Beulah Quo
Beulah Quo | |
|---|---|
 Quo in a publicity photo forThe 7th Dawn(1964) | |
| Born | Beulah Ong April 17, 1923 Stockton, California,U.S. |
| Died | (aged 79) La Mesa, California,U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, activist |
| Years active | 1955–2002 |
| Spouse | Edwin Kwoh |
| Children | Stewart Kwoh Mary Ellen Shu[1] |
Beulah Quo(April 17, 1923 – October 23, 2002) was an American actress and activist born inStockton, California.The spelling of her last name changed from Kwoh to Quo because she was constantly asked if KWOH was a radio station.[2]She starred in many films and television series beginning in the mid-1950s, and was best known for her appearances inGeneral Hospital(1963),Chinatown(1974), andBrokedown Palace(1999).[3]She was also an advocate of more and better screen roles for Asian actors, and founded several organizations in pursuit of that goal.
Early life
[edit]Beulah Quo was born Beulah Ong inStockton, Californiaas the only child of two Chinese immigrants.[4]She received a bachelor's degree in Social Welfare fromUC Berkeleyand a master's degree from theUniversity of Chicago.While completing her Master’s degree, Quo met her husband, Edwin Kwoh, who was then a Chinese doctoral student at Columbia University.[5]She also published her master's thesis entitled “The Occupational Status of American-Born Chinese Male College Graduates” in the American Journal of Sociology.[6][7]
Both Quo and her husband were involved in Chinese Christian activism throughout their studies.[5]Quo was particularly active in the Lake Tahoe Chinese Christian Youth Conferences during the 1940s. In the time she was involved in leading these conferences, Quo led discussions advocating for cross-racial cooperation and spoke out against theinternment of Japanese Americansduring WWII.[8][9]
In the late 1940s, while she was working in China as a teacher, Quo escapedCommunismon a U.S. destroyer along with her husband and infant son. After resettling, she also worked at the ChineseYWCAbuilding, which is now the Chinese American National Museum and Learning Center.[10]
Television and film career
[edit]While teaching sociology at a community college inLos Angeles, California,director Henry King was looking for an Asian dialect coach and instead hired Quo to play a small role inLove is a Many-Splendored Thing(1953). She played over 100 roles in television movies and series, as well as film. One of her notable television roles was inGeneral Hospital,where she stayed for six years and played a housekeeper and confidante named Olin starting in 1985. Uncredited appearances that she made throughout her career in her earlier work included her first film,Love is a Many-Splendored Thing,Two Weeks In Another Town(1962), andGypsy(1962). Her final featured film role was inForbidden Cityin 2001 as Mrs. Lee; her last television appearance was in a 2002 episode ofLaw and Order: Criminal Intent.[11]
Quo co-starred in a made-for-television drama,An Apple, An Orangea story of two immigrants and their differences in cultural, sociological and philosophical viewpoints while in midlife.[12]The program, produced by Maryland Public TV in association with Baltimore's Center Stage was telecast nationally in prime time on PBS. It aired onOregon Public Broadcasting.The author and dramatist,Diane Johnson,won anO. Henry Awardfor the story on which it was based.[13]
Activism
[edit]In 1965, TheEast West Players,the first Asian-American repertory theater in the U.S., was co-founded by Quo and eight other actors, includingJames Hong.[14]TheEast West Playerscontinues to advocate for diverse representation and elimination of stereotypes of Asian-Americans inHollywoodand acrossmass media.
Quo was heavily involved in the high-profile and racially drivenVincent Chincase, producing a play to honor him entitledCarry The Tiger To The Mountainin July 1998.[15]It was based on a true story of a Chinese-American man who was beaten to death in Detroit, Michigan, in 1982 by two white men who had mistaken him for a Japanese man. It premiered inWest Virginia;Quo played Chin's mother, Lily Chin. The play was later performed inLos Angelesby theEast West Players.
In 1997, Quo commissioned a musical project called "Heading East: California Asian Pacific American Experience" to promote and commemorate the history of Asian-Pacific Americans inCaliforniafor the past 150 years.[16]
Quo continued to dismiss any statements that Asians in leading roles are not "bankable", pointing out thatHaing S. Ngor,cast inThe Killing Fields(1984), won the Oscar for best supporting actor, whilePat Moritawas nominated for the same award for his role inThe Karate Kid(1984).[2]
Awards, nominations and honors
[edit]1978: Nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Single Performance by a supporting actress inMeeting of Minds.Quo also co-narrated the audiobook version.[17][18]
1990: "The Jimmie" Lifetime Achievement Award by the Asian Pacific American Artists, for her outstanding work onThe Sand Pebbles(1966),MacArthur(1977), andChinatown(1974). She also won a local Emmy award for her achievements on "James Wong Howe – The Man and His Movies", a documentary on the award-winning cinematographerJames Wong Howe.[19]
Death
[edit]On October 23, 2002, Beulah Quo died of heart failure during emergency cardiac surgery inLa Mesa, Californiaat the age of 79. TheEast West Playershave a Beulah Quo and Edwin Kwoh Endowment set up to promote theater education.[citation needed]
Filmography
[edit]Films and television appearances are from IMDb.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | Third Aunt | Film, Uncredited |
| 1961 | Ada | Wife of Chinese Restaurant Proprietor | Film, Uncredited |
| 1961 | Flower Drum Song | Woman | Film, Uncredited |
| 1961 | Hawaiian Eye | Grandmother Tsu-Yin | TV |
| 1962 | Two Weeks in Another Town | Chinese Woman | Film, Uncredited |
| 1962 | Gypsy | Waitress | Film, Uncredited |
| 1963 | Girls! Girls! Girls! | Madam Yung | Film |
| 1964 | The 7th Dawn | Ah Ming | Film |
| 1964 | Kentucky Jones | Mrs. Tea-Store Fu | TV series (Episode "Mail Order Bride" ) |
| 1966 | The Sand Pebbles | Mama Chunk | Film |
| 1970–1971 | The Bill Cosby Show | Second Teacher / Mrs. Rogers | TV series |
| 1971 | The Rome with Love | Mrs. Okada | TV series |
| 1971 | If Tomorrow Comes | Midori | TV movie |
| 1972 | The Smith Family | Anna | TV series |
| 1973 | Voyage of the Yes | Native Nurse | TV movie |
| 1973 | Hawaii Five-O | Madame Souvang | TV series |
| 1973 | Genesis II | Primus Lu-Chan | TV movie |
| 1974 | Love, American Style | Lu See | TV series |
| 1974 | Chinatown | Maid | Film |
| 1973–1974 | Adam-12 | Mrs. Tohito / Mrs. Hong Toy | TV series |
| 1975 | Police Story | The Supervisor | TV series |
| 1975 | The Last Survivors | Mrs. Peters | TV movie |
| 1973–1975 | Kung Fu | Madam Chun / Mai Chi / Soong's Wife | TV series |
| 1976 | S.W.A.T. | Madame Yang | TV series |
| 1976 | City of Angels | unknown | TV series |
| 1977 | Starsky and Hutch | Dr. Quo | TV series |
| 1977 | Baretta | Mrs. Chu | TV series |
| 1977 | MacArthur | Ah Cheu | Film |
| 1977 | Black Market Baby | Mrs. Yamato | TV movie |
| 1978 | Meeting of Minds | Tz'u-Hsi / Empress Tz'u-Hsi | TV series |
| 1978 | The Immigrants | So-Toy | TV movie |
| 1979 | How the West Was Won | Ah Kam | TV series |
| 1979 | Samurai | Hana Mitsubishi Cantrell | TV movie |
| 1980 | The Children of An Lac | Madame Ngai | TV movie |
| 1981 | The Incredible Hulk | Huyn | TV series |
| 1982 | The Letter | Ong's Mother | TV movie |
| 1982 | Yes, Giorgio | Mei Ling | Film |
| 1982 | Quincy M.E. | Mrs. Inoko | TV series |
| 1982 | Magnum, P.I. | Mrs. Iko Tamura | TV series |
| 1982–1983 | Marco Polo | Empress Chabi | TV mini-series |
| 1985 | Airwolf | Mae's Mother | TV series |
| 1985 | Street Hawk | Auntie Pearl | TV series |
| 1985 | Into the Night | Mrs. Yakamura | Film |
| 1985 | The Lady from Yesterday | Mai Ling Luong | TV movie |
| 1985–1991 | General Hospital | Olin | TV series |
| 1986 | MacGyver | Mrs. Chung | TV series |
| 1986 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | unknown | TV series |
| 1986 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Herbalist | TV series |
| 1986 | Beverly Hills Madam | Lil's maid | TV movie |
| 1986 | American Geisha | Kangoro's Mother | TV movie |
| 1987 | Daniel and the Towers | Lynn Chow | TV movie |
| 1987 | Le palanquin des larmes | Mime Chen | Film |
| 1988 | Hunter | Mrs. Chin | TV series |
| 1990 | Forbidden Nights | Vice Dean Yin | TV movie |
| 1994 | Bad Girls | Chinese Herbalist | Film |
| 1995 | Bless This House | Old Woman | TV series |
| 1996 | Suddenly Susan | Dr. Ni | TV series |
| 1998 | Brimstone | Landlady | TV series |
| 1999 | ER | Grandma Fong | TV series |
| 1999 | Brokedown Palace | Guard Velie | Film |
| 2000 | Chicago Hope | Grandmother Wang | TV series |
| 2000 | The Michael Richards Show | Mai | TV series |
| 2001 | Forbidden City | Mrs. Lee | Short |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Cecilia Wang | TV series, (final appearance) |
Notes
[edit]- ^McLellan, Dennis (25 October 2002)."Beulah Quo, 79; Actress Started East West Players".Retrieved20 November2017– via LA Times.
- ^ab"Beulah Quo, 79; Actress Started East West Players".Los Angeles Times.25 October 2002.
- ^"Beulah Quo Biography - Fandango".Fandango.
- ^"Breaking the Color Line in Hollywood: Beulah Ong Kwoh, Actor"(PDF).
- ^abKwoh Shu, Mary Ellen."Breaking the Color Line in Hollywood: Beulah Ong Kwoh, Actor"(PDF).
- ^Ong Quo, Beulah (1947)."The Occupational Status of American-Born Chinese Male College Graduates".American Journal of Sociology.53(3): 192–200.doi:10.1086/220141.JSTOR2771303.S2CID143888462– via JSTOR.
- ^Yung, Judy (1995).Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco.University of California Press. p. 130.
- ^"East Wind: A Progressive Chinese American Voice 1945-1948".East Wind ezine.2 May 2019.Retrieved2021-04-25.
- ^Hinnershitz, Stephanie (2015).Race, Religion, and Civil Rights: Asian Students on the West Coast, 1900-1968.Rutgers University Press. p. 164.
- ^Wong, Gerrye (November 6, 2002). "Community Mourns Sudden Death of APA Actress: Beulah Quo; April 17, 1923 – Oct 23, 2002".Asian Week.
- ^"Beulah Quo".IMDb.
- ^"Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search".google.com.
- ^"The O. Henry Prize Stories".www.randomhouse.com.Retrieved20 November2017.
- ^"About".East West Players.
- ^Horwitz, Jane,Washington Post"Taming the 'Tiger,' In Shepherdstown, WVA, Beulah Quo Sinks Her Teeth Into a Fiercely Demanding Role", 7/21/1998
- ^Liu, Judith (2000). "Heading East: California's Asian Pacific Experience: A Traveling Photographic Exhibit (review)".Journal of Asian American Studies.3(1): 122–123.doi:10.1353/jaas.2000.0011.S2CID144717349.Project MUSE14579.
- ^"Meeting of Minds: Volume 7 by Steve Allen on Audio Download".learnoutloud.com.
- ^"Beulah Quo".Television Academy.
- ^"Articles about James Wong Howe - Los Angeles Times".Los Angeles Times.Archived fromthe originalon June 19, 2015.
External links
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| Artists | |
