THE WORLD OF NANCY KWAN

An Asian star is born.

Originally named Kwan Ka Shen, Kwan was born in Hong Kong, her father’s native city. Her British mother, Marquita, abandoned Kwan when she was a baby. Marquita’s disappearance before the beginning of World War II ushered in an era of displacement, when Kwan and her family fled the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong for mainland China. Kwan then headed to boarding school in England, where, after graduating, she enrolled in the Royal Ballet School. Although she planned to move back to Hong Kong to start a ballet school, a chance encounter at a studio led to her entry into the Hollywood star system under the tutelage of Ray Stark, founder of the Seven Arts company. After famously starring in the popular movie The World of Suzie Wong, she went on to act in everything from Disney movies to “sixties sex comedies.” Her fame propelled her through multiple marriages; she also reunited with her estranged mother and endured the death of her son, Bernie. Toward the end of her career, Kwan moved behind the camera, writing and directing films alongside her husband, Norbert. Kwan’s narratorial voice is exuberant and frank, focusing mostly on her acting career and rarely dwelling on her personal life, making the book feel more like an annotated filmography than an introspective memoir. Her behind-the-scenes accounts of the studio system are tantalizing, but the reader is often left wanting more.

An entertaining Asian American Hollywood memoir.