Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of

Asian-American theatre Asian American theatre is theatre written, directed or acted by Asian Americans. From initial efforts by four theatre companies in the 1960s, Asian-American theatre has grown to around forty groups today. Early productions often had Asian themes o ...

Life and career

Frank Chin was born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

on February 25, 1940; until the age of six, he remained under the care of a retired

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

couple in

Placerville, California Placerville (, ; formerly Old Dry Diggings, Dry Diggings, and Hangtown) is a city in and the county seat of El Dorado County, California. The population was 10,747 as of the 2020 census, up from 10,389 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Sa ...

. At that time, his mother brought him back to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

and thereafter Chin grew up in Oakland Chinatown. He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and graduated from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

in 1965. According to Chin, who had returned from a sabbatical working as the first Chinese

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...

for the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

railroad, he intimidated a dean into graduating him with a bachelor's degree in English: " said'I want a decision by Friday' and he said, 'Well, I'm a very busy man,' and I said, 'You're a working stiff like me - you have a decision Friday and I don't care what it is. Either I've graduated or I haven't graduated because I have to get back to work.' Friday, I walked by the office and the secretary jumps up and says: 'You've graduated!' I said, 'That's all I want to know'." Early in his career, Chin worked as a story editor and scriptwriter on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

'' and as a reporter for

KING-TV KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed independent station KONG (channel 16). Both stations share studios at the Home Plate ...

in Seattle. Chin is considered to be one of the pioneers of

. He founded the Asian American Theater Workshop, which later became the

Asian American Theater Company The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is a non-profit theatre performance company based in San Francisco. Its stated mission is "To connect people to Asian American culture through theatre". Background The Asian American Theater Company was es ...

in 1973. He first gained notoriety as a playwright in the 1970s. His play '' The Chickencoop Chinaman'' was the first by an Asian American to be produced on a major New York stage. As an author, Chin has won three

American Book Awards The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

: the first in 1982 for his plays ''The Chickencoop Chinaman'' and ''The Year of the Dragon'', the second in 1989 for a collection of short stories entitled '' The Chinaman Pacific and Frisco R.R. Co.'', and the third in 2000 for lifetime achievement. Stereotypes of Asian Americans and traditional Chinese folklore are common themes in much of his work. Many of his works revolve around criticism of the racism in the United States. Frank Chin has accused other Asian American writers, particularly

Maxine Hong Kingston Maxine Hong Kingston (; born Maxine Ting Ting Hong;Huntley, E. D. (2001). ''Maxine Hong Kingston: A Critical Companion'', p. 1. October 27, 1940) is an American novelist. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley, wher ...

, of furthering such stereotypes and misrepresenting the traditional stories. Chin also has been highly critical of American writer

Amy Tan Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel '' The Joy Luck Club,'' which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books. Tan has written ...

for her telling of Chinese-American stories, indicating that her body of work has furthered and reinforced stereotypical views of this group. On a radio program, Chin has also debated the scholar Yunte Huang regarding the latter's evaluation of

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

in his writing. This discussion was later evaluated on the activist blog "Big WOWO." In addition to his work as an author and playwright, Frank Chin has also worked extensively with Japanese American resisters of the draft in WWII. His novel, ''Born in the U.S.A.'', is dedicated to this subject. Chin was one of several writers (

Jeffery Paul Chan Jeffery Paul Chan (August 19, 1942 – January 11, 2022) was an American author and scholar. He was a professor of Asian American studies and English at San Francisco State University for 38 years until his retirement in 2005. Biography Chan w ...

Lawson Fusao Inada Lawson Fusao Inada (born May 26, 1938) is a Japanese American poet. He was the fifth poet laureate of the state of Oregon. Early life Born May 26, 1938, Inada is a third-generation Japanese American (''Sansei''). His father, Fusaji, worked as a ...

, and

Shawn Wong Shawn K. Wong is a Chinese American author and scholar. He has served as the Professor of English, Director of the University Honors Program (2003–06), Chair of the Department of English (1997–2002), and Director of the Creative Writing Program ...

of CARP, Combined Asian American Resources Project) who worked to republish

John Okada John Okada (September 23, 1923 – February 20, 1971) was a Japanese American novelist known for his critically acclaimed novel ''No-No Boy''. Biography Born in Seattle, Okada was a student at the University of Washington during the attack ...

's novel ''

No-No Boy ''No-No Boy'' is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washi ...

'' in the 1970s; Chin contributed an afterword which can be found in every reprinting of the novel. Chin has appeared in

Jeff Adachi Jeffrey Gordon Adachi (August 29, 1959 – February 22, 2019) was an American attorney, pension reform advocate, and politician who served as the Public Defender of San Francisco from 2003 to 2019. Early life and education Adachi was the ...

's ''

The Slanted Screen ''The Slanted Screen'' is a 2006 documentary film written, produced, and directed by Jeff Adachi which examines the stereotypical portrayals and absence of East Asian males in the cinema of the United States. The film analyzes Hollywood from the ...

'', a 2006 documentary film about stereotypical depictions of Asian males in American cinema. Chin was also an instrumental organizer for the first Day of Remembrance. Chin is also a musician. In the mid-1960s, he taught

Robbie Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and "L ...

, a member of

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

, how to play the

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar but with thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, more gritty sound compared to the clas ...

. After a stroke in 1990, he lost his ability to play the guitar and, temporarily, to laugh. Chin was married for five years to Kathy Chang in the 1970s. Kathleen Chang (October 10, 1950 – October 22, 1996), was better known by her performance name

Kathy Change Kathleen Chang (October 10, 1950 – October 22, 1996), known by her performance name Kathy Change, was an American political activist, writer, and performance artist. She was a familiar figure on the University of Pennsylvania campus, often danc ...

. She was a Sino-American political activist, writer, and performance artist.

Bibliography

Plays

*'' The Chickencoop Chinaman'' (1971) the first play by an Asian American to be produced as a mainstream New York theater production. *'' The Year of the Dragon'' (1974) *''Gee Pop!'' (1976) An unpublished play about Charlie Chan which was produced by

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 ...

. Elements of this play would appear in some of Chin's later work.

Books

*''Yardbird Reader Volume 3'' (1974) (co-editor, contributor) *''

Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers ''Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers'' is a 1974 anthology by Frank Chin, Jeffery Paul Chan, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong, members of the Combined Asian American Resources Project (CARP). It helped establish Asian American Li ...

'' (1974) (Co-editor, contributor) *'' The Chinaman Pacific and Frisco R.R. Co.'' (1988) *'' Donald Duk'' (1991) *''The Big Aiiieeeee!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature'' (1991) (Co-editor, contributor) *'' Gunga Din Highway'' (1994) *''Bulletproof Buddhists and Other Essays'' (1998) *''Born in the USA: A Story of Japanese America, 1889-1947'' (2002) *''The Confessions of a Number One Son: The Great Chinese American Novel'' (2015)

Works in anthologies

* ''Food for All His Dead'', in ''The Young American Writers'' (1967) (

Richard Kostelanetz Richard Cory Kostelanetz (born May 14, 1940) is an American artist, author, and critic. Birth and Education Kostelanetz was born to Boris Kostelanetz and Ethel Cory and is the nephew of the conductor Andre Kostelanetz. He has a B.A. (1962) from ...

, ed.) * ''Goong Hai Fot Choi'', in ''19 Necromancers from Now'' (1970) ( Ishmael Reed ed.) * '' Racist Love'' in ''Seeing Through Shuck'' (1972) co-authored with

(

, ed.) * ''Food for All His Dead'', in ''Asian-American Authors'' (1972) (Kai-yu Hsu and Helen Palubinskas, ed.) * ''The Year of the Dragon'' (excerpt), in ''Modern American Scenes for Student Actors'' (1978) (

Wynn Handman Wynn Handman (May 19, 1922 – April 11, 2020) was the Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre, which he co-founded with Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan in 1963. His role in the theatre was to seek out, encourage, train, and present n ...

, ed.) * ''How to Watch a Chinese Movie with the Right "i"'' in '' Bamboo Ridge Press Number Five: New Moon'' (December 1979-February 1980) ( Eric Chock and Darrell H.Y. Lum, ed.) * ''The Most Popular Book in China'', in ''Quilt 4'' (1984) ( Ishmael Reed and

Al Young Albert James Young (May 31, 1939 – April 17, 2021) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor. He was named Poet Laureate of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2005 to 2008. Young's many books includ ...

, ed.) * ''Confessions of a Chinatown Cowboy'' (excerpts), in ''American Childhoods: An Anthology'' (1987) (David W. McCullough, ed.) * ''The Only Real Day'', in ''The Before Columbus Foundation Fiction Anthology, Selections from the American Book Awards 1980–1990'' (1992) * ''Railroad Standard Time'', in ''Growing Up Asian American: An Anthology'' (1993) (Maria Hong, ed.) * ''Yes, Young Daddy'', in ''Coming of age in America : a multicultural anthology'' (1994) (Mary Frosch, ed.) * ''The Mother "I"'' (excerpt from ''Gunga Din Highway''), in ''On a Bed of Rice: An Asian American Erotic Feast'' (1995) (Geraldine Kudaka, ed.) * ''Rendezvous'', in ''Asian American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology'' (1996) (

, ed.) * ''Railroad Standard Time'', in ''Growing Up Ethnic in America'' (1999) ( Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan, ed.) * ''Pidgin Contest Along I-5'', in ''Writing Home: Award-Winning Literature from the New West'' (1999) ( Brian Bouldrey, ed.) * ''Donald Duk'' (excerpt), in ''Asian-American Literature: An Anthology'' (1999) (

Shirley Geok-lin Lim Shirley Geok-lin Lim (born 1944) is an American writer of poetry, fiction, and criticism. Her first collection of poems, ''Crossing The Peninsula'', published in 1980, won her the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, a first both for an Asian and for a ...

, ed.) * ''The Chickencoop Chinaman'' (excerpt), in ''Monologues for Actors of Color: Men'' (2000) (Roberta Uno, ed.) * ''Railroad Standard Time'', in ''Bold Words: A Century of Asian American Writing'' (2001) (Rajini Srikanth, ed.) * ''The Only Real Day'', in ''American Short Stories since 1945'' (2001) (John G. Parks ed.) * ''Pearl Harbor Revisited'', in ''Asian Americans on War & Peace'' (2002) (

Russell Leong Russell Charles Leong (born 1950) is an academic editor, professor, writer, and long-time Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan student. The long-time editor of Amerasia Journal (1977–2010), Leong was an adjunct professor of English and Asian-American Studi ...

and Don Nakanishi ed.) * ''Pidgin Contest Along I-5'', in ''Crossing Into America: The New Literature of Immigration'' (2003) (Louis Mendoza and Subramanian Shankar, ed.) * ''An Introduction to Chinese- and Japanese-American Literature'', in ''From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002'' (2003) co-authored with

, and

( Ishmael Reed ed.) * ''Come All Ye Asian American Writers of the Real and the Fake'' (excerpt), in ''A Companion to Asian American Studies'' (2005) (Kent A. Ono, ed.)

Movies

''The Year of the Dragon'' was an adaptation of Chin's play of the same name. Starring

George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...

, the film was televised in 1975 as part of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is pr ...

series. As an actor, Chin, appeared as an extra in the riot scene of the

made-for-TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

adaptation of ''

Farewell to Manzanar ''Farewell to Manzanar'' is a memoir published in 1973 by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. The book describes the experiences of Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family before, during, and following their relocation to the Manzanar inte ...

''. Chin was one of several Asian American writers who appeared in the movie;

and

, who, like Chin were co-editors of the anthology ''Aiiieeeee!'', also acted in the riot scene. FAREWELLTOMANZANAR1976

Chin would go on to criticize the movie in the May 1976 issue of ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

''.

Documentaries

''What's Wrong with Frank Chin'' is a 2005 biographical documentary, directed by Curtis Choy, about Chin's life. Frank Chin was interviewed in the documentary ''

'' (2006), directed by

, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood. Chin wrote the script for the 1967 documentary ''And Still Champion! The Story of

Archie Moore Archie Moore (born Archibald Lee Wright; December 13, 1913 – December 9, 1998) was an American professional boxer and the longest reigning World Light Heavyweight Champion of all time (December 1952 – May 1962). He had one of the longest ...

''. Chin's script was narrated by actor

Jack Palance Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk ( uk, Володимир Палагню́к); February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American actor known for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, all fo ...

. Some of Chin's experiences would be worked into his first play, in which the protagonist is making a documentary about a boxer. Chin researched and hosted ''Chinaman's Chance'' (1972) an Ene Riisna directed documentary focusing on the conditions of Chinatown communities in America. Interview subjects included

Roland Winters Roland Winters (born Roland Winternitz; November 22, 1904 – October 22, 1989)DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 287. was an Ame ...

, Betty Lee Sung, and

Ben Fee Ben Fee (张恨棠/木云) (September 3, 1908 – July 3, 1978) was an American writer and labor organizer who rose to prominence in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and New York in the mid-twentieth century. He was president of the Chinese Workers ...

. Chin also directed a documentary short in 1972, '' The Last Temple'' about the

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

temple 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 ...

, which dates back to 1893, and the effort to preserve and restore it.

Theatre Communications Group Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is a non-profit service organization headquartered in New York City that promotes professional non-profit theatre in the United States. The organization also publishes ''American Theatre'' magazine and ''ARTSEA ...

produced the ''Legacy Leaders of Color Video Project'', a series highlighting influential figures in the American minority theaters. Set to be released in 2017, one of the episodes focuses on Frank Chin, his time with the Asian American Theater Company, and Chin's influence. In 2019, ''It Takes a Lunatic'' a

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

distributed documentary about

was released. Handman had produced Chin's two plays at the American Place Theatre, and Chin was one of the interview subjects. '' Be Water'', a 2020 episode of the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

documentary series

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

about

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

, featured archival footage of Chin.

References

*Hong, T. (1995
"Searching for Frank Chin"
''A. Magazine''. modelminority.com. *Richardson, S. (1999
Lessons of "Donald Duk."-Novel by Frank Chin-Critical Essay
''

MELUS Melus (also ''Milus'' or ''Meles'', ''Melo'' in Italian) (died 1020) was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early elevent ...

''.

External links

Frank Chin's blog
*
Frank Chin Papers
at the

California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) is an archival institution that houses collections of primary source documents from the history of minority ethnic groups in California. The documents, which include manuscripts, slide photograph ...

, UC Santa Barbara Library
''What's Wrong With Frank Chin?''
(documentary) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chin, Frank 1940 births American novelists of Chinese descent Living people American dramatists and playwrights of Chinese descent 20th-century American novelists Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area American short story writers of Chinese descent 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male dramatists and playwrights American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Activists from California American Book Award winners 20th-century American male writers

Life and career

Bibliography

Plays

Books

Works in anthologies

Movies

Documentaries

See also

References

References

External links