Dorothy Toy Fong is an outstanding performing artist, both on the dance floor and on the silver screen.  She was a featured star of Arthur Dong’s award winning documentary film, “Forbidden City USA”, and his upcoming film is based on the best selling book by Rusty E. Frank entitled “Tap!”  In “Tap!” the author writes Dorothy as among the greatest tap dance stars and tells her story during the 1930-1940’s.

Dorothy and her dance partner, Paul Wing were the world-renowned dance team of “TOY AND WING”.  This unique dance team billed as the “Chinese Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger” in their professional career was also mentioned in the PBS film documentary “Vaudeville.”  Dorothy and Paul starred on Broadway, performed at the London Palladium, reaching international success.  They attained national success when they appeared on numerous television shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show.  Toy and Wing also appeared in Hollywood and Great Britain films such as “Happiness Ahead”, “Best Dishes” and “No Orchids for Miss Blanchard.”  As a team, they “danced against adversity towards Orientals”.  Their Hollywood debut ended suddenly due to anti-American Japanese policy. Yet, they still managed to open the door for future Asian American dancers. “Toy and Wing” were one of the very few professional dancers during that era.  Dorothy later branched out on her own and continued her career by forming a first all Asians American female dance group. So popular was her show that the demand took them around the world. 

LARRY CHING, Singer

Larry Ching was born in Kauai and settled in the mainland in 1938 after serving with the Merchant Marines. Mr. Ching was the first singing bartender at the Chinese Village in San Francisco Chinatown. Larry Ching is a member of the SF Theatrical Club and the Montefiore Follies at the SF Jewish Center.

In The Days of Forbidden City...Charlie Low of the Forbidden City approached him to sing in the show in the early 1940s. He continued as a featured singer through the 40s and 50s. Mr. Ching retired from singing in the early 1960s until he was recognized by many after the viewing the documentary film production, "Forbidden City, USA," by Arthur Dong. The film brought him out of retirement to sing at weddings, senior centers and special events.

STANLEY M. TOY, Dancer

Stanley M. Toy immigrated to the United states in the 1920s and studied ballet formally at the San Francisco School of Ballet, the Tamaroff Ballet Institute and McLean Studios. His entertainment career began at nightclubs like Forbidden City, the Shanghai Terrace Bowl, and El Rancho in Las Vegas. He left dancing to become a successful general contractor, housing developer, and restaurant management consultant. In 1996, along with his nightclub pioneers, Stanley received the Pioneer Award at the Organization of Chinese Americans' 18th National Convention.

BERTHA LEW HING, Magician/Dancer
Bertha Lew Hing was a student at San Francisco State University when she became part of the original Forbidden City chorus line. In 1940, she married Ah Hing the magician and together they toured as a magic act. While on tour, Ah Hing received his draft notice with only two days to report. In order to fulfill pending contractual agreements, Bertha, who had been performing as Ah Hing's assistant, Princess Lew Hing, offered to take his place. To their relief, the agent accepted these terms and Bertha Lew Hing became the first professional Chinese American lady magician.

DOROTHY SUN MURRAY, Dancer
Dorothy Sun Murray's grandfather came to this country in 1850 and built an adobe store which still stands in mining country. Dorothy was born in Coulterville but later moved with her family to the Delta and then to San Francisco where she graduated from high school. Soon after, she joined Forbidden City as a dancer. Over the course of a sixteen-year show business career, she would cross the country several times and entertain troops for the USO overseas and in the South Pacific. Her entertainment career ended at Forbidden City in 1954, when she was 35.

FRANCES CHUN KAN, Singer
A childhood of singing with her father's Hawaiian musician friends led Frances Chun Kan to become one of the few Chinese Americans to embark on a show business career in the 1930s. While in high school she joined the Cathayan Dance Orchestra and later sang with the all-white Roy Tellier's Band for four seasons. She joined Forbidden City as a featured singer and performed there regularly between wartime tours of the United States on behalf of the Stage Door Canteen, the USO, and the Red Cross. Frances retired from show business in 1947.

IVY TAM, Dancer
Ivy Tam enjoyed her life at Forbidden City as a dancer and as Mrs. Charlie Low. She acted as hostess to the many dignitaries and celebrities who visited the nightclub. Ivy is still actively dancing.

JADE LING, Dancer
Born into show business, Jade Ling grew up in a Boston nightclub run by her father. She studied drama and dancing at the Boston Conservatory and joined a theater group that toured throughout the New England states. As a solo performer she became a headliner in New York and Florida but attained
even greater prominence as part of a dance duo with Jack Mei Ling. Together they performed at the Waldorf Astoria and toured the United States. After the act broke up, Jade performed at Forbidden City off and on for many years as well as appearing in Mexico and Honolulu.

LILY PON, Dancer
Lily Pon, a native of San Francisco, first worked at Forbidden City as a waitress before taking advantage of early experiences with theater and Chinese opera to move into the performing side of the business. This start in entertainment led to performances in the "China Doll Revue" in New York as well as other jobs in Hawaii, Vancouver, and elsewhere on the West Coast. Lily has also been involved with such shows as Dream Girls, Annie, and La Cage Aux Folles.

MARION FONG GOT
In 1934, Marian Fong Got was living at the Chinatown YWCA and became the first Chinese American to graduate in dental hygiene from the University of California. She married and retired from dentistry in 1936 but returned to the working world in 1939 at the urging of a friend, Bertha Hing. She pursued an early love of dancing to become one of the original chorus girls at the Forbidden City Nightclub. Marian left show business in 1941 to raise a family and run a dress shop.

NOEL TOY, Dancer
Noel Toy grew up in the only Chinese family in the small town of Inverness in Marin County, California. She was discovered by Charlie Low while working her way through University of California, Berkeley as a nude model at the World's Fair. Noel exploited the exotic dance craze, a la Sally Rand and Gypsy Rose Lee, and became the most well-known Asian American woman to perform in the nude. At the height of her career, she was the toast of New York during her long engagement at Leon and Eddie's.