Hong Kong in 1939. Her father Kwan Wing-hong was Chinese, an architect with a love for films. Her mother was English, a model and actor, although she left when Kwan was young, and she was raised by a stepmother. It was hard because being Eurasian was an anomaly, she recalls.