The Golden Age of Hollywood, also known as Classical Hollywood or Old Hollywood, spanned the decades between 1910 and 1960 and typically featured white movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor—but Asian American actors also acted in prominent roles during the time. 

The Golden Age of Hollywood’s depiction of Asia and Asian people was intertwined with the threat of “yellow peril,” a cultural phenomenon marked by the fear that East Asian people posed a social, economic and political threat to the United States. The phenomenon, steeped in racism, was triggered by multiple factors, including the fear of potential military invasion from Asia, perceived competition by Asian workers to the white labor force and potential ethnic contamination as a result of genetic mixing between Asians and white people.