The Anna May Wong celebrity doll depicts her as herself at about 30 years old as the first Chinese-American movie star. Mattel released the Anna May Wong for the Barbie® Inspiring Women™ Series doll on April 27, 2023. The Black Label Barbie doll was designed by Carlyle Nuera and retailed for $35. 

Anna May Wong was born in 1905 as Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles and died of heart attack in 1961.  She made over sixty movies and produced and directed her own documentary, My China Film (1936), about her trip to China to connect to her grandfather’s legacy and family. Her career spanned from silent films to television.

Anna May Wong

ACTRESS
1905-1961

“All people have dreams…but when they actually come true, you are happy and lucky beyond what you have any right to expect.”  – Anna May Wong

Barbie® recognizes all female role models. The Inspiring Women™ Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules, and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before.

Anna May Wong, née Wong Liu Tsong, was born in 1905 north of Chinatown near Los Angeles, CA. The daughter of second-generation Chinese Americans, Wong grew up in a diverse neighborhood where movies were constantly being filmed, fueling her desire to be an actress. At 11 years old, she established her stage name, Anna May Wong, by combining her English and Chinese names. In 1919,Wong landed her first movie role as an extra in the film, “The Red Lantern.” In 1922, she would earn her first leading role at seventeen, starring in “The Toll of the Sea,” one of the first films released in technicolor.

Frustrated with being typecasted into Asian stereotypes and sidelined into supporting roles, she created Anna May Wong Productions in 1924, determined to make her own films about her culture. During a brief stint in Europe, Wong starred in her first spoken film in 1930 before eventually returning to Hollywood to star in her most famous role, “Shanghai Express”, propelling her career to new heights. Wong went on to continue to break barriers, becoming the first Asian-American to lead a U.S. television show, “The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong.” A trailblazer and fashion icon, Anna May Wong left her indelible stamp on Hollywood and audiences all over the world.

Girls need more role models like Anna May Wong, because imagining they can be anything is just the beginning. Actually seeing that they can makes all the difference.

SKU#: HMT98

The doll comes wearing a sleeveless, gold strapped, red dragon gown with red long tulle draped off the shoulders.  The top half is tight fitting in a flowered pattern and the skirt is a bright red satin. A gold dragon pliable cutout is tack stitched to the front. The dragon on the front seems inspired by the dress she wore in the opening scene of the 1934 movie Limehouse Blues (East End Chant).  Vogue Magazine has an article about Anna May Wong’s fashion influence at https://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala-fashion-inspiration-anna-may-wong.

The dress opens in the back with Velcro and is removable. The scarf is sewn to the two gold should straps so it drapes toward the back. One the feet are gold high heeled shoes and matching plastic gold dangle earnings.

The lips are painted with dark red lipstick. The eyes are a dark brown with gold eye shadow.  The hands have painted red nails. 

The black hair is cut with her iconic bangs and tied back is a short pony tail bun.

Articulation is the Mattel original articulated body with articulation at the neck (full turn and 45 degree tilt), shoulders rotate and go out 90 degrees (tight fitting blouse sleeves limit movement a bit), elbows rotate and bend (90 degrees), hips twist (180 degrees) forward and back and sideways (45 degrees), and knees bend 90 degrees (come with cardboard braces on both legs). Regular stiff pointed-toe Barbie feet.

The doll comes with a plastic doll stand and an official Mattel Certificate of Authenticity.

To get the current prices of the Anna May Wong Barbie doll use these links.  The museum gets a small commission for qualified purchase using the following links.

This is a Youtube video clip of the 1934 movie Limehouse Blues (East End Chant) where Anna May Wong is wearing the inspiring dragon dress.

This is good Youtube video of a PBS American Masters biography about Anna May Wong.