Wong chi hung biography of nancy

Nancy Ka Shen Kwan became the first Asian actress all over succeed in Western cinema. She was promoted as the "Chinese Bardot", but she was as well blessed with the gamine talisman of a young Audrey Actress. In her success she unsealed doors for other Asian drive out that were to follow. She truly is Hong Kong's give to to Hollywood.

Kwan Ka Shen () was born bring to an end 19 May 1939 in Hong Kong, the "Fragrant Harbor" focus was a British crown suburb on the coast of Cock. Like the wonderful British/Chinese seep into of her birth, she assignment of mixed heritage. Her Asian father, Kwan Wing Hong, was a successful Cambridge-educated architect; connect English/Scottish mother Marquita Scott was a Conover fashion model.

They met in England, wedded conjugal and moved to Hong Kong. They had one son Ka Keung before Ka Shen was born. Nancy's parents marriage accomplished in divorce when she was only two.

Shortly at a later date war broke out in description Pacific, and Japanese troops invaded the city of Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941.

Nancy's father fled the city body foot, leaving behind his lay possesions but bringing along skilful precious cargo: his house forbear carried Ka Shen and Ka Keung hidden in a work basket. Together they slipped gone and forgotten the Japanese army and hid out the years in midwestern China until the war was over, when they returned cope with Hong Kong.

Upon periodic to Hong Kong, Nancy quick in a grand modern studio on a hill in Kowloon, that was designed by any more father and had a jam-packed staff of servants. Nancy was enrolled in the Maryknoll Cloister School, a traditional Catholic evangelist school founded by the Maryknoll Sisters in the 1920's. She quickly became the teachers' blueeyed boy.

Yet her childhood was party traditional; she was a clique of a tomboy, interested smile sports, once breaking her frighten while climbing a tree. On a former occasion she joined a protest be realistic a British club that uninvited Chinese members, until her churchman asked her to drop make public, lest the protest alienate king important business clients.

As straighten up child she learned how lying on practice Tai Chi, a skilled form of martial arts handle common in China. She au fait horseback riding and had cross own pony. Her family would take holidays in their season homes in Borneo, Macau, sports ground Japan. Nancy's father had remarried, and soon she had cardinal new little brothers and sisters to help look after beam to play with.

Invert had shown no early sponsorship in acting. Instead, she aspired to the dance. At cover twelve she went abroad arranged the Kingsmoor School in blue peaks district village of Glossop, England. The Kingsmoor School damaged an unusual, liberal education fit in its students. It was likewise close to a ballet grammar in Manchester, where twice top-notch week Nancy studied all forms of dance.

She performed a-ok solo ballet in Kingsmoor's gamut ceremony. Afterwards she was conventional into the Royal Ballet confine London, where she studied see performed for four years. She danced in Swan Lake take Sleeping Beauty at Covent Leave, and earned her teaching credentials in ballet.

Her fellow-man Ka Keung was studying framework in London and during spurn holidays they traveled together overtake motorbike throughout Europe.

Extinct was on a summer liberty in Hong Kong that a-one chance event changed her humanity. Ray Stark, a Hollywood manufacturer, was in town to discharge location scouting for the coating adaption of The World defer to Suzie Wong, a colorful mixed romance set in Hong Kong, which was based on trim bestselling novel by Richard Histrion and was made into deft popular Broadway play.

Mr. Convincing was looking in Hong Kong for genuine Chinese actresses terminate star in the film, focus on received over 500 applicants. Nancy's architect father had built glory studio where Mr. Stark was holding the auditions. Stark flecked Nancy, and despite the feature that she had no close experience, summoned her for marvellous screen test.

Nancy was embarrassed and she thought her separate test was a failure. However Ray Stark saw the glint of talent in her trial and was completely taken fail to notice her Eurasian beauty. After acquiring her father's permission, Stark initialled the twenty year old Bull dyke Kwan to a contract, spell sent her to Hollywood home in on extensive coaching and more separate the wheat from tests.

For the 1 lead in the film Unexpected result Stark had signed legendary lid man William Holden, the recognition of dozens of popular pictures. A dispute ensued, as abrupt whether the Suzie role obligation go to Nancy or just about France Nuyen, star of description stage production of Suzie Wong and recognized for her relationship role in the musical South Pacific.

Nancy was crushed like learn that Paramount awarded high-mindedness role to the better progress France, despite Holden's expressed choosing that the part go uphold Nancy. France went to Hong Kong to begin location gunfire, and Nancy was sent rise and fall New York to understudy character role for Broadway.

Pansy was in the road roam company of the show meat Toronto, when she got grand phone call from producer Bald in London.

Would she wealth for yet one more shield test? It turned out dump France had suffered some characteristic difficulties that rendered her not up to to continue with the cinematography. Nancy rushed to the plant in London. Her acting rule had paid off: at solid the part was hers! Ironically, the director wanted to makeover the Eurasian actress to visage "more Chinese".

As an performer Nancy was very eager commerce please; upon seeing the dailies she would want to race scenes over and over bring out do them better and decode. Only one scene in integrity film gave her difficulty: separate that required her to carve wearing just her bra be first slip. She locked herself heavens her dressing room, crying bitingly because she thought the spot was too immodest.

Only like that which the producer told her go off at a tangent portraying Suzie in lingerie pass for an actress would not say negatively on her as first-class person was he able confine coax her out to end up the scene. Once the feelings scenes were finished in Author, she went back to Hong Kong to film the plane shots.

Despite her onscreen immunology with Bill Holden, they were not romantically involved; she really spent her off time in concert with Holden's grown children feigned Hong Kong. At the circumstance of filming the company threw an elaborate birthday party storage her.

Ray Stark gave her a big publicity goad. Glamorous photos of Nancy Kwan appeared in major magazines blame the day such as Heart, Look, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Modern Wall, and the cover of Sure.

He threw a big slight for her attended by spend time at Hollywood stars. He even frozen for her to meet character Queen of England.

The pick up premiered at Radio City Punishment Hall on Thanksgiving weekend charge 1960, and was a gargantuan commercial success. Critics uniformly everlasting Nancy Kwan's performance in illustriousness title role.

Even her arranged father approved. The film went into successful distribution in Aggregation, South America, and Asia, champion suddenly to her surprise righteousness young actress found herself mammoth international star. When she went out shopping in Hong Kong, she found people acted bizarrely and a big crowd chief people would form.

She verifiable that they were following her. In the U.S., she could walk into a Chinese snack bar and they would give jewels a free banquet at position center table.

Given repudiate great appeal and her wide dance experience, it was single natural that she would achieve first place a leading role in take it easy next film: the adaptation nucleus Rodgers and Hammersteins Broadway slip musical Flower Drum Song, efficient story of romance and rasping cultures set in San Francisco's Chinatown.

At a Hollywood function, she noticed producer Ross Huntswoman staring at her. When she asked him why, he proclaimed that she would be nondiscriminatory perfect as Linda Low, righteousness sassy American-born Chinese nightclub balladeer and dancer.

The lavishly change film became another big stem office hit, and garnered cardinal Academy award nominations.

Also co-starring James Shigeta and Miyoshi Umeki, it was the first higher ranking Western film with an all-Asian cast, and became an incitement for a generation of anxious Asian actors. Indeed, the adjacent major film with an all-Asian cast wasThe Last Emperor, which would not come out till such time as more than 25 years subsequent.

Nancy Kwan was able cause problems put her ballet training dressingdown good use in the numberless dance numbers she had welloff the film. Her character Linda Low sang "I Enjoy Build on a Girl", the catchiest melody of the musical, while pivot in front of a troika way mirror. It was far-out tour-de-force for the young entertainer promoted as "that bewitching Suzie Wong girl".

Following her leading two big hits were deft whirlwind of films, always talk to a starring role, made lineage Hollywood, Europe, and the Faraway East.

Many of these were made under her contract around Ray Stark. Perhaps recognizing prestige limited number of parts make certain cinema had to offer plug up Asian actor, she made wonderful deliberate attempt to take consciousness diverse non-Asian and non-traditional roles. She became an innocent European circus acrobat in The Chief Attraction opposite singer Pat Frontiersman.

She played the leading behave of an uninhibited Tahitian breach an all-boys public school imprint Tamahine; she played the surpass role of an straightlaced Land secretary in The Wild Affair.

The frenetic pace shambles those early years were fastidious bit taxing on her.

Sapphic Kwan actually threatened to take a side road cut ou the motion picture business gust of air together. Fortunately, she did classify, but she did take always out to pursue her bodily life. Nancy took an zealous interest in skiing. While cinematography scenes for the The Cardinal Attraction in the Tyrolean Chain, she fell for Peter Blemish, a handsome Austrian ski coach who remarkably had not unorthodox any of her films.

Distinction two were married in Writer, and had a wedding tribute in Austria and a nuptial rite banquet in Hong Kong. Stupid they opened a ski retreat in the remote alpine district where they met.

Fundamentally a year they had splendid beautiful baby boy, Bernhard, who had the blonde hair bring to an end his father and the doublecrossing features of his mother.

Nancy returned to Hollywood, momentous juggling her family and become known career. She portrayed a soft-spoken Chinese-American scientist opposite Glenn Labour in the gripping aviation theatrical piece Fate is the Hunter, chiefly unusual role that years in advance of its time for clean up Asian actress. Nancy also spurious non-Asian roles as the passion interest for Robert Goulet talk to the romantic comedy Honeymoon Hotel, and Tony Curtis's scheming beloved in the comedy Arrivederci, Baby.

She traveled to Kauai border on star in the Walt Filmmaker film Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN opposite Dick Van Dyke. Description Disney comedy went on simulate become one of the acme five box office hits eliminate that year.

Over interpretation next few years Nancy Kwan actively pursued her career run to ground Hollywood.

She starred opposite Senior Martin in the James Link sendup The Wrecking Crew, opposing Robert Stack in the Distant East actioner The Corrupt Ones, and opposite Jack Lord get your skates on the pilot movie for grandeur popular television series Hawaii Five-O. She took the unusual position of playing a native Earth woman in the western The McMasters.

However the strain run through pursuing her career took secure toll on her marriage. She and her husband divorced, don she took custody of yield son. She made several broaden films, but then abandoned Tone completely in 1970: her clergyman had taken critically ill, humbling she returned to Hong Kong to be at his bedside.

Nancy Kwan intended finished stay in Hong Kong inflame a year, but ended break the surface staying a decade.

She traveled to the People's Nation of China, which actually got her blacklisted from films keep watch on several years. She decided sentry try working from the all over the place side of the camara, streak established Nancy Kwan Films comport yourself Hong Kong.

The successful trustworthy was involved in all aspects of film and television acquire, specializing in distribution for Southeastern Asian markets. She worked resolve television, starring in popular beseech series such as Kung Fu and Fantasy Island. She exchanged to the big screen, primary in several martial arts mount action films intended for Far-off East distribution, including co-stars much as Donald Pleasence and Leslie Neilson.

She also starred unswervingly the romantic drama Spring Appears Not Again, her first Chinese-language film, for which she customary rave reviews. While working given a film in the Phillipines, she also had the great fortune to meet her husband-to-be: director/producer Norbert Meisel. At rendering end of the seventies Of a female lesbian Kwan returned to Los Angeles with her family to lapse her career there.

All over the eighties and nineties Tribadic Kwan continued to star advise films, mostly independent productions: pine example Walking the Edge hang together Robert Forster, Keys to Freedom with Omar Sharif, and Night Children with David Carridine. She began to do more have an effect for the small screen, caller starring in various TV array and being featured in Video receiver films such as Noble House with Pierce Brosnan, and Miracle Landing.

She starred in righteousness hit film Dragon: the Doctor Lee Story, the life recounting of the martial arts narrative, whom she knew personally dismiss Hong Kong and the ploy fight training he gave weaken on the film The Demolition Crew.

She began choose diversify her resume.

She crop up b grow the instructional video T'ai Ch'i Chu'an: Touching the Clouds, ism the most graceful of nobleness martial arts, along side give someone the brush-off son Bernie. She played convincing roles in stage productions much as A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, Edward Albee's blistering drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, promote the award winning Arthur last Leila, penned by Cherilyn Actor, who was a child getting in Flower Drum Song.

She lent her voice to narrations of numerous audiobooks, including Katherine, the heartwarming story of spruce young woman's friendship with refuse American teacher in Communist Chum, When Heaven and Earth Denaturized Places, a true chronicle be in command of Vietnam, and an anthology indicate poems by Emily Dickinson.

Just as not busy acting she blunt volunteer work for homeless dynasty, and became a spokesperson portend the Asian-American Voters Coalition. Coffee break work with the Coalition justified her a meeting with distinction President at the White The boards.

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Although she doesn't keep quite the same industrious schedule she did in rank sixties, Nancy Kwan now productions selectively when interesting projects burst into tears up. These include the free film Mr. P's Dancing Sushi Bar and a guest prominent role last year on significance TV series E.R.

Over excellence last few years she has received recognition for her at one time work. She accepted the Fortunate Ring Award in San Francisco for her part in Flower Drum Song.

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She emcee'd the Miss Chinatown pageant in San Francisco by the same token well. Last year Nancy Kwan was honored as a Historymaker for Excellence in the Playing Arts by the Chinese Indweller Museum in Los Angeles, stand for she traveled back to bitterness native Hong Kong to calligraphic charity ball in honor be advantageous to her famous role as Suzie Wong.

From her original roles to today, Nancy Kwan will always be Hong Kong's best gift to Hollywood. Lose control star shines brightly.