Violet Wong: Pioneering restaurateur and silent film star
Before she became a culinary pioneer in El Cerrito by introducing Chinese-American fusion food, Violet Wong had run the kitchens in well-known local spots such as the “it” Club and the Six Bells during the 1930s and ’40s. In 1945 Violet and her husband Albert Wong opened Violet's Dining Room on San Pablo Avenue near Lincoln Avenue in El Cerrito. They offered everything from chop suey to apple pie.
“My mother had always wanted her own restaurant and my parents started the first business in a new building,” daughter Marcella Wong, 89, told the East Bay Times in 2017.
Violet Wong and husband Albert Wong opened Violet’s Dining Room in El Cerrito in 1945. Photo courtesy of Louis Stein, El Cerrito Historical Society collection
Violet’s closed in the late 1960s and the family leased the space to operators of four other restaurants over the years, including the Golden Pacific, the Golden Dynasty, the China House and, most recently, the L&L Chinese Seafood Restaurant.
Marcella had worked as a waitress at the age of 14 at the Six Bells across San Pablo and a few doors down from Violet’s.
“I was underage, but it was a big treat for me to wait on tables,” she said. “(The Six Bells) was a hangout.”
Marcella’s sister Gala Wong Davis also operated an El Cerrito restaurant, Violet’s Cathay Inn, which was where the present Safeway store is located at San Pablo and Hill Street, Marcella Wong said.
“Our family lived on Schmidt Lane between a farm and where they kept the dogs for the dog racing track,” she said. “I remember a lot of fleas.”
A pioneering film role
Not only was Violet Wong a pioneer in culinary arts and an entrepreneur, but in recent years she has become known as a pioneer in the U.S. film industry. The 1916-17 silent movie she starred in, “The Curse of Quon Guon: When the Far East Mingles with West,” was rediscovered nearly 80 years later. In 2003 the surviving daughters of Violet gave their nitrate film copies to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, which digitized the film to preserve it as the first-known feature by Chinese-Americans, and to Arthur Dong, director of a documentary, “Hollywood Chinese.”
It was placed in the National Film Registry and catalogued by the Library of Congress in 2006 and in 2007 the academy featured it in its “Lost and Found” film series, attended by the surviving daughters.
From China to Oakland
Violet's story begins in Kwangtung, China, where she was born in 1895. In 1910 L. Albert Wong went to China with his brother and sister to arrange marriages. Albert's sister was Marion E. Wong. The Wong family were early pioneers (1860s) in San Francisco. Albert's family moved to Oakland around 1903.
On their way to China, Albert and his siblings had to carry identification cards, even though they were third-generation Americans. They would only be able to stay in China for one year according to the U.S. law at that time. Albert met Violet on that trip to China, they married and Violet immigrated to the U.S. in 1911 with her new husband, his brother and sister. Violet became very good friends with Marion Wong.
This friendship led to Marion asking Violet to star in the movie Marion wrote, directed, acted in and produced five years after they had returned from China. Albert and Violet were living in Oakland at the time. Albert was the manager of his father's restaurant and Marion was the cashier. Violet was caring for their 2-year-old daughter, who was also in the film.
Titled “The Curse of Quon Gwon,” the film was made in Oakland and Niles Canyon, Fremont, where the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company had a studio from 1912 to 1916 and signed star Charlie Chaplin for a year.
The following article appeared in the Oakland Tribune on May 11, 1916:
FIRST CHINESE FILM DRAMA WRITTEN AND PORTRAYED BY GIRL
OAKLAND, May 11.– Los Angeles may be the center of the motion picture world, but Oakland has the honor of producing the first Chinese film drama, acted entirely by Chinese, produced by Chinese with Chinese scenery, and Chinese costumes designed by Chinese, and with a love tale running through it written by a Chinese girl. Mary K. Wong [sic], talented niece of Lim Ben, wealthy Chinese merchant and landowner, is the maid who is responsible for it all. She conceived the idea, wrote the play, designed the scenery and costumes, drilled the actors, directed the filming of the production, managed its details – and took the leading part.
The Oriental drama – called by its creator the Mandarin Photo Play – was filmed near Hayward. There are seven reels of it. Miss Wong is the villain. Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Violet Wong, one of the prettiest Chinese girls in Oakland, is the beloved one of the play. There are thirty Chinese men and women in the cast. “I had never seen any Chinese movies,” Miss Wong said today, “so I decided to introduce them to the world. I first wrote the love story. Then I decided that people who are interested in my people and my country would like to see some of the customs and manners of China. So I added to the love drama many scenes depicting these things. I do hope it will be a success.”
The film is to be given its first production at the Kinema Theater tomorrow morning – a private production for the benefit of Miss Wong and her friends. This is not the first time Miss Wong has brought her race to the attention of the Americans. She recently surprised her white sisters by appearing in concert, singing operatic airs in English and Italian. She was for a time a student at the University of California, where she took up special work.
No big-screen debut
The film only had two screenings and was not purchased by a distributor, so it did not make it to the big screens. In fact, Violet didn’t hand the canisters containing her copy over to the family until more than 50 years later, and they actually viewed it together five years after that.
Both Violet and Marion raised their children and opened businesses. Violet and Albert eventually moved to north Berkeley. Many descendants of Marion and Violet still live in El Cerrito, Berkeley, Oakland or the surrounding area. They often attend the showings of the film and talk about it after the show. Some of the family members came to El Cerrito when the "Paver" for Violet's Dining Room was unveiled in 2011.
Editor’s note: This article is based on a story by Joann Rubio of the El Cerrito Historical Society and supplemented with information from articles in the East Bay Times by Dale F. Mead (July 7, 2011) and Rick Radin (April 13, 2017).