Lotus Long (born Lotus Pearl Shibata, July 18, 1909 – September 14, 1990) was an Asian-American film actress.

Early life

Long was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to Ishiro Shibata and Blanche Leleu. She came to Southern California during the 1920s to act in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

films and usually portrayed ethnic Asian female characters in supporting roles. She used the name Lotus Long for stage and film. Due to her professional surname, people generally assumed that she was of Chinese ancestry. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she used this name to avoid incarceration in American

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

with other persons of Japanese ancestry, which included both legal permanent residents and American citizens.

Career

She appeared in the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

docudrama ''

Eskimo ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

'' (1933) as wife of the main character and under the stage name Lotus Long in the 1934 movie '' The Mysterious Mr. Wong'' and 1939's ''

Mr. Wong in Chinatown ''Mr. Wong in Chinatown'' is a 1939 American mystery film directed by William Nigh and starring Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong.Stephen Jacobs, ''Boris Karloff: More Than a Monster'', Tomahawk Press 2011 p 246 The film is the third in the series of ...

''. She also starred alongside

Keye Luke Keye Luke (; June 18, 1904 – January 12, 1991) was a Chinese-born American actor, and a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild. He portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the 1939–1941 ...

in '' Phantom of Chinatown'' as Win Len, Dr. Benton's secretary. She also was credited under the name Karen Sorrell in the movies '' Flight into Nowhere'' (1938), starring Jack Holt and ''

Mysterious Mr. Moto ''Mysterious Mr. Moto'', produced in 1938 by Twentieth Century Fox, is the fifth in a series of eight films starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto. The film is based on the character of Mr. Moto created by John P. Marquand, from an original screenpla ...

'' (1938), starring

Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, active first in Europe and later in the United States. Known for his timidly devious characters, his appearance, and accented vo ...

. She was uncredited in the movie ''

The Real Glory ''The Real Glory'' is a 1939 Samuel Goldwyn Productions adventure film starring Gary Cooper, David Niven, Andrea Leeds and Broderick Crawford released by United Artists in the weeks immediately following Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Based ...

'' (1939), starring

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, silent screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...

and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academ ...

. One of her more infamous roles was

Tokyo Rose Tokyo Rose (alternative spelling Tokio Rose) was a name given by Allied troops in the South Pacific during World War II to all female English-speaking radio broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. The programs were broadcast in the South Pacific ...

Lew Landers Lew Landers (born Louis Friedlander, January 2, 1901 – December 16, 1962) was an American independent film and television director. Biography Born as Louis Friedlander in New York City, Lew Landers began his movie career as an actor. In 1914, ...

' movie ''

'' (1946), which starred

, Edwin Luke,

Richard Loo Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Early lif ...

, Byron Barr, and

Osa Massen Osa Massen (born Aase Madsen Iversen, 13 January 1914 – 2 January 2006) was a Danish actress who became a successful movie actress in Hollywood. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1941. Background and early career Bo ...

. Long had a writing and producing credit for the film ''The Tahitian'' (1956) made with her husband James Knott. ''The Tahitian'' was filmed on location with a largely native cast.

Legacy

She was a pioneer for future Asian-American actresses in film and also a role model. In

Timothy Tau Timothy Tau (born Timothy Tau Hsieh ( ); traditional Chinese: 謝韜; pinyin: ''Xiè Tāo'') is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 ''Hyphen'' Asian American Writers' Workshop Short Sto ...

's short-film bio-pic ''

'', Lotus Long is portrayed by Mei Melancon.

References

External links

*
The Tahitian
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Lotus American film actresses 1909 births 1990 deaths American people of Native Hawaiian descent American actresses of Japanese descent Actresses from New Jersey 20th-century American actresses