HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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.


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 Em ...
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 S ...
. 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 Gov ...
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 land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
in 1965. According to Chin, who had returned from a sabbatical working as the first Chinese brakeman 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) an ...
'' 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 Asian-American theatre. 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 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, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong 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 o ...
'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, Washin ...
'' in the 1970s; Chin contributed an afterword which can be found in every reprinting of the novel. Chin has appeared in Jeff Adachi's '' The Slanted Screen'', 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, a member of
The Doors The Doors were an American 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 rock acts o ...
, 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 cla ...
. 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. 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 ...
. 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'' (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, ed.) * ''Goong Hai Fot Choi'', in ''19 Necromancers from Now'' (1970) (
Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...
ed.) * '' Racist Love'' in ''Seeing Through Shuck'' (1972) co-authored with Jeffery Paul Chan ( Richard Kostelanetz, 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, 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 Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...
and Al Young, 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) ( Shawn Wong, 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, 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 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 Jeffery Paul Chan, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong (
Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known work is '' M ...
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 televis ...
, the film was televised in 1975 as part of the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educ ...
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 adaptation of '' Farewell to Manzanar''. Chin was one of several Asian American writers who appeared in the movie; Shawn Wong and Lawson Fusao Inada, who, like Chin were co-editors of the anthology ''Aiiieeeee!'', also acted in the riot scene. 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 '' The Slanted Screen'' (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, 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. 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 '' T ...
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 ...
distributed documentary about Wynn Handman 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.


See also

* Chinese American literature * List of Asian American writers


References


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''.


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 photogra ...
, 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