| Asian Americans In Arts And Entertainment |
Article Index for Asian |
Website Links For Asian |
Information AboutAsian Americans In Arts And Entertainment |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS IN ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | |
| asians in film and theatre | |
| asian american culture | |
| asian american issues | |
| asian american theatre | |
|
Asian Americans have been involved in the entertainment industry since the first half of the 19th century, when Chang And Eng Bunker (the original "Siamese Twins") became naturalized citizens. Acting roles in television, cinema, and theater have been relatively few, and many available roles are for narrow, stereotypical characters. Early Asian American actors such as Sessue Hayakawa , Anna May Wong , and Bruce Lee encountered a movie-making culture that wanted to typecast them as caricatures. Lee abandoned Hollywood, and achieved world-wide fame in Hong Kong . In 1965, frustrated with the limited opportunites given to them, actors Mako , James Hong , Beulah Quo , Pat Li , and June Kim , along with Guy Lee and Yet Lock , formed East West Players (EWP), an Asian American theatre company in Los Angeles – the first of its kind – where they would produce their own shows, allowing Asian American actors the opportunity to perform in leading roles onstage. As the need still exists, EWP is not only still fulfilling its mission today, but dozens of other Asian American theatre companies have since formed in major cities throughout the U.S. Through the 1960s and 1970s, there have been limited successes by some actors: George Takei and Pat Morita became well-known from secondary roles in Star Trek and Happy Days , two of the most well-known series of the period. Miyoshi Umeki won the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actress in 1957 for '' Sayonara '' and Haing Ngor won the Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor in 1985 for The Killing Fields . Margaret Cho won the American Comedy Award for Best Female Comedian in 1994. Notable works of architecture were designed by Asian Americans, such as the Louvre Pyramid , the World Trade Center , and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial . In commercial architecture, Gyo Obata is a founding partner of HOK . Jim Lee is considered to be one of the most popular Comic Book artists and is one of the founders of Image Comics . Adrian Tomine 's cartoons are featured in The New Yorker . Naomi Hirahara won a 2007 Edgar Award for her novel ''Snakeskin Shamisen''. Across genres of music, Asian Americans have gained respect and celebrity. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and conductor Zubin Mehta are significant figures in classical music. In popular music, Amerie is a notable R&B singer. James Iha is best-known as guitarist with The Smashing Pumpkins . Mike Shinoda and Joseph Hahn are members of the popular rap rock band Linkin Park . In hip-hop, Apl.de.ap is a member of The Black Eyed Peas . Asian American Jazz is a musical movement in the United States begun in the 20th century by Asian American jazz musicians. Asians continue to be underrepresented in both film and television. The 1957 novel '' Flower Drum Song '' is based on the San Francisco nightclub Forbidden City . Rodgers And Hammerstein adapted it into a musical that was produced on Broadway in 1958 and on film in 1961. Largely remembered for the hit song "I Enjoy Being A Girl", it would not be produced with an all-Asian cast until a 2002 Broadway revival. Disney 's '' Mulan '', a 1998 animated film set in China still cast many non-Asians in prominent roles. Hospital TV dramas tend to have very few Asian American characters, although Asian Americans are very well-represented in U.S. medicine. '' ER '' does not currently have any East Asians castmembers, although a current-day Chicago hospital would almost certainly have several on staff. Sandra Oh won several awards for her role in '' Grey's Anatomy ''. While Asian American men currently win few leading roles in movies or television, Asian American women have much better opportunities in the entertainment industry today. The casting of Asian men as stereotypical comic relief (in "nerd" or "star student" roles) has been noted as contributing to the popularity of '' cast after his role in the HBO prison series '' Oz '', and Kal Penn and John Cho starred in '' Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle '', which became a popular teen comedy whose marijuana-smoking lead characters defied the stereotype of studious, responsible, and repressed Asian American teenagers. SEE ALSO |
|
|