Lotus Long
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lotus Long (born Lotus Pearl Shibata, July 18, 1909 – September 14, 1990) was an American actress.
Long was born in New Jersey to a father of Japanese ancestry and a mother of Hawaiian ancestry. She came to Southern California during the 1920s to act in Hollywood films, and usually portrayed ethnic Asian female characters in supporting roles. She used the name "Lotus Long" for stage and film. Because of her adopted surname, people generally assumed that she was of Chinese ancestry – something she later relied on to avoid mass incarceration in American internment camps with other persons of Japanese ancestry, both legal permanent residents and American citizens, during World War II.
She appeared in the MGM docudrama Eskimo (1933) as wife of the main character. Under the stage name Lotus Long as Moonflower in the 1934 film The Mysterious Mr. Wong and as the murder victim, Princess Lin Hwa, in 1939's Mr. Wong in Chinatown. She also starred alongside Keye Luke in Phantom of Chinatown as Win Len, Dr. Benton's secretary, whereas Keye Luke played Mr. Wong, this time known as Detective James Lee Wong.
She was also credited under the name Karen Sorrell in the films Flight into Nowhere (1938) starring Jack Holt and Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938) starring Peter Lorre. She was uncredited as a "native girl" in the film The Real Glory (1939) starring Gary Cooper and David Niven.
One of her more infamous roles would be as Tokyo Rose in Lew Landers' film, Tokyo Rose (1946), which also starred Keye Luke, Edwin Luke, Richard Loo, Byron Barr, and Osa Massen.
Long had one writing and producing credit, for the film The Tahitian (1956) made with her husband, James Knott. The Tahitian was filmed on location with a largely native cast.
In Timothy Tau's short film bio-pic Keye Luke, Lotus Long is portrayed by Mei Melancon, who is also of mixed ancestry (Japanese, Chinese and French), and who was inspired by the real-life figure of Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri) to get into acting.
| Known For | Acting |
|---|---|
| Most Rating | 0.5929 |
| Birthday | 1909-07-18 |
| Place of Birth | Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA |
| Also Known As | Lotus, Karen Sorrell, Lotus Pearl Shibata, |
1940
Phantom of Chinatown
6/18
In the middle of a pictorial lecture on his recent expedition to the Mongolian Desert, Dr. John Benton,the famous explorer, drinks from the water bott...
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Phantom of Chinatown
1938
Mysterious Mr. Moto
6.2/21
The Japanese detective rounds up a league of assassins for Scotland Yard.
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Mysterious Mr. Moto
1935
The Mysterious Mr. Wong
4.346/26
Mr. Wong is a "harmless" Chinatown shopkeeper by day and relentless blood-thirsty pursuer of the Twelve Coins of Confucius by night. With possession o...
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The Mysterious Mr. Wong
1937
Think Fast, Mr. Moto
6.203/32
When his import/export business infiltrated by international diamond smugglers, Mr. Moto must follow a trail of clues littered with beautiful women, g...
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Think Fast, Mr. Moto
1939
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
5.4/24
A pretty Chinese woman, seeking help from San Francisco detective James Lee Wong, is killed by a poisoned dart in his front hall, having time only to...
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Mr. Wong in Chinatown
1939
The Mystery of Mr. Wong
5.875/24
Detective James Lee Wong must find the "Eye of the Daughter of the Moon," a priceless but cursed sapphire stolen in China and smuggled to America. His...
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The Mystery of Mr. Wong
1933
Eskimo
6.6/15
The happy life of an Eskimo is disastrously changed when he mingles with an unscrupulous white trader.
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Eskimo
1934
Sing Sing Nights
4.2/5
A respected war correspondent is found murdered, with three bullets--from three different guns--in him. Three different men are arrested, convicted an...
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Sing Sing Nights
1929
The Peacock Fan
8/1
A bumbling detective sent to investigate a murder at a ritzy home is replaced by a second investigator of mixed racial ancestry in this mystery involv...
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The Peacock Fan
1949
Rose of the Yukon
7/1
Major Geoffrey Barnett, U. S. Army Intelligence Service, is sent to Alaska, to apprehend a deserter, Tom Clark, who was presumed to be dead as a membe...
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Rose of the Yukon
1942
Flying Tigers
6.25/58
Jim Gordon commands a unit of the famed Flying Tigers, the American Volunteer Group which fought the Japanese in China before America's entry into Wor...
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Flying Tigers
1946
Tokyo Rose
7/2
Lotus Long plays the title role, an American-educated Japanese woman broadcasting enemy propaganda to American troops. Captured GI Pete Sherman is one...
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Tokyo Rose
1935
Last of the Pagans
6.667/3
Two South Sea Islanders fall in love, followed by a hurricane.
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Last of the Pagans
1936
Sea Spoilers
5/5
Bob Randall, temporarily in command of the Coast Guard vessel Niobe, expects a promotion and the captaincy of his ship. Instead, he is replaced by Lie...
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Sea Spoilers
1938
Flight Into Nowhere
5.333/3
When headstrong pilot Bill Kellogg disobeys orders and takes a plane to photograph potential landing fields in uncharted Latin American country, he en...
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Flight Into Nowhere
1937
China Passage
6.3/5
Americans Tommy Baldwin and Joe Dugan are hired to transport a fabulous diamond from Shanghai to San Francisco. They will be paid handsomely on succes...
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China Passage
1941
For Beauty's Sake
10/1
A woman-hater who inherits a beauty salon gets a new perspective on females after capturing a gang of thieves.
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