Tyrus Wong
Tyrus Wong (October 25, 1910 – December 30, 2016) was a Chinese-born American artist. He was a painter, animator, calligrapher, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer and kite maker, as well as a set designer and storyboard artist. One of the most-influential and celebrated Asian-American artists of the 20th century,[1] Wong was also a film production illustrator, who worked for Disney and Warner Bros. He was a muralist for the Works Progress Administration (WPA), as well as a greeting card artist for Hallmark Cards. Most notably, he was the lead production illustrator on Disney's 1942 film Bambi, taking inspiration from Song dynasty art. He also served in the art department of many films, either as a set designer or storyboard artist, such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), The Music Man (1962), PT 109 (1963), The Great Race (1965), Harper (1966), The Green Berets (1968), and The Wild Bunch (1969), among others.
In this Chinese name, the family name is Wong.
Tyrus Wong
December 30, 2016 (aged 106)
Tyrus Yu Wong, Look Tai Yow
Painter, animator, calligrapher, muralist, ceramicist, lithographer, set designer, artist, storyboard artist, kite maker
1930s-2016
Walt Disney Animation Studios (1938–1941)
Warner Bros. Cartoons (1941-1964)
Walter Lantz Productions (1941-1968)
MGM Cartoons (1941-1958)
Warner Bros. Pictures (1942–1968)
Hanna-Barbera (1957-1968)
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (1963-1968)
Bambi (1942)
Ruth Kim (m. 1937, died 1995)
3
CAM Historymakers Award, 2001
Disney Legends Award, 2001
Winsor McCay Award, 2005
黃齊耀
黄齐耀
Huáng Qíyào
Huáng Qíyào
Wong Chaiyiu
Wong retired from the film industry in the late 1960s, but continued his work as an artist, spending most of his time designing kites. He also continued to paint, sketch, and design ceramics well into his 90s. He was the subject of the 2015 documentary film, Tyrus, by filmmaker Pamela Tom (譚宇瓊). Wong died on December 30, 2016, at the age of 106.
Early life[edit]
On October 25, 1910, Wong was born as Wong Gen Yeo, in Toisan, Kwangtung, China. Wong's father was "Ben" Sy Po Wong (1871-1935). Wong's mother was Lee See.[1]
On December 30, 1919, Wong and his father boarded the ship S.S. China and sailed to California, U.S.[2] In 1920, when he was nine years old, Wong and his father immigrated to the United States, and never again came into contact with his mother and sister.[1] Wong was initially held at the Angel Island Immigration Station, due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. There he was separated from his father while he waited to be questioned about his identity.[3] Because most Chinese immigration was prohibited under the Chinese Exclusion Act, Wong and his father had to immigrate illegally under assumed identities as "paper sons" of Chinese American sponsors. Wong's paper son name was Look Tai Yow.[1][2] He did not gain American citizenship until 1946, after the repeal of the Exclusion Act.[4] After a month, Wong was released from Angel Island. Wong and his father initially relocated to Sacramento. Wong and his father later moved the family to Los Angeles.[5]
Wong's art was encouraged by his father who had him practice calligraphy every night, since they could not afford to give him an art education.[6] While attending Benjamin Franklin Junior High in Pasadena, Wong's teachers noticed his artistic ability and he received a summer scholarship at the Otis Art Institute. Wong decided to leave junior high for a full-time scholarship at Otis.[6] Wong's father survived on a more modest income, and Wong worked as a janitor at Otis College. He walked for miles to attend classes. He graduated from Otis in 1930[7] and began working in Hollywood.[8] While the alumnus page gives Wong's graduation year as 1932, the introduction to a video interview sponsored by the school refers to his attendance in 1935. As early as 1933, a Los Angeles newspaper reported that a local art gallery was presenting a one-man show by Wong featuring "monotype drawings and etchings."[9]
Personal life and death[edit]
Wong met Ruth Ng Kim (伍梅珍), a second-generation Chinese American from a farming family in Bakersfield, California, at Dragon's Den Restaurant in Los Angeles Chinatown, CA, where she was a waitress. They married on June 27, 1937, in Bakersfield, CA.[2] Wong's wife was the secretary to Y.C. Hong, the first Chinese American immigration lawyer, and then became a homemaker after the birth of their children. They had three married daughters: Kay (born 1938), Tai-Ling (born 1943), and Kim (born 1949) and two grandsons, Kevin Fong and Jason Fong.[29][30] Wong's wife, Ruth Kim Wong, died on January 12, 1995, at the age of 85. Wong died on December 30, 2016, at the age of 106.[1][12][31] Wong is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles, California.
Throughout his artistic career, Wong has garnered a multitude of awards. Notable awards include the awards from the following organizations:
On Feb 1, 2017, Wong was honored by Congressman Adam Schiff with a remembrance on the floor of the 115th United States Congress — where Schiff's remarks on Tyrus were read into the Congressional Record.[32]
On his would-be 108th birthday on October 25, 2018, Tyrus Wong's life and legacy were honored by an animated Google Doodle.[33]