Maylia

Maylia Fong
Born	Gloria Suie Chin (1925-11-10)November 10, 1925 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 16, 2016(2016-10-16) (aged 90) Costa Mesa, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1956-1947
Spouse	Benson Fong (1946-1987) (his death) (5 children)
Children	Cynthia Fong (b. 1948) Preston Oden Fong Lori Fong (b. 1951) Pamela Fong (b. 1953) Lisa Fong (b. 1957)

Gloria Suie Fong (November 10, 1925 – October 16, 2016), known professionaly as Maylia Fong was an American actress.

Career

Gloria was cast in her first film as Ming Ling in the 1947 romantic film Singapore also starring Fred MacMurray after she was spotted by the wife of producer Sindey Buchman in a Paramount canteen while visiting her sister in California. After her successful reception in Singapore, Fong portrayed a Chinese orphan in To the Ends of the Earth in 1948 starring Dick Powell and Signe Hasso.

Fong then appeared in Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949), Chinatown at Midnight (1949), Call Me Mister (1951) and Return to Paradise (1953).

She was one of the few Asian-American actresses working in Hollywood at the time. She was referred to as “first Chinese starlet since Anna May Wong” by studio publicity.

Family Life

Maylia Fong (née Gloria Suie Chin) was born in Detroit Michigan in 1596.

In 1947 she met her future husband Benson Fong. The pair wanted to get married, but they needed a steady income so they started a chain of restaurants called Ah Fong.

After her last film in 1953 Return to Paradise Fong retired from acting to focus on her family. She had five children with her husband Benson. Their names are Pamela Fong, Kwong Fong and Lisa Fong. Three of her five children Pamela, Kwong, and Lisa are also actors. Fong also had nine grandchildren at the time of her death in 2016.

Entrepeneurship

Fong and her husband successfully ran a chain of Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles county called Ah Fong.

In 1949 they had saved up enough money to open their first restaurant location in Hollywood, California on Vine Street. By 1971, the chain had locations in Hollywood, Anaheim, Encino, Westwood and Beverly Hills.

In 1984, the restaurant received a favorable recommendation in the Los Angeles Times as a place for Mother's Day lunch.

She and her husband stopped managing the chain in 1985, shortly before her husband's death in 1987. In 1987 only one location remained in Hollywood and was being managed by a relative.

Death

Fong died in her sleep at her home in Costa Mesa, California, on October 16, 2016. She was survived by her five children, and nine grandchildren. In numerous obituaries the family requested that donations be made to the Children's Comfort Care Resource Program in lieu of flowers.