Acting
Lotus Long
Lotus Long, originally named Lotus Pearl Shibata, was born on July 18, 1909, in New Jersey and passed away on September 14, 1990. She was an influential American actress known for her roles in early Hollywood films. With a father of Japanese descent and a mother from Hawaii, Long moved to Southern California in the 1920s to pursue her acting career, often taking on supporting roles as ethnic Asian characters. She adopted the stage name "Lotus Long," which led many to mistakenly assume she was of Chinese descent, a perception she leveraged to avoid the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
Long's career highlights include her appearances in the MGM docudrama *Eskimo* (1933) as the main character's wife and her portrayal of Moonflower in *The Mysterious Mr. Wong* (1934). In 1939, she played Princess Lin Hwa in *Mr. Wong in Chinatown* and starred alongside Keye Luke in *Phantom of Chinatown* as Win Len, the secretary to Detective James Lee Wong.
Additionally, Long was credited under the name Karen Sorrell in *Flight into Nowhere* (1938) and *Mysterious Mr. Moto* (1938). One of her notable performances was as Tokyo Rose in the 1946 film *Tokyo Rose*. Long also ventured into writing and producing, contributing to the film *The Tahitian* (1956), which she worked on with her husband, James Knott. Her legacy includes a portrayal by Mei Melancon in Timothy Tau's short film bio-pic *Keye Luke*, reflecting Long's lasting impact on the industry.
