
            Tsai Chin's role in The Joy Luck Club was groundbreaking and changed forever the portrayal of Asian Americans, especially women, in American culture. But this benchmark was not an easy or obvious one for Tsai Chin. It came after a life filled with ups and downs, the peaks of fame and fortune and the lows of loneliness and anonymity.
Tsai Chin was born in 1933 in China, "on the road" with the Peking Opera crew led by her father, the grand master Zhou Xinfang. Tsai was raised on and behind stages. In 1953 she moved to London, and became the first ever Chinese student at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Leaving China in those days was very unusual and a privilege saved for a select few.
After leaving, Tsai never saw her father again. Both her parents were brutally killed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. "I think it's terrible to say this, but I think it made me a better actor." At RADA, she was expected to be quiet, small and submissive. "There were people there who said - 'You will never get a job when you get out of here'. But inside me I already knew. I will show you." Expectations were never something to stop this tenacious woman. Even at the cost of huge sacrifices. At the age of 19 she had a son but decided to leave him. As she said, "I wanted a career and in those days you could not be both."
Her first job was as a presenter for the Taiwanese opera. After her first performance, the critics couldn't get enough of her. Her career skyrocketed overnight. Tsai Chin's little brother, Michael Chow, traveled with her to London in 1953. To this day she feels she deserves credit for his success with the chain of restaurants he opened in the '70s in London and LA, the famous "Mr. Chow's".
When Tsai first started acting in the UK and the US, Asians were given minor stereotypical roles, especially women who were mainly portrayed as small, submissive and exotic, usually typed cast as 'bimbos'. She was a Bond Girl twice and was the only Chinese to have played in both in the West End and Broadway. In the UK her fame was growing and in 1962 she was given a record deal at the iconic Decca and recorded "The World of Tsai Chin". Tsai was on top of the world. She led an extravagant lifestyle.
However, that success didn't last long, a chain of events led her to lose everything. Her homes were repossessed and she was left with nothing. Tsai turned to her brother for help, but she claims his attitude was insulting. Their relationship hit rock bottom as Michael had her sleeping on the floor. "He humiliated me and wanted to control me. One day I said goodbye. He turned white, he thought he had me." Tsai made the decision to leave LA and never look back. She moved to Boston and took a clerical job at Harvard University. As far as she was concerned, her acting days were behind her.
For almost 20 years she disappeared from the public eye until one day she was invited back to China to teach. It was 1981, and the country was just opening up to the world after the Cultural Revolution. She was welcomed with great honor as a famous actress and as the daughter of Zhou Xinfang, the Master of Peking Opera.
Following her visit to China, in 1989 Tsai gets a renewed wave of recognition and is cast in David Henry Hwang's 'M. Butterfly' in London's West End alongside Anthony Hopkins. During that time, Amy Tan, the author of 'The Joy Luck Club' offers her a role in the film. Her role in 'The Joy Luck Club' was groundbreaking as it was the first time Asian Americans were featured in leading roles as round characters and as individuals. It gave Asian Americans a real, authentic representation they could relate to and identify with. Tsai was back. This time with a purpose. She became the go-to actress for the Asian mother role and became a sort of matriarch and mentor to young Asian actresses.
    

Daughter of Shanghai


            
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