Examples of yellowface

Examples of yellowface mainly include the portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater, though this can also encompass other Western media. It used to be the norm in Hollywood that East Asian characters were played by white actors, often using makeup to approximate East Asian facial characteristics, a practice known as yellowface.

American media portrayals of East Asians have reflected a dominant Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors.^[1] Yellowface relies on stereotypes of East Asians in the United States.

Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, and Madame Butterfly

Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan were the most common East Asian characters in film and television of the mid-20th century, and they were almost always played by white actors in yellowface, although Asian actors did portray the Chan character in three silent film productions.^[2] (Swedish actor Warner Oland, the first Charlie Chan in sound films, did not use yellowface. He was considered to look Asian, and was typecast in such roles from early in his career.) An updated film version of Charlie Chan was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and ... a martial-arts master",^[3] but the film did not come to fruition.^[3]
Madame Butterfly, an opera about a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American sailor who leaves her, and when he returns with an American wife, the devastated Cio-Cio San commits suicide. This immensely popular opera is often performed with a non-East Asian singer playing the role of Cio-Cio San.

Before the Civil Rights Movement

Year	Title	Actor(s) and Role(s)	Director	Notes
1915	Madame Butterfly	Mary Pickford as Cio-Cio San	Sidney Olcott	Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles
1918	The Forbidden City	Norma Talmadge as San San Toy E. Alyn Warren as Wong Li Michael Rayle as The Mandarin L. Rogers Lytton as Chinese Emperor	Sidney Franklin
1919	Broken Blossoms	Richard Barthelmess as Cheng Huan	D.W. Griffith
1919	Mr. Wu	Matheson Lang as Mr. Wu Meggie Albanesi as Nang Ping	Maurice Elvey	British version
1922	The Vermilion Pencil	Ann May as Tse Chan's wife Bessie Love as Hyacinth Sidney Franklin as Fu Wong	Norman Dawn	Many of the film's leading roles are white actors donning yellowface to play Asian roles
1923	The Purple Dawn	Bessie Love as Mui Far Edward Peil Sr. as Wong Chong, the Tong leader	Charles R. Seeling
1927	Mr. Wu	Lon Chaney as Mr. Wu Renée Adorée as Wu Nang Ping	William Nigh	American version
1928	Spione (Spies)	Lupu Pick as Doctor Akira Masimoto	Fritz Lang	A German spy thriller Romanian-German actor Pick plays the Japanese diplomat; his three couriers are played by Asian actors
1928	The Crimson City	Myrna Loy as Onoto	Archie Mayo
1929	The Black Watch	Myrna Loy as Yasmani	John Ford
1931–1949	Charlie Chan film series	Warner Oland as Charlie Chan		Warner Oland: 1931-1937 Sidney Toler: 1937-1946 Roland Winters: 1946-1949
1932	The Hatchet Man	Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young	William A. Wellman	Makeup artists had noticed that audiences were more likely to reject Western actors in Asian disguise if the faces of actual Asians were in near proximity. Rather than cast the film with all Asian actors, which would have then meant no star names to attract American audiences, studios simply eliminated most of the Asian actors from the cast.^[4]
1932	Frisco Jenny	Helen Jerome Eddy	William A. Wellman	Helen Jerome Eddy, portrays Frisco Jenny's loyal servant Amah. Although not a success on the original release, in recent years, Frisco Jenny has been among the pre-Code films rediscovered and re-evaluated thanks to theatrical revivals and cable television screenings.^[5]
1932	The Mask of Fu Manchu	Myrna Loy as Fah Lo See	Charles Brabin Charles Vidor
1932	Thirteen Women	Myrna Loy	George Archainbaud	Ursula Georgi (Myrna Loy), a half-Javanese Eurasian woman who was subjected to harsh bigotry from the other women during her school days due to her mixed-race heritage. Georgi exacts revenge by using a suborned swami to manipulate the women into killing themselves or each other. Not a popular success either critically or financially, Thirteen Women has achieved a "cult classic" status in recent years. A pre-Code era film, modern critics have stated that its theme was ahead of its time and out of step with the tastes of 1930s cinema patrons.^[6]
1933	The Bitter Tea of General Yen	Nils Asther	Frank Capra	General Yen was a box office failure upon its release and has since been overshadowed by Capra's later efforts. In recent years, the film has grown in critical acclaim. In 2000, the film was chosen by British film critic Derek Malcolm as one of the hundred best films in The Century of Films. According to a New York Times review, Nils Asther's make-up is impressive, with slanting eyes and dark skin. He talks with a foreign accent.^[7] Toshia Mori who in 1932 became the only Asian actress to be selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star, an annual list of young and promising film actresses, was billed third in the film's credits, behind Barbara Stanwyck and Asther. This was her most significant film role; she returned to minor characters in her subsequent films.
1934	The Mysterious Mr. Wong	Bela Lugosi	William Nigh	Bela Lugosi stars as Mr. Wong, a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. They did not even bother to disguise Lugosi's thick Hungarian accent. It was directed by William Nigh, who three years later directed Boris Karloff in the Mr. Wong detective films.
1936	Broken Blossoms	Emlyn Williams as Cheng Huan	John Brahm	Remake
1937	The Good Earth	Paul Muni as Wang Lung Luise Rainer as O-Lan All of the Lead Roles	Sidney Franklin	All of the lead roles were played by actors in yellowface while all the extras and minor roles were played by Asians. Luise Rainer won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as O-Lan.
1937	Lost Horizon	H.B. Warner	Frank Capra	H.B. Warner as Chang, an ancient Chinese man who rescues the plane crash survivors and takes them to Shangri-La. Warner lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor to Joseph Schildkraut for The Life of Emile Zola.^[8]
1937–1939	Mr. Moto film series	Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto film series		Between 1937 and 1939 eight motion pictures were produced by 20th Century Fox starring Peter Lorre as Mr. Kentaro Moto. Unlike in the novels, Moto is the central character, wears glasses, and no longer has gold teeth. He is still impeccably dressed in primarily Western suits, only wearing a yukata when he is relaxing at home. The stories are action-oriented due to Moto's liberal use of judo (only hinted at in the novels) and due to his tendency to wear disguises.
1938	Shadows Over Shanghai	Paul Sutton	Charles Lamont	Paul Sutton is in yellowface and portrays a Japanese officer. Victor Sen Yung changed his name to Victor Young.
1939	Island of Lost Men	Anthony Quinn	Kurt Neumann	Anthony Quinn is in yellowface and portrays Chang Tai, a "Chinese" agent.
1939	The Mystery of Mr. Wong	Boris Karloff	William Nigh	Boris Karloff was in yellowface as the detective. Amongst the Asians in the background: Chester Gan, Lotus Long as the maid, Lee Tung Foo as Mr. Wong's Butler and door opener.
1940	The Letter	Gale Sondergaard	William Wyler	Sondergaard plays a Eurasian, a trope of the Dragonlady. Variety said, "Sondergaard is the perfect mask-like threat".^[9]
1942	Little Tokyo, U.S.A.	Harold Huber as Takimura, American-born spy for Tokyo, June Duprez as Teru	Otto Brower	While other works had used Asian make-up to ridicule or vilify Asian features, this B movie used yellowface directly to deny a group of Asian Americans their civil rights.^[10] Twentieth Century-Fox seized on one of the most controversial aspects of the homefront, the roundup and internment of people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. Little Tokyo basically developed the theme that anyone of Japanese descent, including American citizens, was loyal to the emperor of Japan and a potential traitor to America.^[11]^[12] The movie employed a quasi-documentary style of filming. Twentieth Century sent its cameramen to the Japanese quarter of Los Angeles to shoot the actual evacuation. However, after the evacuation, night shots were difficult in the deserted "Little Tokyo". Night scenes were filmed in Chinatown instead. Chinese actor Richard Loo played one of the lead Japanese roles in the film.
1943	Batman	J. Carrol Naish	Lambert Hillyer	J. Carrol Naish is in yellowface and portrays Dr. Tito Daka, a Japanese mad scientist. The speaking roles of Japanese Navy sailors were also played by actors of non-Japanese descent in yellowface.^{[citation needed]}
1944	Dragon Seed	Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston, Aline MacMahon, Turhan Bey, Agnes Moorehead, J. Carrol Naish, and Hurd Hatfield	Harold S. Bucquet and Jack Conway	Based on a best-selling book by Pearl S. Buck, the film portrays a peaceful village in China that has been invaded by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The men in the village choose to adopt a peaceful attitude toward their conquerors, but Jade (played by Hepburn), a headstrong woman, stands up to the Japanese. Aline MacMahon was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. In Lion of Hollywood author Scott Eyman wrote that this was one of the worst of all MGM pictures (p. 364).^[13]
1946	Anna and the King of Siam	Rex Harrison, Linda Darnell, and Gale Sondergaard	John Cromwell	At the 19th Academy Awards ceremony, the film received two Oscars; for Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction (Lyle R. Wheeler, William S. Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes)^[14] Gale Sondergaard was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
1946	Ziegfeld Follies	Fred Astaire and Lucille Bremer	Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney, Charles Walters	Limehouse Blues: Conceived as a "dramatic pantomime" with Astaire as a proud but poverty-stricken Chinese labourer whose infatuation with the unattainable Bremer leads to tragedy. The story serves as bookends for a dream ballet inspired by Chinese dance motifs.
1955	Blood Alley	Anita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix, and Mike Mazurki	William A. Wellman	Despite the star power of its lead actors and director, Blood Alley received a lukewarm reception from critics.^[15] The New York Times proclaimed, "Blood Alley, despite its exotic, oriental setting, is a standard chase melodrama patterned on a familiar blueprint."^[16] Far better were Paul Fix, Berry Kroeger, and Anita Ekberg, who weren't the most convincing "Chinese" in the world but who seem to fit right in with the blood-and-thunder proceedings.^[17]
1955	Love is a Many Splendored Thing	Jennifer Jones	Henry King	Set in 1949–50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter (played by William Holden), who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from Mainland China (played by Jennifer Jones), only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong society. Apart from Jennifer Jones, the rest of the family were cast with East Asian actors. The film won Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, Color, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Music, Song (for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster for "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing"). It was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jennifer Jones), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color (Lyle Wheeler, George Davis, Walter M. Scott, Jack Stubbs), Best Cinematography, Color, Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording.^[18]
1956	The Conqueror	John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, Thomas Gomez, and others	Dick Powell	The picture was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s). Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast. (He was so "honored" by The Golden Turkey Awards.)
1956	The King and I	Yul Brynner and Rita Moreno	Walter Lang	Brynner (who was born in Asia, in Vladivostok,^[19] which is now in Russia, and has both European and Asian ancestry including Swiss and Mongolian Buryat) reprised his role as King Mongut of Siam from the original Broadway production. Moreno, who is of Puerto-Rican heritage, played Tuptim. The film was banned in Thailand (formerly Siam in King Mongkut's days).
1956	The Teahouse of the August Moon	Marlon Brando	Daniel Mann	Brando spent two hours a day for the standard prosthetic eyepieces and makeup. His role was made all the more noticeable because he is the only actor in yellowface in a sea of Asian extras and secondary characters.^[20] Brando actually attempted an "authentic" Japanese accent and he even has some Japanese dialogue.
1957	Sayonara	Ricardo Montalbán as Nakamura	Joshua Logan	A movie dealing with racism, prejudice, and interracial marriage in post war Japan
1958	The Quiet American (1958 version)	Giorgia Moll as Phuong	Joseph L. Mankiewicz	Adaptation of Graham Green's novel.
1958	The Inn of the Sixth Happiness	Curd Jürgens and Robert Donat	Mark Robson	The two leads, British actor Robert Donat and German actor Curt Juergens, portrayed Chinese characters. The filmmakers have also been criticised for casting Ingrid Bergman, a tall woman with a Swedish accent, as Gladys Aylward who was in fact short and had a cockney accent.
1961	Breakfast at Tiffany's	Mickey Rooney	Blake Edwards	Rooney's performance of Japanese character Mr. Yunioshi was later criticized in subsequent years as an offensive stereotype.^[21]^[22] The 2009 DVD re-release of the film included "a brief and necessary featurette on the character of Mr. Yunioshi, offering an Asian perspective on yellowface".^[23]
1961	The Devil's Daffodil	Christopher Lee as Ling Chu	Ákos Ráthonyi
1961	The Terror of the Tongs	Christopher Lee as Chung King and others	Anthony Bushell
1961	Flower Drum Song	Juanita Hall as Madame Liang	Henry Koster	This movie was unusual for its time in featuring nearly all Asian-American cast members, including dancers, though two of the singing voices were not Asian ones. Starring in this movie were Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, James Hong, Reiko Sato, and original Broadway cast members Jack Soo and Miyoshi Umeki. The only non-Asian cast member playing an Asian role was African-American actress Juanita Hall, who had played the same role in the Broadway cast. Her role in the film had originally been cast with Anna May Wong, but Wong became ill in December 1960 and had to be replaced. The film and stage play were based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese-American author C.Y. Lee. In 2008, Flower Drum Song was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[24]
1962	The Manchurian Candidate	Henry Silva	John Frankenheimer
1962	A Majority of One	Alec Guinness	Mervyn LeRoy
1962	Dr. No	Joseph Wiseman, Zena Marshall, Marguerite LeWars	Terence Young	In the first James Bond film Canadian actor Joseph Wiseman played the titular villain, self-described as half-Chinese and half-German. Kenyan-born English actress Zena Marshall played the villainess Miss Taro. White Jamaican model Marguerite LeWars played the minor role of photographer Annabel Chung.
1962	God's Chessboard	Dorothy Dandridge and others	Christian-Jacque	Early unfinished version of Marco the Magnificent (see below). African American actress Dorothy Dandridge played Empress Zaire in yellowface makeup.
1963	55 Days at Peking	Flora Robson	Nicholas Ray
1963	Have Gun - Will Travel	Bethel Leslie, William Schallert	Richard Boone	Bethel Leslie in two roles in the episode, "The Lady of the Fifth Moon", as well as William Schallert appeared in yellowface makeup in this episode which is full of stereotypical dialog with Schallert narrating the episode presenting his voice in an East Asian stereotypical pitch and accent.
1964	7 Faces of Dr. Lao	Tony Randall	George Pal
1965	Pierrot le fou	Anna Karina	Jean-Luc Godard	Lead actress Anna Karina donned yellowface makeup during a mid-film skit satirizing the American involvement in the Vietnam War.
1965	Genghis Khan	Robert Morley, James Mason and others	Henry Levin
1965	Marco the Magnificent	Anthony Quinn, Robert Hossein and others	Denys de La Patellière, Noël Howard	Adventure film based on the travels of Marco Polo. Anthony Quinn plays Kublai Khan.
1965	The Face of Fu Manchu	Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu	Don Sharp
1965	Gilligan's Island	Vito Scotti	Alan Crosland, Jr., Christian Nyby	Scotti portrayed a Japanese sailor who was not aware that World War II had ended in two episodes: "So Sorry, My Island Now" (Season 1, Ep 15) and "Diogenes, Won't You Please Go Home" (S1 E31).
1965	The Return of Mr. Moto	Henry Silva	Ernest Morris	In 1965, Mr. Moto's character was revived in a low-budget Robert Lippert production filmed in England starring Henry Silva. In Mr. Moto Returns, a.k.a. The Return of Mr. Moto, Mr. I.A. Moto is now a member of Interpol. The extremely tall Silva conveyed an almost James Bond-like playboy character; in the fight scenes he is clearly not proficient in martial arts. He speaks in a lazy 'Beatnik' manner. Nowhere in the film is it even mentioned that Moto is Japanese. He is referred to as an "oriental" and, oddly, in the trailer, Moto is referred to as a "swinging Chinese cat". It is only when he is disguised as a Japanese oil representative, Mr. Takura, that a more stereotypical portrayal of a Japanese businessman is given.
1965-1966	Get Smart	Leonard Strong and Joey Forman	Paul Bogart, Gary Nelson	Leonard Strong guest stars as "The Claw" in two episodes of season 1; "Diplomat's Daughter" and "The Amazing Harry Hoo", where he would pronounce his name as "The Craw" due to his stereotypical inability to pronounce the letter L, and would angrily respond "Not Craw, Craw!" whenever addressed by his mispronounced name. He is joined by Joey Forman in "The Amazing Harry Hoo", who plays the role of "Detective Harry Hoo", a parody of Charlie Chan. Forman reprises his role as Harry Hoo in the season 2 episode: "Hoo Done It".
1966	7 Women	Woody Strode and Mike Mazurki	John Ford
1966	The Brides of Fu Manchu	Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu	Don Sharp
1967	The Time Tunnel	Arthur Batanides, Vitina Marcus, and others	Sobey Martin	The episode "Attack of the Barbarians" takes place in 13th century East Asia and all Mongol characters, including Batu Khan are played by white actors in makeup.
1967	The Vengeance of Fu Manchu	Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu	Jeremy Summers
1968	Bewitched	Richard Haydn	R. Robert Rosenbaum	Haydn portrays Japanese businessman, Kenzu Mishimoto in "A Majority of Two" (Season 4, Episode 29).
1968	The Blood of Fu Manchu	Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu	Jesús Franco
1968-1969	Hawaii Five-O	Ricardo Montalban, Mark Lenard	Alvin Ganzer, Nicholas Colasanto	Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban plays Japanese crime lord Tokura in the first season episode "Samurai". White American actor Mark Lenard plays a Japanese ninja in the second season episode "To Hell with Babe Ruth".
1969	The Castle of Fu Manchu	Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu	Jesús Franco

After the Civil Rights Movement

Note: This is also after the anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the United States of America that prevented East Asian actors from playing opposite white actors as love interests.

Year	Title	Actor(s) and Role(s)	Director	Notes
1970	The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go	James Mason as Y.Y. Go	Burgess Meredith
1972	The Paul Lynde Show	Ray Walston as Mr. Temura	George Tyne	Season 1, Episode 11: "Meet Aunt Charlotte"^[25]
1972–1975	Kung Fu	David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine		David Carradine wore yellowface makeup to look Eurasian
1973	Lost Horizon	John Gielgud as Chang Charles Boyer as The High Lama	Charles Jarrott
1974	Arabian Nights	Salvatore Sapienza as Prince Yunan	Pier Paolo Pasolini	Film commentator Tony Rayns said this casting decision was likely done because the native Nepalese actors would probably have taken issue with being nude on film
1975	One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing	Peter Ustinov and others	Robert Stevenson
1975	The White, the Yellow, and the Black	Tomas Milian as Sakura ("The Yellow")	Sergio Corbucci
1975	Vivát, Benyovszky!	Ferenc Zenthe and others	Igor Ciel	Czechoslovak-Hungarian TV series about the life of traveler and writer Maurice Benyovszky. The Asian characters are played by Hungarian, Czech and Slovak actors in makeup.
1976	Murder by Death	Peter Sellers	Robert Moore	Peter Sellers plays Inspector Sidney Wang, based on Charlie Chan and appropriately accompanied by his adopted, Japanese son Willie (Richard Narita). Wang wears elaborate Chinese costumes, and his grammar is frequently criticized by the annoyed host much the same way that Inspector Clouseau. It could be argued that Sellers' role is in itself a parody of yellowface casting in earlier films.
1977	Doctor Who	John Bennett as Li H'sen Chang^[26]	David Maloney	Serial: The Talons of Weng-Chiang
1980	The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu	Peter Sellers	Piers Haggard Peter Sellers Richard Quine	This is the last Fu Manchu created.
1980	Flash Gordon	Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming	Mike Hodges	Ming the Merciless is the sci fi version of Fu Manchu.
1981	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	Peter Ustinov as Charlie Chan	Clive Donner	In 1980, Jerry Shylock proposed a multimillion-dollar comedy film, to be called Charlie Chan and the Dragon Lady. A group calling itself C.A.N. (Coalition of Asians to Nix) was formed, protesting the fact that two white actors, Peter Ustinov and Angie Dickinson, had been cast in the primary roles. Others protested that the film itself contained a number of stereotypes; Shylock responded that the film was not a documentary.^[27] The film was released the following year as Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen and was an "abysmal failure".^[28] More successful was Wayne Wang's Chan Is Missing (1982), which was a spoof of the older Chan films.^[3]
1981	Raiders of the Lost Ark	Malcolm Weaver as "The Ratty Nepalese"	Steven Spielberg	Malcolm Weaver plays a Nepalese man at 36:56 in.
1982	The Year of Living Dangerously	Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan	Peter Weir	Actress Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of an Asian man.^[29]
1983	Reilly, Ace of Spies	David Suchet as Inspector Tsientsin	Martin Campbell	British ITV television mini-series Episode 2: "Prelude to War"; Suchet dons eyelid makeup/prosthetics to play the Chinese character, who remarks on the disadvantages of "not being white".
1983	Go for It	Jeff Moldovan as "Charlie Chan"	Enzo Barboni	Italian spy comedy film. Venezuelan-American stuntman Jeff Moldovan plays an East Asian martial artist henchman nicknamed "Charlie Chan".
1983	Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre	Mick Jagger as the Chinese Emperor, Barbara Hershey as the Maid, Edward James Olmos as the Prime Minister, and others	Ivan Passer	Season 2 episode 2 "The Nightingale" features a cast of mostly white actors in yellowface makeup playing Chinese characters.
1984	The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai	Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai	W.D. Richter	Buckaroo Banzai is supposed to be half-Japanese, with a Japanese father played by James Saito and American mother played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
1985	Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins	Joel Grey as Chiun	Guy Hamilton	Film based on the Destroyer book series. Joel Grey garnered a Saturn Award and a second Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his yellowface portrayal.
1987	Kung Fu: The Next Generation	David Darlow as Kwai Chang Caine	Tony Wharmby	The role of Asian character Kwai Chang Caine was originally played by David Carradine. Carradine was replaced by Israeli-American actor David Darlow.^[30]
1988	Remo Williams: The Prophecy	Roddy McDowell as Chiun	Christian I. Nyby II	TV pilot for a spin-off of Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins where Roddy McDowell plays Chiun, an asian martial arts instructor
1991	Twin Peaks	Piper Laurie as Mr Tojamura (a disguise worn by Catherine Martell)	Mark Frost, David Lynch	Episodes 11 through 14. Catherine Martell who is presumed dead in a fire inexplicably returns as Mr. Tojamura, a Japanese banker who offers to buy the Great Northern Hotel. Laurie wears both prosthetics and makeup to portray Mr Tojamura.
1994	Sabotage	Adam Yauch	Spike Jonze	Beastie Boys music video.
1996–1998	Tracey Takes On...	Tracey Ullman as Mrs. Noh Nang Ning		Ullman wore prosthetics to make her look East Asian.
1997	The Pest	John Leguizamo	Paul Miller	Leguizamo sings and dances dressed in East Asian disguise for film's opening.
1997–2002	MADtv	Alex Borstein and guest star role Susan Sarandon as Ms. Swan^[31]
1998	Something Stupid	Magda Szubanski as Chu Yang Phat		Magda Szubanski plays Chu Yang Phat, the host of a Chinese variety show called Rei-Jing. Szubanski wore a black wig, and donned a stereotypical Chinese accent.
1999-2002	Ushi & Van Dijk	Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki		Dutch TV show in which Dutch actress Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki, a Japanese journalist. The show had local versions in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Hungary.^[32]^[33]^[34]

21st century

Year	Title	Actor(s)	Director	Notes
2003	Micukó: A világ ferde szemmel	Judit Stahl as Micukó		Hungarian version of Ushi & Van Dijk. Canceled after Hungarian TV channel TV2 received protest letters from the Embassy of Japan in Budapest, claiming the program was discriminatory towards the Japanese people.^[35]^[36]
2003	Oumi	Mi Ridell as Oumi		Swedish version of Ushi & Van Dijk
2004	Noriko Show	Outi Mäenpää as Noriko Saru		Finnish version of Ushi & Van Dijk
2005	Little Britain	Matt Lucas as Ting Tong Macadangdang	Declan Lowney	Matt Lucas plays Ting Tong, a kathoey mail-order bride. The character repeats such catchphrases as "Please Mr. Dudley!" (in a stereotypical accent) "My name Ting Tong, Ting Tong Macadangdang." "Did you have good time?" The character also appeared in Little Britain Abroad (2006)
2005	We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year	Chris Lilley as Ricky Wong		We Can Be Heroes: Finding The Australian of the Year is an Australian Television series, Ricky Wong is a 23-year-old Chinese physics student who lives in the suburb of Wheelers Hill, Melbourne, Victoria. He is often exuberant and tells his colleagues that "Physics is Phun" and that they are in the "Wong" laboratory. This character is largely a vehicle for parodying the stereotypical "Chinese overachiever", or model migrant.
2006	Cloud 9	Paul Rodriguez as Mr. Wong		Cloud 9
2007	Balls of Fury	Christopher Walken as Feng	Ben Garant	Feng is a parody of the yellow peril and Fu Manchu stereotype.
2007	Norbit	Eddie Murphy as Mr. Wong	Brian Robbins	For his portrayal Eddie Murphy received a Golden Raspberry Award. Worst Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy; as Mr. Wong)^[37]
2007	Grindhouse	Nicolas Cage as Dr. Fu Manchu	Rob Zombie	Fake Trailer: Werewolf Women of the SS^{[citation needed]}
2007	I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry	Rob Schneider as Morris Takechi	Dennis Dugan	Schneider's use of prosthetics for his role were criticized as an offensive stereotype.^[38] Nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor but lost to Eddie Murphy.
2008	My Name Is Bruce	Ted Raimi as Wing	Bruce Campbell
2009	Crank: High Voltage	David Carradine as Poon Dong	Neveldine/Taylor	Poon Dong, played by David Carradine, is the head of the Chinese Triad. The name of the character is a pun, being both a stereotypical Chinese-sounding name and slang for genitalia.
2009	Chanel – Paris – Shanghai A Fantasy – The Short Movie	Freja Beha, Baptiste Giabiconi	Karl Lagerfeld	Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face.^[39] Lagerfeld defended this as a reference to old films. "It is an homage to Europeans trying to look Chinese", he explained. "Like in The Good Earth, the people in the movie liked the idea that they had to look like Chinese. Or like actors in Madame Butterfly. People around the world like to dress up as different nationalities." "It is about the idea of China, not the reality."^[40] Chinese persons played the maid, a courtesan and background characters.^{[citation needed]}
2009	Hanger	Wade Gibb as Russell	Ryan Nicholson	A black comedy in which a Chinese man with Down syndrome is portrayed by a White actor under heavy prosthetics and make-up.
2009	Ushi & Dushi	Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki		Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2010–2011	Come Fly with Me	David Walliams and Matt Lucas as Asuka and Nanako	Paul King	Walliams and Lucas play two Japanese girls who have flown to the airport to see their idol, Martin Clunes.
2010	Ushi & Loesie	Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki		Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2011-2012	Ushi & The Family	Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki		Spin-off from Ushi & Van Dijk
2011	Angry Boys	Chris Lilley as Jen Okazaki		Jen Okazaki is the mother of fictional teen skateboarding superstar, Tim Okazaki, who live in the city of Santa Barbara, California after migrating from Japan. Jen is portrayed as a stereotypical tiger mum, often pushing her son with extremely strict homeschooling and training regimes. She also has excessive control on Tim's skateboarding career, marketing him as not only a cute Japanese boy, but as a homosexual, of which she monetises by selling phallic merchandise under the name "GayStyle Enterprises."
2012	Cloud Atlas	Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, James D'Arcy, and Keith David	Lana and Lilly Wachowski	A significant number of cast members applied makeup, focusing mostly on the eyes, to make their features appear more Korean/East Asian in one of the film's stories. The film is based on the idea of having the same actors reappear in different roles in six different story lines, one of which is set in 'Neo Seoul' in the year 2144. The film thus also has Asian actresses Bae Doona and Zhou Xun appear in non-Asian roles, and African-American actress Halle Berry portrayed a white character. Blackface is not used in the film, however.
2012	Wrong	William Fichtner as Master Chang
2013	Ushi Must Marry	Wendy van Dijk as Ushi Hirosaki	Paul Ruven	Spin-off from Dutch TV show Ushi & Van Dijk. Last work in which Wendy van Dijk plays Ushi Hirosaki.
2013	The Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody	Danny Wylde as Glenn Rhee	Danny Wylde	A pornographic parody of The Walking Dead, controversy erupted over the character Glenn being portrayed by a White actor under heavy make-up and prosthetics.^[41]^[42]
2014	Baby Geniuses and the Treasures of Egypt	Jon Voight as Moriarty	Sean McNamara
2014	How I Met Your Mother	Cobie Smulders, Alyson Hannigan, Josh Radnor		Season 9, Episode 14 "Slapsgiving 3: Slappointment in Slapmarra"; main cast dressed as East Asian martial arts masters using stereotypical garb, makeup, and Fu Manchu moustache^[43]
2015	Aloha	Emma Stone as Alison Ng	Cameron Crowe
2016	Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie	Janette Tough as Huki Muki	Mandie Fletcher
2017	Ghost in the Shell	Scarlett Johansson as Motoko Kusanagi	Rupert Sanders	The film was criticized in the United States for casting Johansson (who is not of Japanese descent) as Motoko Kusanagi. However, some fans in Japan pointed out that Motoko Kusanagi has an artificial (cyborg) body, and thus, does not have to be ethnically Japanese.^[44] Michael Pitt also plays the villain Hideo Kuze, a role that is ethnically Japanese in the source material.

Yellowface worn by a character in a film

In some films, white characters, played by white actors, have played East Asians, often as a disguise.

Year	Title	Actor(s)	Director	Notes
1945	First Yank into Tokyo	Gordon Douglas	Tom Neal	A US soldier undergoes plastic surgery to look Japanese in order to rescue an American scientist held in Japan.
1961	The Twilight Zone	Dean Stockwell	Buzz Kulik	Stockwell plays an American officer in World War II who mysteriously finds himself in the body of a Japanese officer three years earlier.
1962	My Geisha	Shirley MacLaine	Jack Cardiff
1965	Gendarme in New York	Louis de Funès and Geneviève Grad	Jean Girault	Officer Cruchot and his daughter Nicole disguise themselves as Chinese in one scene.
1967	You Only Live Twice	Sean Connery	Lewis Gilbert	James Bond disguises himself as a Japanese bridegroom in order to elude SPECTRE assassins.
1978	Revenge of the Pink Panther	Peter Sellers	Blake Edwards	Inspector Clouseau had many disguises and this included the quintessential Chinaman stereotype.
1981	Hardly Working	Jerry Lewis	Jerry Lewis
1987	Snow White	Diana Rigg	Michael Berz	The Evil Queen disguises herself as an evil geisha merchant, even going as far as to do a mock Japanese accent, to kill Snow White with poisoned combs.
1999	Galaxy Quest	Tony Shalhoub	Dean Parisot	Tony Shalhoub's character, Fred Kwan played Tech Sergeant Chen wearing yellowface makeup in the fictional 1970s TV series Galaxy Quest. Shalhoub's role is a parody of yellowface casting in the past.
2001	Vidocq	Inés Sastre	Pitof	Sastre's character, Préah, who is a dancer in a brothel, disguises as an East Asian in order to attract audience.
2008	Be Kind Rewind	Jack Black	Michel Gondry	Black's character Jerry tapes his eyes back to pretend to be Jackie Chan when recreating a scene from the film Rush Hour 2.^[45]
2008	Tropic Thunder	Robert Downey Jr.	Ben Stiller	The character of Kirk Lazarus donned yellowface to disguise himself as a Southeast Asian farmer in order to infiltrate a drug facility.
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Robert Downey Jr.	Guy Ritchie	The character of Sherlock Holmes donned yellowface to disguise himself as a Chinese man for a short while in the film.
2014	Magic in the Moonlight	Colin Firth as Wei Ling Soo	Woody Allen	Colin Firth portrays an Englishman who dons yellowface in order to pass as a Chinese illusionist.

Books about yellowface

Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (2022) by Esther Kim Lee^[46] – provides history and examples of yellowface

References

^ Kashiwabara, Amy, Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, archived from the original on September 22, 2018
^ "Charlie Chan".
^ ^a ^b ^c Sengupta, Somini (January 5, 1997). "Charlie Chan, Retooled for the '90s". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
^ "The Hatchet Man". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "Frisco Jenny". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ Basinger, Jeanine (June 16, 2008). "Few female ensemble films". Variety.
^ Hall, Mordaunt (January 12, 1933). "Radio City Music Hall Shows a Melodrama of China as Its First Pictorial Attraction". The New York Times.
^ "Lost Horizon (1937)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "The Letter". Variety. December 31, 1939. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "Selective Filmography". Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
^ Hal Erickson (2012). "Movies: About Little Tokyo, USA". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
^ "At the Palace". The New York Times. August 7, 1942.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
^ Dargis, Manohla (July 10, 2005). "'Lion of Hollywood': Mogul of Make-Believe". The New York Times.
^ "NY Times: Anna and the King of Siam". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
^ "Blood Alley". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ W, A. (October 6, 1955). "In Formosa Strait". The New York Times.
^ "Blood Alley (1955) – Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
^ "Yul Brynner". Biography. December 2, 2021.
^ Robert B. Ito. "Bright Lights Film Journal :: "A Certain Slant": A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface". Brightlightsfilm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
^ Durant, Yvonne (June 18, 2006). "Where Holly Hung Her Ever-So-Stylish Hat". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
^ Dargis, Manohla (July 20, 2007). "Dude (Nyuck-Nyuck), I Love You (as If!)". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
^ Bell, Robert (January 12, 2009). "DVD Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's – Centennial Collection". The Trades. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
^ "'Flower Drum Song' Among 25 Films Inducted Into Registry – BWWMoviesWorld". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "The Paul Lynde Show | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
^ Deen, Sarah (March 9, 2020). "BritBox adds warning to Doctor Who episode with slurs and 'yellowface' amid racism row". Metro. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
^ Chan, Jachinson (2001). Chinese American Masculinities: from Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 0-8153-4029-X.
^ Pitts, Michael R. (1991). Famous Movie Detectives II. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 301. ISBN 0-8108-2345-4.
^ Worrell, Denise; Clarke, Gerald (April 23, 1984). "The Night off the Great Prom". Time. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
^ "Kung Fu: The Next Generation". IMDb.
^ Harris, Aisha (July 28, 2016). "The New MadTV Is Not Nearly as Offensive as the Original. Or as Interesting". Slate.
^ "Japánok a Micukó azonnali letiltásáért". index.hu (in Hungarian). May 20, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^ ""Det är ingen som känner igen mig"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). May 29, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^ "Hon rasar mot skämtshowen". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). September 7, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^ "A Micuko műsor japán szemmel". Magyar Nemzet (in Hungarian). April 25, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^ "A japánok tiltakoznak a Micuko miatt". index.hu (in Hungarian). April 19, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
^ "Gold Derby". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 2009.
^ "Review of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"". afterelton.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007.
^ "Karl Lagerfeld Talks Shanghai and Fashion – WWD Fashion Features". WWD.com. December 3, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ "Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face – The Cut". New York. December 4, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
^ Kang, Peter (January 30, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Actor's Interesting Makeup". iamkoream.com. KoreAm. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
^ Morrissey, Tracie (January 31, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Relies on Yellowface". jezebel.com. Jezebel. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
^ Botelho, Greg (January 16, 2014). "Asian-Americans up in arms over 'How I Met Your Mother' episode". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
^ "Scarlett Johansson in 'Ghost in the Shell': Japanese Industry, Fans Surprised by "Whitewashing" Outrage". The Hollywood Reporter. April 19, 2016.
^ Bradshaw, Peter (February 22, 2008). "Be Kind Rewind". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
^ Lee, Esther Kim (July 11, 2022). Made-Up Asians. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-07543-0.

[vanishing-1] Kashiwabara, Amy, Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, archived from the original on September 22, 2018

[2] "Charlie Chan".

[Sengupta-3] Sengupta, Somini (January 5, 1997). "Charlie Chan, Retooled for the '90s". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2009.

[4] "The Hatchet Man". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[5] "Frisco Jenny". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[6] Basinger, Jeanine (June 16, 2008). "Few female ensemble films". Variety.

[7] Hall, Mordaunt (January 12, 1933). "Radio City Music Hall Shows a Melodrama of China as Its First Pictorial Attraction". The New York Times.

[8] "Lost Horizon (1937)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[9] "The Letter". Variety. December 31, 1939. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[10] "Selective Filmography". Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2014.

[11] Hal Erickson (2012). "Movies: About Little Tokyo, USA". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.

[12] "At the Palace". The New York Times. August 7, 1942.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

[13] Dargis, Manohla (July 10, 2005). "'Lion of Hollywood': Mogul of Make-Believe". The New York Times.

[NY_Times-14] "NY Times: Anna and the King of Siam". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2008.

[15] "Blood Alley". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[16] W, A. (October 6, 1955). "In Formosa Strait". The New York Times.

[17] "Blood Alley (1955) – Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[18] "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.

[19] "Yul Brynner". Biography. December 2, 2021.

[20] Robert B. Ito. "Bright Lights Film Journal :: "A Certain Slant": A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface". Brightlightsfilm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

[21] Durant, Yvonne (June 18, 2006). "Where Holly Hung Her Ever-So-Stylish Hat". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.

[22] Dargis, Manohla (July 20, 2007). "Dude (Nyuck-Nyuck), I Love You (as If!)". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.

[23] Bell, Robert (January 12, 2009). "DVD Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's – Centennial Collection". The Trades. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2011.

[24] "'Flower Drum Song' Among 25 Films Inducted Into Registry – BWWMoviesWorld". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[25] "The Paul Lynde Show | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 1, 2020.

[26] Deen, Sarah (March 9, 2020). "BritBox adds warning to Doctor Who episode with slurs and 'yellowface' amid racism row". Metro. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.

[27] Chan, Jachinson (2001). Chinese American Masculinities: from Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 0-8153-4029-X.

[28] Pitts, Michael R. (1991). Famous Movie Detectives II. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 301. ISBN 0-8108-2345-4.

[Worrell-29] Worrell, Denise; Clarke, Gerald (April 23, 1984). "The Night off the Great Prom". Time. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2009.

[30] "Kung Fu: The Next Generation". IMDb.

[31] Harris, Aisha (July 28, 2016). "The New MadTV Is Not Nearly as Offensive as the Original. Or as Interesting". Slate.

[32] "Japánok a Micukó azonnali letiltásáért". index.hu (in Hungarian). May 20, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.

[33] ""Det är ingen som känner igen mig"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). May 29, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.

[34] "Hon rasar mot skämtshowen". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). September 7, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.

[35] "A Micuko műsor japán szemmel". Magyar Nemzet (in Hungarian). April 25, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.

[36] "A japánok tiltakoznak a Micuko miatt". index.hu (in Hungarian). April 19, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.

[37] "Gold Derby". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 2009.

[38] "Review of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"". afterelton.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007.

[39] "Karl Lagerfeld Talks Shanghai and Fashion – WWD Fashion Features". WWD.com. December 3, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[40] "Karl Lagerfeld Opened His Pre-Fall Show in Shanghai With a Film That Included Yellow Face – The Cut". New York. December 4, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

[41] Kang, Peter (January 30, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Actor's Interesting Makeup". iamkoream.com. KoreAm. Retrieved September 6, 2013.

[42] Morrissey, Tracie (January 31, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Relies on Yellowface". jezebel.com. Jezebel. Retrieved September 6, 2013.

[43] Botelho, Greg (January 16, 2014). "Asian-Americans up in arms over 'How I Met Your Mother' episode". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2019.

[44] "Scarlett Johansson in 'Ghost in the Shell': Japanese Industry, Fans Surprised by "Whitewashing" Outrage". The Hollywood Reporter. April 19, 2016.

[45] Bradshaw, Peter (February 22, 2008). "Be Kind Rewind". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.

[46] Lee, Esther Kim (July 11, 2022). Made-Up Asians. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-07543-0.

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