Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong was BOTD in 1905. Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles, she appeared as an extra in silent movies in her teens. She received her first screen credit for 1921’s Bits of Life, and a leading role in 1922’s The Toll of the Sea. Her public profile was boosted after appearing in The Thief of Bagdad, and frequent appearances as a fashion model. Frustrated with Hollywood’s racist depictions of Asian women as vamps and dragon ladies, she formed her own production company, performed in vaudeville and left Hollywood in 1928 to work in Europe. Returning to Hollywood in the 1930s, she co-starred with Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express. The film was remarkable for Wong’s sympathetic depiction of an Asian character and her electric sexual chemistry with Dietrich, with whom she may have had an affair. Hollywood’s prohibition on mixed-race relationships caused Wong to miss out on a number of leading roles, most infamously in 1937’s The Good Earth, where she was overlooked in favour of German actress Luise Rainer (who played the role in yellowface). In 1936, Wong undertook a highly publicised tour of China, chronicling her experiences in a series of newspaper articles. During World War Two, she appeared in pro-Chinese propaganda films, transitioning to television in the 1950s with the detective series The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong. Her final Hollywood appearance saw her typecast again in Portrait in Black. She died in 1961, aged 56. Wong’s filmography has undergone a critical reassessment in recent years, particularly in light of her racist treatment. Biographers have also speculated that she was lesbian or bisexual, and may have had an affair with Dietrich during the making of Shanghai Express. She was portrayed by Michelle Krusiec in the TV series Hollywood, and is the subject of an upcoming biopic starring British-Chinese actress Gemma Chan.