Women of Asian descent have been part of Hollywood history since the beginning, but if you asked most people, even film buffs, they will probably only be able to name Anna Mae Wong from early cinema. Asian-American actresses faced multiple problems in getting roles. First, there was blatant racism. For the longest time, any female movie role was as an adjunct to a man, and casting an Asian actress in a lead role was a problem due to the taboo against interracial relationships. If the male lead were also Asian, the entire film was seen as too Asian to appeal to white audiences. The result was that Asian-American actresses were mostly relegated to roles as villains, servants, or vamps. Quite a few worked steadily in these roles, or in bit parts in B-movies. Anna Chang was a singer and dancer in a traveling vaudeville revue and then appeared in Cary Grant's first acting job, a 1932 short called Singapore Sue.
After working in one feature film in which only the white cast members (acting in yellowface) were credited, Chang went back to singing. Read about seven Asian-American women who left a mark, small or otherwise, on early American cinema at Messy Nessy Chic.