Noel Toy

Noel Toy
Born Ngun Yee
December 27, 1918
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Died December 24, 2003 (aged 84)
San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Nationality American
Other names Noel Toy Young
Occupation exotic dancer, actress
Spouse(s) Carleton Young (1945-94)
Playbill from San Francisco's long-defunct Forbidden City nightclub promoting Toy's bubble dance

Noel Toy (born Ngun Yee, the "Chinese Sally Rand") (December 27, 1918 – December 24, 2003) was an American burlesque performer famous for her fan dance and bubble dance, initially at the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco, California. Later, she acted in films and on television.

Early years and career

Toy was born in San Francisco, California. She was the first of eight children born to parents who immigrated from Canton, China. Toy's parents opened a laundry in Inverness, California, where they were the only Chinese residents.[1]

She performed her routines at the Stork Club and other venues in New York City, before returning to San Francisco, where she was most famous at the Forbidden City nightclub.[2] In her later years, Toy had many small parts in films and television, including a role in Big Trouble in Little China and frequent portrayals of Korean villagers in M*A*S*H.[2]

Personal life

Toy met and married a soldier and actor named Carleton Young in 1945, who became enamored with the dancer after seeing her perform at Latin Quarter (nightclub) in New York. They remained married until her husband's death in 1994. They had no children.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Famed Chinese-American exotic dancer of the 1940s dies". Associated Press. 23 January 2004.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chuck Squatriglia (January 23, 2004). "Noel Toy: famed exotic dancer of '40s". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  3. ↑ Miller, Stephen (27 January 2004). "Noel Toy, 84, Fan Dancer Billed as 'Chinese Sally Rand'". The New York Sun. p. 16.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Noel Toy