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Nancy Hsueh

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Nancy Hsueh
Hsueh in 1967
Born(1941-02-25)February 25, 1941
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 24, 1980(1980-11-24) (aged 39)
Portland, Maine, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1945–1978
Notable workLove is a Many Splendored Thing
Targets

Nancy Hsueh[a] (February 25, 1941 – November 24, 1980)[2][3][b] was an American actress. She was one of the first Asian American actresses to have a leading role in a U.S. television series, Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967),[6] regarded as the first American soap opera to portray an interracial relationship between an Asian woman and a white man.[7][8] She also appeared in films such as War Hunt (1962), Cheyenne Autumn (1964), and Targets (1968).[9][4][10]

Career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Hsueh made two films as a child actress, China's Little Devils  (1945) and Intrigue (1947), on which her father served as a technical adviser.[11][12]

In the early 1960s, she appeared in the Korean War drama War Hunt (1962)[13] and the John Ford Western Cheyenne Autumn (1964).[14] According to author Jon Abbott, "her exotic appearance kept her busy in the spy shows of the period, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Wild, Wild West."[15]

In 1967, she was cast as the female lead in the CBS soap opera Love is a Many Splendored Thing. The series was initially intended as a continuation of the 1955 film of the same name, which told the story of an interracial relationship between an American reporter and a Eurasian doctor. Hsueh portrayed Mia Elliott, the daughter of the couple in the original film.[7] However, CBS censors became uncomfortable with the series' portrayal of an interracial romance between a Eurasian woman (Hsueh) and a white American doctor (Robert Milli), and Hsueh's character was written out of the series within one year.[8][10]

Her most prominent film role was as Boris Karloff's personal assistant in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968).[16] She had only a few small parts in film and television in the 1970s; her final acting role was in House Calls (1978).[17]

Personal life

Hsueh was the daughter of Wei Fan Hsueh, who was born in Nanking, China, and Evelyn Postal, who was of Native American and Scottish-Irish descent.[6][11][18] She majored in education at the University of California, Los Angeles.[19]

On January 16, 1965, she married Daniel Carr, whom she had met during filming of Cheyenne Autumn.[1]

She died of atherosclerosis in Portland, Maine on November 24, 1980, aged 39.[b]

Filmography

Notes

  1. ^ Hsueh's preferred pronunciation of her surname was /ʃeɪ/, SHAY.[1]
  2. ^ a b A few sources state she lived from 1939–1991,[4][5] but those dates are contradicted by vital records.

References

  1. ^ a b "This Month Meet Nancy Hsueh". The Messenger. Madisonville, Kentucky. December 23, 1967. p. 8.
  2. ^ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995". Retrieved 17 August 2019 – via Ancestry.com.
  3. ^ "U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014". Retrieved 17 August 2019 – via Ancestry.com.
  4. ^ a b Ragan, David (1992). Who's Who in Hollywood. New York: Facts on File. p. 783.
  5. ^ "Nancy Hsueh: Movies and Filmography". AllMovie. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Mia Cast in Daytime Serial". Daily Intelligencer Journal. Lancaster, PA. September 12, 1967 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Du Brow, Rick (September 27, 1967). "Latest Soap Opera Cracking New Ground". The Press Democrat – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b McNeil, Alex (1991). Total Television: a comprehensive guide to programming from 1948 to the present. Penguin Books. p. 450. ISBN 9780140157369.
  9. ^ "Add Short Shots". The Pittsburgh Press. September 1, 1967 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Bernardi, Daniel; Green, Michael, eds. (2017). Race in American Film: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313398407.
  11. ^ a b "Films Discover Seven Year Old Chinese Child". South Bend Tribune. June 24, 1947 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "'China's Little Devils' and 'Saddle Serenade' will open showing tomorrow". Shamokin News-Dispatch. December 5, 1945 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Lentz, Robert J. (2016). Korean War Filmography: 91 English Language Features through 2000. McFarland. p. 408. ISBN 9781476621548.
  14. ^ Newell, Maxine (November 21, 1963). "Cheyenne Autumn Company Enjoys Weekend in Moab". The Times-Independent.
  15. ^ Abbott, Jon (2015). Irwin Allen Television Productions, 1964-1970: A Critical History of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel and Land of the Giants. McFarland. p. 53. ISBN 9780786486625.
  16. ^ Adams, Marjory (January 2, 1969). "'Targets' at Center Theater, plea against U.S. gun laws". The Boston Globe. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Champlin, Charles (March 12, 1978). "Matthau Hits The Double". Los Angeles Times – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940". Retrieved 17 August 2019 – via FamilySearch.org. (registration required)
  19. ^ "Working Through School". The News-Messenger. Freemont, Ohio. January 5, 1962 – via Newspapers.com.
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