Etta Lee

Etta Lee Frost was born on September 12, 1906, in Kauai, Hawaii, as the daughter of Martin B. Frost. Her father was a Chinese medical doctor and her mother was of French ancestry.[1][2] She had a sister, Ella Deverill, and grew up in California and went on to get her degree in education at Occidental College in Los Angeles.[3] Lee moved back to Hawaii to be a teacher, before returning to Los Angeles to begin her career as an actress.[3]

Lee's first film was A Tale of Two Worlds in 1921, where she played Ah Fah, a Chinese maid. She played another Chinese maid named Liu in the 1923 film The Remittance Woman, a maid in The Untameable (1923), A Thief in Paradise (1925), The Trouble with Wives (1925), and International House (1933). Other so-called exotic roles she was cast in included The Slave of the Sand Board in The Thief of Bagdad (1924).[4][5][6] In 1923, she was called the only Eurasian girl in films.[1]

Lee directly commented on the lack of diversity in her roles in an article in 1924. She noted that "I am equipped…to show oriental impulse and emotional complexities. But in this field I have not yet had opportunity."[7] She went on to discuss that even in terms of getting roles meant for Chinese women, she was often turned down because she was of mixed race and did not look Chinese enough.

She made her first stage debut in the summer of 1927, with a production of The Scarlet Virgin in Los Angeles.[8]

In 1932, Lee married Frank Robinson Brown, a Welsh-born radio announcer and columnist,[9] and retired from acting afterward. She became active in her community following retirement, becoming chairwoman of the Eureka Woman's Club. She was also an active member of the Episcopal Church.

Lee died at her residence in Eureka, California, on October 27, 1956, at the age of 50.[3][10] She was survived by her husband, sister, and two nephews.[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Etta Lee.

• Etta Lee at IMDb