Barbara Jean Wong

Barbara Jean Wong was a fourth generation ChineseAmerican born to produce market owners Thomas and Maye Wong on March 3 1924 She began her performance career at the age of five and was soon dubbed the ChineseAmerican Shirley Temple due to her long black hair curled into ringlets and her charming persona She attended the University of Southern California USC and Columbia University to earn degrees in drama and English After college she branched into films and worked in 20 films including The Good Earth The Man from Button Willow Love is a Many Splendored Thing and many Charlie Chan films When Barbara Jean was married she retired from acting and earned her teaching credential from Cal State Los Angeles to begin serving her community as a teacher She was very active in civic organizations throughout her life and died of respiratory illness on November 13 1999