CAAM Presents JUST LIKE REALLY
Excerpts from a memoir by Asian American actor Cherylene Lee.
Best known perhaps for her performance in FLOWER DRUM SONG, singing and dancing with sister Virginia in “The Other Generation,” Cherylene Lee is a an unsung Asian American show biz pioneer with dozens of network television and Hollywood film credits during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a Las Vegas act with her sister back when the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. were playing literally next door to the Lee Sisters show, Oriental Holiday, at The New Frontier Hotel. She was in DONOVAN’S REEF with John Wayne, and Gene Kelly was on record that Cherylene was his favorite dancing partner.
Cherylene has a unique perspective on the entertainment industry, and the ability to convey her experiences as a Chinese American child performer with candor and insight that are frankly lacking in many “child-actor memoirs,” but not so surprising to those who’ve followed Cherylene’s subsequent career as a poet and playwright (Arthur and Leila, Carry the Tiger to the Mountain).
In 2010 Cherylene received a grant from the SF Cultural Equity Grant to stage a reading of excerpts from her memoir “Just Like Really” at the 9th Street Independent Film Center, the facility that houses CAAM and a number of other non-profit media organizations.
Cherylene Lee’s video podcasts will be available for download on iTunes soon so stay tuned. Enjoy!
