THE 80 MOST INSPIRING ASIAN AMERICANS OF ALL TIME
PAGE 5 OF 8
Nos. 1-10
Nos. 11-20
Nos. 21-30
Nos. 31-40
Nos. 41-50
Nos. 51-60
Nos. 61-70
Nos. 71-80
GOLDSEA | ASIAMS.NET | ASIAN AMERICAN PERSONALITIES
THE 80 MOST INSPIRING ASIAN AMERICANS OF ALL TIME
41. Robert Matsui
Matsui was six months old when his family was sent to the Tule Lake internment camp. Forty-six years later he was a congressman with enough stature to get fellow House democrats to vote for the Japanese American Redress Act. As a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and a democratic whip-at-large, the Sacramento native is respected for his skill in marshalling votes for progressive trade, tax, healthcare and social security bills.
42. Nancy Kwan
The World of Suzie Wong made the Eurasian beauty famous beyond her wildest dreams, but saddled her with a stigma that couldn't be fully erased by even her sparkling performance as a dazzling temptress opposite James Shigeta in Flower Drum Song. For two generations Kwan epitomized Asian beauty.
43. Joan Chen
Chen's life as China's most beloved actress ended when she immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 19. Her Lana Turner-style rediscovery while studying at Cal State Northridge and working at a Chinese restaurant led to a second act in which international audiences discovered her sex appeal, piquant beauty and considerable talents as a serious actor in The Last Emperor and Heaven and Earth. In recent years she has begun producing and directing acclaimed independent films, proving that there are indeed second -- and even third -- acts in Asian American lives.
Chin has been a trailblazer for Asian Americans in the legal profession since graduating from law school in 1967. His early stint as a deputy D.A. led to a career as one of California's first and most successful Asian trial lawyers. His pioneering role as a lawyer and judge won him appointment in 1996 as one of seven justices of the California Supreme Court.
Chow might merit mention merely for his marriages to fashion maven Grace Coddington, tragic beauty Tina Chow and fashion designer Eva Chun -- and for fathering the lovely China Chow. But that's all incidental to a life as one of the 20th century's great asthetes and trendsetters. His four decades as actor, artist, restaurateur (Mr Chow's) and designer are all the more meaningful because they reveal his passion for restoring chic, chichi and chère to things Chinese.
The startlingly youthful duo (34 and 30, respectively) shared the 1957 Physics Nobel Prize for proposing that the once sacrosanct law of parity conservation doesn't apply to weak nuclear reactions. Their revolutionary theory forced the scientific world to rethink the principles thought to unify the physical universe, earning a place for Asians at the most rarified levels of conceptual thought.
Teddy Zee worked in executive positions at various Hollywood studios before being tapped to head up the film production side of Overbrook Entertainment, Will Smith's production company. Zee's most notable achievement may be bringing Chow Yun-Fat to Hollywood as producer of The Replacement Killers, but his name is best recognized for having been the inspiration for the name of the main character of a 1989 TV sitcom based on a legendary Hollywood agent.
Ming-Na distinguishes herself on the big and small screens by combining classically ethereal Chinese beauty with a sassy, girl-next-door style. Her regular role on one of TV's most enduring shows (ER) suggests that Hollywood may not be totally blind to Asian predominance on the staffs of real hospitals.
Yamaguchi persevered despite a clubfoot condition to become an icon of supple grace and the first Asian American woman to win Olympic gold. That 1992 triumph kicked off one of figure skating's longest-lived and most celebrated amateur and professional careers, sending a generation of Asian girls to the ice.
Even critics credit Liu with turning the bit part of Ling into Ally McBeal's resident dragonlady. The resulting buzz earned her the dream role of every ascendant sex symbol: joining a trio of gutsy beauties tasked with donning skintight costumes to kick the tar out of bad men. Liu's kinetic role in the Charlie's Angels movies alongside heavyweights Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore provides potent reassurance to Asian American girls struggling with their mirrors.