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The legendary Hollywood star Anna May Wong will become the first Asian American to appear on US currency.
Starting Monday, Wong’s image will be imprinted on quarters across the country. Recognized as Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star, she acted in over 60 films across a decades-long career.
Wong called for greater representation of Asian people in Hollywood and challenged stereotypical depictions at a time when “yellowface” dominated the industry and the Chinese Exclusion Act was still law.
“Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain – murderous, treacherous, a snake in the grass,” Wong said in a 1933 interview with the Los Angeles Times. “We are not like that.”
Wong first began acting at the age of 14 and landed her first lead role three years later in the The Toll of the Sea.
