Rose Quong

Rose Maud Quong (15 August 1879 – 14 December 1972) was a Chinese Australian actress, performer, and writer born in East Melbourne, Australia, to merchant Chun Quong and his wife Annie, née Moy Quong. She attended University High School in Melbourne, where she passed her matriculation exams, and at one point considered a career in medicine. From 1897 to 1919 she worked as a public servant in various clerical roles while pursuing amateur theatricals on the side, competing in theatrical competitions and performing with the Melbourne Repertory Players.

In 1924, at the age of 44, Quong won a scholarship to study drama in England. She opened in several plays that same year to strong critical notices. Over the following fifteen years she learned Mandarin, studied Chinese culture, lectured, recited Chinese poetry, and acted in England and France. Her biographer Angela Woollacott has noted that the Australian expatriate community in London embraced her, despite the aims of Australia's White Australia Policy. She made her only trip to China in 1936, where she lectured to elite audiences in Mandarin. Quong first visited the United States in 1934 on tour, returned on a lecture tour in January 1939, and subsequently settled permanently in New York City.

In the United States, Quong built her career around a series of one-woman shows comprising recitations, dramatic readings, and scenes from plays, while also delivering lectures on Chinese drama, art, and culture. She appeared on Broadway in 1958 in the musical Flower Drum Song, and also had a small part in the film adaptation of the same production. To supplement her acting income, she occasionally worked as a secretary. Her final screen role came in the 1971 film Eliza's Horoscope.

Beyond performance, Quong authored two books: Chinese Wit, Wisdom, and Written Characters, and a translation of selected stories from P'u Sung-Ling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, published under the title Chinese Ghost and Love Stories. She maintained a deep interest in Chinese philosophy, studying it throughout much of her life and frequently incorporating material from the I Ching into her presentations. She also studied yoga, astrology, and Chinese history, and was known to keep detailed reading lists and extensive notes on her reading. Rose Quong died in New York City on 14 December 1972.