Nancy Kwan is a Chinese-American actress whose career benefited from Hollywood’s casting of more Asian roles in the 1960s, closer to the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age. In addition to appearing in comedies and musicals (with a particularly memorable performance in Flower Drum Song (1961)), she was also considered an Eastern sex symbol in the 1960s.
The World of Nancy Kwan: A Memoir by Hollywood’s Asian Superstar examines Kwan’s life and career as an entertainer, in addition to Kwan personally discussing how she navigated the highs and lows of her time in Hollywood. Here, readers will learn about her on- and off-screen life and will definitely find Kwan’s perspective on working in various film productions with her peers fascinating. The book also includes some interesting pictures that showcase different moments in Kwan’s life and career. While her stories about working in Hollywood and connections to Hollywood’s Golden Age are wonderful, I particularly found the passages about her current life to also be of high interest.
Fans of Flower Drum Song as well as classic Hollywood musicals and comedies will no doubt enjoy this memoir.
Hometowns to Hollywood 