Bo Ling "Bernice" Park was an American film actor who appeared in a number of films from the 1920s through the 1950s.

Biography

Bo Ling was born in Alameda County, California, to Edward "E.L." Park and Oie "Florence" Chan. Both of her parents were actors and children of Chinese immigrants; E.L. appeared as Charlie Chan in the 1924 film ''Behind the Curtain'' and later served as an interpreter for the county of Los Angeles, while Florence appeared in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s, including Charlie Chan films. When the family relocated to Los Angeles in the late 1920s, E.L. and Florence opened a Chinese restaurant on Alameda Street and owned their own Chinese costume store. Bo Ling and her younger sister, Bo Ching "Winnie" Park, were encouraged by their parents to become entertainers, and the pair were sometimes referred to as "the Chinese twins" despite being born three years apart. The sisters performed in Las Vegas and around the country as a vaudeville act before settling in Hollywood and getting work as actors in the film industry. Their contemporaneous publicity materials often claimed the pair were born in China. Bo's first known onscreen appearance was as a dancer in the 1928 film '' Red Wine''. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, she appeared in films and on Broadway. She was the second wife of

LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fi ...

, an actor who appeared in many

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

at Republic. The pair married in 1937; they separated at some point before his death in the 1940s, although they were still legally married. She appeared in very few films during their marriage, but returned to acting more regularly in the 1950s, appearing in '' Soldier of Fortune'' and ''

The Left Hand of God ''The Left Hand of God'' is a 1955 American Drama Western film. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Buddy Adler, from a screenplay by Alfred Hayes, based on the novel ''The Left Hand of God'', by William Edmund Barrett. Set in a ...

'', among others. Sometime after the 1950s, Bo Ling retired from Hollywood. At her home in Northridge, she had her own ceramics kiln. She died in 1999 in Granada Hills.

Selected filmography

* '' Soldier of Fortune'' (1955) * ''

'' (1955) * ''

The Bamboo Prison ''The Bamboo Prison'' is a 1954 American Korean War film–drama film directed by Lewis Seiler and starring Robert Francis, Brian Keith, Dianne Foster, and Jerome Courtland. The working title was ''I Was a Prisoner in Korea''. The US Army denied ...

'' (1954) * ''

Gobs and Gals ''Gobs and Gals'' is a 1952 American comedy film directed by R. G. Springsteen and written by Arthur T. Horman. The film stars George Bernard, Bert Bernard, Robert Hutton, Cathy Downs, Gordon Jones and Florence Marly. The film was released o ...

'' (1952) * ''Call Me Mister'' (1951) * ''God Is My Co-Pilot'' (1945) * '' Calling Philo Vance'' (1940) * ''

Captured in Chinatown ''Captured in Chinatown'' is a 1935 American film directed by Elmer Clifton. Plot A feud between two gangs in Chinatown breaks out into a Tong war. Cast *Tarzan (the police dog) as Tarzan *Marion Shilling as Ann Parker *Charles Delaney as Bob ...

'' (1935) * ''

365 Nights in Hollywood ''365 Nights in Hollywood'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code drama film directed by George Marshall and starring Alice Faye and James Dunn. Cast * James Dunn as James 'Jimmy' Dale * Alice Faye Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1 ...

'' (1934) * ''International House'' (1933) * ''Red Wine'' (1928)

References

Actresses from Berkeley, California 1908 births 1999 deaths American actresses of Chinese descent {{US-film-actor-1900s-stub