Bessie Loo (December 30, 1902 – October 28, 1998) was an American actress, casting director, and talent agent. She owned the Bessie Loo Talent Agency for over 40 years, and represented many of the Asian-American actors in 20th-century Hollywood.

Early life

Loo was born as Bessie Sue in

Hanford, California Hanford is a city and county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 53,967 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History ...

. Loo's father, Sue Chung Kee, immigrated to Hanford from China in 1886, and operated a general store there; Loo's mother was born in San Francisco. The Sue family lived above their store.

Education

Loo attended the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, and graduated from San Francisco Teachers College in 1928.Jack Ong
"From Hanford to Hollywood: Remembering Bessie Loo"
''Gum Saan Journal'' (2007), published by the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.

Career

As an actress of Chinese descent, Loo's acting career started in 1930s. Loo mostly played small parts. Loo appeared in ''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...

'' (1937), and was a maid in '' Mr. Wong in Chinatown'' (1939); her husband

Richard Loo Richard Loo (October 1, 1903 – November 20, 1983) was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982. Early lif ...

was also in the cast of both films. She began working with

Central Casting Central Casting is an American casting company with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Georgia, and Louisiana that specializes in the casting of extras, body doubles, and stand-ins. In popular usage the term "central casting" has come to denote ...

during the making of ''The Good Earth'', when her language skills proved useful with the many Chinese-speaking extras. During the opening of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Loo started The Bessie Loo Talent Agency, with offices on

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

in Los Angeles, California. Loo represented Asian-American actors in the film industry, including Jack Ong,

Keye Luke Keye Luke (, Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Cant ...

Robert Ito Robert Ito (born July 2, 1931) is a Canadian actor of Japanese ancestry. He is known for his television and film work, including the roles of Sam Fujiyama on the 1976–83 NBC series ''Quincy, M.E.'' and Larry Mishima on the 1980s CBS primetime s ...

Beulah Quo Beulah Quo (April 17, 1923 – October 23, 2002) was a Chinese-American actress and activist born in Stockton, California. The spelling of her last name changed from Kwoh to Quo because she was constantly asked if KWOH was a radio station. She st ...

James Hong James Hong (; born February 22, 1929) is an American actor, producer and director. He has worked in numerous productions in American media since the 1950s, portraying a variety of roles. With more than 650 film and television credits as of 20 ...

, Soon-Tek Oh,

Mako Iwamatsu was a Japanese-American actor, credited mononymously in almost all of his acting roles as simply Mako. His film roles include Po-Han in ''The Sand Pebbles'' (1966) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), O ...

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film ''The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

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, and Guy Lee (who eventually took over the agency when Bessie Loo retired). All the founding members of the

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

were represented by Bessie Loo. Bessie Loo served as president of the China Society of Southern California, and of the Los Angeles Chinese Women's Club. She was also an appointed member of the California State Economic Development Commission, and a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. In 1978 her achievements were honored at a dinner of the

Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC, ) is an organization based in Los Angeles Chinatown, California. History On November 1, 1975, the society held its founding meeting at Cathay Bank in Los Angeles, California. Its key at ...

, and in 1982 her friend and client James Hong organized an event with the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA) called "An Affair with Bessie," to celebrate her career. Just weeks before she died, she was honored for "Excellence in Entertainment" by the

Chinese American Museum The Chinese American Museum (Chinese: 華美博物館; abbreviated CAM) is a museum located in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument. It is dedicated to the history and experience of Chinese Americans ...

of Los Angeles, at their annual Historymakers Awards Banquet.

Personal life

In 1929, Loo married actor

. They had twin daughters, Beverly and Angela, born in 1931."Richard Loo, Actor 5 Decades"
''New York Times'' (November 22, 1983). In 1998, Loo died. She was 95 years old. Archival footage of Loo, and a brief discussion of her work, was featured in the

Arthur Dong Arthur Dong is an American filmmaker and author whose work centers on Asia America and anti-gay prejudice. He was raised in San Francisco, California, graduating from Galileo High School in June 1971. He received his BA in film from San Franci ...

documentary ''

Hollywood Chinese ''Hollywood Chinese: The Chinese in American Feature Films'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Academy Award-nominated director Arthur Dong. From early films like the 1900s '' Beheading the Chinese Prisoner'' to Ang Lee's triumphant ...

'' (2007).

References

External links

A photograph of Bessie Sue in 1920
from the University of Southern California Libraries. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loo, Bessie 1902 births 1998 deaths Actresses from California People from Hanford, California American actresses of Chinese descent University of California, Los Angeles alumni San Francisco State University alumni American film actresses 20th-century American actresses Talent agents