August 24, 1896 [Guangzhou, China] – June 17, 1995 [San Francisco]
Kwan was born in Canton, China. He initially moved to San Francisco, but moved to Los Angeles in 1915 to work in the film industry. He found some work as an actor and writer, and was an an advisor on Chinese culture on D.W. Griffith’s “Broken Blossoms, or the Yellow Man and the Girl” (1919). He moved back to China in 1921 where he taught acting and directed more than 50 films, returning frequently to the U.S. to promote Chinese films. A Pagoda of Jewels appeared in Los Angeles c. 1920, followed by A Chinese Mirror: Poems and Plays in 1932.
