Beulah Kwoh influential Asian-American actress:- Sunday, October 27, 2002
Beulah Kwoh didn't come to Hollywood for a screen test. Her intention was to be a dialect coach.
But after director Harry King interviewed her in 1955 while preparing to film the Oscar-winning movie, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," he had other ideas.
So instead of refining Jennifer Jones' Eurasian accent in her starring role opposite William Holden, Mrs. Kwoh played Jones' aunt.
For Mrs. Kwoh, a Stockton-born Asian-American, the movie launched a career as a character actress on stage, screen and television that spanned more than 45 years.
She died of heart failure Wednesday at Grossmont Hospital. She was 79.
Seven years ago, Mrs. Kwoh and her husband, Edwin, bought a home in La Mesa near that of their daughter, Mary Ellen Shu. Their main residence was in the Los Angeles area, said theirson, Stewart Kwoh.
After her appearance in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Mrs. Kwoh left her job as a sociology teacher at a Los Angeles community college to study acting. She adopted the stage name Beulah Quo, she once said, "because I got tired of being asked, 'Is KWOH a radio station?' "
During her career, she appeared in more than 20 feature films, 16 movies for television and more than 100 television shows.
Her movie credits included "Flower Drum Song," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Sand Pebbles," "Chinatown," "MacArthur," "Myra Breckinridge," "Pork Chop Hill," "Aida," "Gypsy", "China Gate," "Into the Night" and "Bad Girls."
On television, Mrs. Kwoh was a regular from 1985 to 1991 as the hip-talking housekeeper Olin on "General Hospital." Her role as the dowager empress of China, Tzu-hsi, in Steve Allen's "Meeting of the Minds" series, earned an Emmy nomination in 1978.
In 1982, she portrayed Kublai Khan's empress in "Marco Polo," an NBC miniseries.
She co-starred as a Vietnamese orphanage director in "The Children of An Lac" and played a firm-handed university dean in "Forbidden Nights." Both were CBS-TV movies.
In 1997, Mrs. Kwoh's stage role in Alice Tuan's "Ikebana" earned her a Drama Logue award.
Her stature in the Asian-American community was reinforced by several service projects and her role as the driving force behind the play, "Carry the Tiger to the Mountain."
Produced in 1998, the play by Cherylene Lee examined the 1982 death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat by two Detroit autoworkers. Mrs. Kwoh, who played Chin's mother on stage, previously led organized efforts to seek justice in the case.
In 1965, Mrs. Kwoh helped found East West Players, a pioneering Asian-American repertory group. In the late 1970s, she was instrumental in organizing the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists to create opportunities in the entertainment industry for those of Asian/Pacific descent and to promote balanced images of them on stage and screen.
Two years ago, to celebrate California's 150 years of statehood, she commissioned "Heading East," a musical celebrating the history of Asian-Americans in California.
As a producer, her crowning achievement was "James Wong Howe -- The Man and His Movies," an Emmy-winning documentary about the Chinese-American cinematographer who worked on more than 100 movies and won two Academy Awards.
In recent years, she spearheaded a fund-raising campaign that resulted in $1.7 million to build a new, 240-seat East West Players Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Previously, the organization occupied a 99-seat theater on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Mrs. Kwoh, who earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of California Berkeley and a master's at the University of Chicago, taught at Ginling College in Nanjing, China, after World War II.
When the Communists took over the country, she and her husband escaped on a U.S. destroyer.
Her community honors included a place in the California Public Education Hall of Fame, a Los Angeles YWCA Silver Achievement Leadership Award and "Woman of the Year" in the 45th Congressional District in 1999.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her daughter, Mary Ellen Shu of La Mesa; son, Stewart Kwoh of Los Angeles; and five grandchildren.
Services are pending at Forest Lawn, Glendale.∼Actress.
Appeared in films like The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV series), Hong Kong (TV series), Gypsy (1962), Perry Mason (TV series), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series), The Sand Pebbles (1966), I Spy (TV series), My Three Sons (TV series) as Alice Wong, The Bill Cosby Show (TV series), Hawaii Five-O (TV series), Chinatown (1974) as the Maid, Adam-12 (TV series), Kung Fu (TV series), S.W.A.T. (TV series), Starsky and Hutch (TV series), MacArthur (1977), Meeting of Minds (TV series), How the West was Won (1979 TV Mini-series), The Incredible Hulk (TV series), Magnum, P.I. (TV series), Marco Polo (1982-1983 TV Mini-series) as Empress Chabi, Trapper John, M.D. (TV series), General Hospital (TV series), MacGyver (TV series), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series), Bad Girls (1994), ER (TV series), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Michael Richards Show (TV series), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV series).
Beulah Quo passed away in 2002.
Beulah Kwoh didn't come to Hollywood for a screen test. Her intention was to be a dialect coach.
But after director Harry King interviewed her in 1955 while preparing to film the Oscar-winning movie, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," he had other ideas.
So instead of refining Jennifer Jones' Eurasian accent in her starring role opposite William Holden, Mrs. Kwoh played Jones' aunt.
For Mrs. Kwoh, a Stockton-born Asian-American, the movie launched a career as a character actress on stage, screen and television that spanned more than 45 years.
She died of heart failure Wednesday at Grossmont Hospital. She was 79.
Seven years ago, Mrs. Kwoh and her husband, Edwin, bought a home in La Mesa near that of their daughter, Mary Ellen Shu. Their main residence was in the Los Angeles area, said theirson, Stewart Kwoh.
After her appearance in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Mrs. Kwoh left her job as a sociology teacher at a Los Angeles community college to study acting. She adopted the stage name Beulah Quo, she once said, "because I got tired of being asked, 'Is KWOH a radio station?' "
During her career, she appeared in more than 20 feature films, 16 movies for television and more than 100 television shows.
Her movie credits included "Flower Drum Song," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Sand Pebbles," "Chinatown," "MacArthur," "Myra Breckinridge," "Pork Chop Hill," "Aida," "Gypsy", "China Gate," "Into the Night" and "Bad Girls."
On television, Mrs. Kwoh was a regular from 1985 to 1991 as the hip-talking housekeeper Olin on "General Hospital." Her role as the dowager empress of China, Tzu-hsi, in Steve Allen's "Meeting of the Minds" series, earned an Emmy nomination in 1978.
In 1982, she portrayed Kublai Khan's empress in "Marco Polo," an NBC miniseries.
She co-starred as a Vietnamese orphanage director in "The Children of An Lac" and played a firm-handed university dean in "Forbidden Nights." Both were CBS-TV movies.
In 1997, Mrs. Kwoh's stage role in Alice Tuan's "Ikebana" earned her a Drama Logue award.
Her stature in the Asian-American community was reinforced by several service projects and her role as the driving force behind the play, "Carry the Tiger to the Mountain."
Produced in 1998, the play by Cherylene Lee examined the 1982 death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat by two Detroit autoworkers. Mrs. Kwoh, who played Chin's mother on stage, previously led organized efforts to seek justice in the case.
In 1965, Mrs. Kwoh helped found East West Players, a pioneering Asian-American repertory group. In the late 1970s, she was instrumental in organizing the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists to create opportunities in the entertainment industry for those of Asian/Pacific descent and to promote balanced images of them on stage and screen.
Two years ago, to celebrate California's 150 years of statehood, she commissioned "Heading East," a musical celebrating the history of Asian-Americans in California.
As a producer, her crowning achievement was "James Wong Howe -- The Man and His Movies," an Emmy-winning documentary about the Chinese-American cinematographer who worked on more than 100 movies and won two Academy Awards.
In recent years, she spearheaded a fund-raising campaign that resulted in $1.7 million to build a new, 240-seat East West Players Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Previously, the organization occupied a 99-seat theater on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Mrs. Kwoh, who earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of California Berkeley and a master's at the University of Chicago, taught at Ginling College in Nanjing, China, after World War II.
When the Communists took over the country, she and her husband escaped on a U.S. destroyer.
Her community honors included a place in the California Public Education Hall of Fame, a Los Angeles YWCA Silver Achievement Leadership Award and "Woman of the Year" in the 45th Congressional District in 1999.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her daughter, Mary Ellen Shu of La Mesa; son, Stewart Kwoh of Los Angeles; and five grandchildren.
Services are pending at Forest Lawn, Glendale.∼Actress.
Appeared in films like The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV series), Hong Kong (TV series), Gypsy (1962), Perry Mason (TV series), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series), The Sand Pebbles (1966), I Spy (TV series), My Three Sons (TV series) as Alice Wong, The Bill Cosby Show (TV series), Hawaii Five-O (TV series), Chinatown (1974) as the Maid, Adam-12 (TV series), Kung Fu (TV series), S.W.A.T. (TV series), Starsky and Hutch (TV series), MacArthur (1977), Meeting of Minds (TV series), How the West was Won (1979 TV Mini-series), The Incredible Hulk (TV series), Magnum, P.I. (TV series), Marco Polo (1982-1983 TV Mini-series) as Empress Chabi, Trapper John, M.D. (TV series), General Hospital (TV series), MacGyver (TV series), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series), Bad Girls (1994), ER (TV series), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Michael Richards Show (TV series), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV series).
Beulah Quo passed away in 2002.
Beulah Kwoh influential Asian-American actress:- Sunday, October 27, 2002
Beulah Kwoh didn't come to Hollywood for a screen test. Her intention was to be a dialect coach.
But after director Harry King interviewed her in 1955 while preparing to film the Oscar-winning movie, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," he had other ideas.
So instead of refining Jennifer Jones' Eurasian accent in her starring role opposite William Holden, Mrs. Kwoh played Jones' aunt.
For Mrs. Kwoh, a Stockton-born Asian-American, the movie launched a career as a character actress on stage, screen and television that spanned more than 45 years.
She died of heart failure Wednesday at Grossmont Hospital. She was 79.
Seven years ago, Mrs. Kwoh and her husband, Edwin, bought a home in La Mesa near that of their daughter, Mary Ellen Shu. Their main residence was in the Los Angeles area, said theirson, Stewart Kwoh.
After her appearance in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Mrs. Kwoh left her job as a sociology teacher at a Los Angeles community college to study acting. She adopted the stage name Beulah Quo, she once said, "because I got tired of being asked, 'Is KWOH a radio station?' "
During her career, she appeared in more than 20 feature films, 16 movies for television and more than 100 television shows.
Her movie credits included "Flower Drum Song," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Sand Pebbles," "Chinatown," "MacArthur," "Myra Breckinridge," "Pork Chop Hill," "Aida," "Gypsy", "China Gate," "Into the Night" and "Bad Girls."
On television, Mrs. Kwoh was a regular from 1985 to 1991 as the hip-talking housekeeper Olin on "General Hospital." Her role as the dowager empress of China, Tzu-hsi, in Steve Allen's "Meeting of the Minds" series, earned an Emmy nomination in 1978.
In 1982, she portrayed Kublai Khan's empress in "Marco Polo," an NBC miniseries.
She co-starred as a Vietnamese orphanage director in "The Children of An Lac" and played a firm-handed university dean in "Forbidden Nights." Both were CBS-TV movies.
In 1997, Mrs. Kwoh's stage role in Alice Tuan's "Ikebana" earned her a Drama Logue award.
Her stature in the Asian-American community was reinforced by several service projects and her role as the driving force behind the play, "Carry the Tiger to the Mountain."
Produced in 1998, the play by Cherylene Lee examined the 1982 death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat by two Detroit autoworkers. Mrs. Kwoh, who played Chin's mother on stage, previously led organized efforts to seek justice in the case.
In 1965, Mrs. Kwoh helped found East West Players, a pioneering Asian-American repertory group. In the late 1970s, she was instrumental in organizing the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists to create opportunities in the entertainment industry for those of Asian/Pacific descent and to promote balanced images of them on stage and screen.
Two years ago, to celebrate California's 150 years of statehood, she commissioned "Heading East," a musical celebrating the history of Asian-Americans in California.
As a producer, her crowning achievement was "James Wong Howe -- The Man and His Movies," an Emmy-winning documentary about the Chinese-American cinematographer who worked on more than 100 movies and won two Academy Awards.
In recent years, she spearheaded a fund-raising campaign that resulted in $1.7 million to build a new, 240-seat East West Players Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Previously, the organization occupied a 99-seat theater on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Mrs. Kwoh, who earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of California Berkeley and a master's at the University of Chicago, taught at Ginling College in Nanjing, China, after World War II.
When the Communists took over the country, she and her husband escaped on a U.S. destroyer.
Her community honors included a place in the California Public Education Hall of Fame, a Los Angeles YWCA Silver Achievement Leadership Award and "Woman of the Year" in the 45th Congressional District in 1999.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her daughter, Mary Ellen Shu of La Mesa; son, Stewart Kwoh of Los Angeles; and five grandchildren.
Services are pending at Forest Lawn, Glendale.∼Actress.
Appeared in films like The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV series), Hong Kong (TV series), Gypsy (1962), Perry Mason (TV series), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series), The Sand Pebbles (1966), I Spy (TV series), My Three Sons (TV series) as Alice Wong, The Bill Cosby Show (TV series), Hawaii Five-O (TV series), Chinatown (1974) as the Maid, Adam-12 (TV series), Kung Fu (TV series), S.W.A.T. (TV series), Starsky and Hutch (TV series), MacArthur (1977), Meeting of Minds (TV series), How the West was Won (1979 TV Mini-series), The Incredible Hulk (TV series), Magnum, P.I. (TV series), Marco Polo (1982-1983 TV Mini-series) as Empress Chabi, Trapper John, M.D. (TV series), General Hospital (TV series), MacGyver (TV series), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series), Bad Girls (1994), ER (TV series), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Michael Richards Show (TV series), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV series).
Beulah Quo passed away in 2002.
Beulah Kwoh didn't come to Hollywood for a screen test. Her intention was to be a dialect coach.
But after director Harry King interviewed her in 1955 while preparing to film the Oscar-winning movie, "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," he had other ideas.
So instead of refining Jennifer Jones' Eurasian accent in her starring role opposite William Holden, Mrs. Kwoh played Jones' aunt.
For Mrs. Kwoh, a Stockton-born Asian-American, the movie launched a career as a character actress on stage, screen and television that spanned more than 45 years.
She died of heart failure Wednesday at Grossmont Hospital. She was 79.
Seven years ago, Mrs. Kwoh and her husband, Edwin, bought a home in La Mesa near that of their daughter, Mary Ellen Shu. Their main residence was in the Los Angeles area, said theirson, Stewart Kwoh.
After her appearance in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," Mrs. Kwoh left her job as a sociology teacher at a Los Angeles community college to study acting. She adopted the stage name Beulah Quo, she once said, "because I got tired of being asked, 'Is KWOH a radio station?' "
During her career, she appeared in more than 20 feature films, 16 movies for television and more than 100 television shows.
Her movie credits included "Flower Drum Song," "Girls, Girls, Girls," "Sand Pebbles," "Chinatown," "MacArthur," "Myra Breckinridge," "Pork Chop Hill," "Aida," "Gypsy", "China Gate," "Into the Night" and "Bad Girls."
On television, Mrs. Kwoh was a regular from 1985 to 1991 as the hip-talking housekeeper Olin on "General Hospital." Her role as the dowager empress of China, Tzu-hsi, in Steve Allen's "Meeting of the Minds" series, earned an Emmy nomination in 1978.
In 1982, she portrayed Kublai Khan's empress in "Marco Polo," an NBC miniseries.
She co-starred as a Vietnamese orphanage director in "The Children of An Lac" and played a firm-handed university dean in "Forbidden Nights." Both were CBS-TV movies.
In 1997, Mrs. Kwoh's stage role in Alice Tuan's "Ikebana" earned her a Drama Logue award.
Her stature in the Asian-American community was reinforced by several service projects and her role as the driving force behind the play, "Carry the Tiger to the Mountain."
Produced in 1998, the play by Cherylene Lee examined the 1982 death of Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American who was bludgeoned with a baseball bat by two Detroit autoworkers. Mrs. Kwoh, who played Chin's mother on stage, previously led organized efforts to seek justice in the case.
In 1965, Mrs. Kwoh helped found East West Players, a pioneering Asian-American repertory group. In the late 1970s, she was instrumental in organizing the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists to create opportunities in the entertainment industry for those of Asian/Pacific descent and to promote balanced images of them on stage and screen.
Two years ago, to celebrate California's 150 years of statehood, she commissioned "Heading East," a musical celebrating the history of Asian-Americans in California.
As a producer, her crowning achievement was "James Wong Howe -- The Man and His Movies," an Emmy-winning documentary about the Chinese-American cinematographer who worked on more than 100 movies and won two Academy Awards.
In recent years, she spearheaded a fund-raising campaign that resulted in $1.7 million to build a new, 240-seat East West Players Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Previously, the organization occupied a 99-seat theater on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Mrs. Kwoh, who earned a bachelor's degree in sociology at the University of California Berkeley and a master's at the University of Chicago, taught at Ginling College in Nanjing, China, after World War II.
When the Communists took over the country, she and her husband escaped on a U.S. destroyer.
Her community honors included a place in the California Public Education Hall of Fame, a Los Angeles YWCA Silver Achievement Leadership Award and "Woman of the Year" in the 45th Congressional District in 1999.
In addition to her husband, survivors include her daughter, Mary Ellen Shu of La Mesa; son, Stewart Kwoh of Los Angeles; and five grandchildren.
Services are pending at Forest Lawn, Glendale.∼Actress.
Appeared in films like The Barbara Stanwyck Show (TV series), Hong Kong (TV series), Gypsy (1962), Perry Mason (TV series), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (TV series), The Sand Pebbles (1966), I Spy (TV series), My Three Sons (TV series) as Alice Wong, The Bill Cosby Show (TV series), Hawaii Five-O (TV series), Chinatown (1974) as the Maid, Adam-12 (TV series), Kung Fu (TV series), S.W.A.T. (TV series), Starsky and Hutch (TV series), MacArthur (1977), Meeting of Minds (TV series), How the West was Won (1979 TV Mini-series), The Incredible Hulk (TV series), Magnum, P.I. (TV series), Marco Polo (1982-1983 TV Mini-series) as Empress Chabi, Trapper John, M.D. (TV series), General Hospital (TV series), MacGyver (TV series), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series), Bad Girls (1994), ER (TV series), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Michael Richards Show (TV series), and Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV series).
Beulah Quo passed away in 2002.
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U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current
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U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
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California, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1888-1991
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