March is Women’s History Month.
Etta Elizabeth Lee was born on September 11, 1886 in San Jose, California. The September date was on a 1918 passenger list and her Social Security application which had her full name. According to Lee’s application, her parents were Harry Lee and Lillie M.
Liddle.
Lee’s birth information was also recorded in her Chinese Exclusion Act case file interview, dated July 19, 1911. Lee had recently returned from Hawaii.
Q State your name and present residence?
A Etta Elizabeth Lee, 1375 East Washington Street, Los Angeles.
Q Where and when were you born?
A In San Jose, California, September 11, 1886.
Q Have you any documentary proof of your American nativity?
A No, I haven’t anything.
Q Are your parents living?
A My mother is; my father died when I was about nine years old.
Q What was your father’s name?
A Mr. Lee is all I know.
Q What was your father’s nationality?
A Chinese.
Q Do you know what his business was in the United States?
A He was a doctor.
Q What is your mother’s name, and present address?
A 1375 East Washington Street; Mrs. L. M. Martin.
Q Have you any brothers or sisters?
A I have a sister.
Q Give your sister’s name, age and birthplace?
A Barbara Ella Lee, born in Portland, Oregon, 1885. She is older than I am.
Q You have no brothers?
A No.
Q Where is your sister?
A In Hawaii. Makaweli, Kauai.
Q Have you ever visited China?
A No, sir.
Q Have you visited any foreign country?
A Never been out of the United States until I went to Hawaii.
Q When did you go to Hawaii?
A 1910, from San Francisco, in March, on the “Korea.”
Q Where did you reside from the time of your birth until March, 1910?
A Most of the time in Los Angeles, Cal.
Q What is your present occupation?
A Teacher. Principal of Makaweli school, Kauai.
Q Was your birth registered in any state or county office?
A My mother had Dr. Harris, and I suppose he did. If he didn’t it was not done.
Q Where were you educated?
A Spring Street school, Sisters’ school in the rear of the Catholic cathedra—South Los Angeles Street, and eight years in Occidental College, and the State Normal School, Los Angeles.
Lee’s mother was interviewed next.
Q State your name and address?
A Mrs. L. M. Martin, 1375 East Washington Street, Los Angeles.
Q Are you engaged in any business?
A Real estate operator.
Q Have you been married more than once?
A Yes, I have been married twice.
Q What was your first husband’s name?
A Lee. I believe Hing or Hong, I can’t remember it now.
Q Where is he now?
A He died in 1894 or 1895 in Los Angeles. His death was registered, I believe, in the Los Angeles health office.
Q What was your first husband’s nationality?
A Chinese.
Q What was his occupation during his lifetime?
A He was a doctor—in the drug business on North Los Angeles Street.
Q Did you have any children by your first marriage?
A Two girls; no boys.
Q Tell the names of the girls, and the dates of their birth?
A Barbara Ella, March 1885, born in Portland, Oregon. Etta Elizabeth, September 1887, born in San Jose, California.
Q Where were you living at the time Etta was born—what street?
A South Second Street, San Jose, Cal. He was a doctor then.
Q What physician attended you at the time Etta was born?
A Dr. Harris. Don’t remember his first name. I heard he died. And the midwife was Mrs. Rose; she lived next door to me.
Q Is this young lady (indicating) your daughter Etta Elizabeth who was born in South Second Street, San Jose, California in September, 1887, and the daughter of Dr. Lee your first husband?
A Yes, sir.
Q Where were you married to your first husband, and when?
A In Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in January 1884.
Lee’s Certificate of Identity application dated August 31, 1911.
I believe the following person was Lee’s father. The
Los Angeles Times, October 6, 1893, reported the extortion attempt on “Dr. Chin Lee Dai”. The two extortionists, on three occasions, spoke to the doctor’s white wife, “Mrs. Dai”. After the extortion attempt failed, she testified against them. A death notice for “Dr. Chin Lee” appeared in the
Los Angeles Herald, September 16, 1895. The
Daily Colusa Sun, September 18, 1895, reported the death of “Dr. Chin Lee Die”. The article mentioned his white wife and their two children. The doctor also had a son. The
Los Angeles Times, September 18, 1895, did not mention the wife and children. On September 19, 1895, the
Los Angeles Herald responded to the
Colusa Sun and
Los Angeles Times reports. Another article appeared in the
Los Angeles Times on September 21, 1895.
Find a Grave and the California Death Index, at Ancestry.com, said the date of the doctor’s death was September 15, 1895.
Illustration for Dr. Chin Lee’s article,
“Health and How to Preserve It” appeared in
the San Francisco Chronicle, January 7, 1894.
There was a Dr. Chin Lee who was the subject in the
Virginia Evening Chronicle (Virginia City, Nevada), January 12, 1878; see page three, column one, “A Chinese Lothario”. He might be the same doctor above.
The
Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1923, profiled Lee and said she was half Chinese and French. Lee said her “father was a Chinese doctor, educated in an American university, died when I was 9 years old. My mother, my very young mother—then was a French girl.” The movie magazine,
Classic, June 1923, said her father was a Chinese physician and “mother a very charming and well educated French lady.” In the 1900 census, Lee and her sister said their mother was French Canadian; the 1910 census and Find a Grave said Irish; the 1920 and 1930 censuses recorded English.
Lee’s mother’s second marriage was to someone surnamed Martin. There is a possible match in the California marriage records at Ancestry.com. On October 25, 1895, Lillie Lee married Francis Marion Martin in Colton, California. The marriage was about six weeks after her husband’s death. What became of her second husband is not known.
The 1900 census said thirteen-year-old Lee, a student, lived with the Dilworth family in Los Angeles, California at 5622 Pasadena Avenue. Her fifteen-year-old sister, [Barbara] Ella, boarded with the Allen family at 493 Pasadena Avenue. The whereabouts of their mother is unclear but there is a possible match. The census recorded a Lillie Martin, born April 1865 in France, who was a seamstress in Sacramento. She was also single. The 1903 Sacramento city directory said she provided furnished rooms. Her occupation explained why she lived apart from her daughters. She reunited with them before the 1910 census enumeration.
In 1905 Lee and her sister, Barbara Ella, graduated from the
Occidental Academy. They enrolled at
Occidental College. The
Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1906, reported the Capitola Fete at Occidental where Lee dressed in Japanese costume. During her
junior year, Lee was a
gypsy fortune teller.
The Lee sisters
graduated in 1909 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree.
Etta Lee, 1909 La Encina yearbook
Etta Lee, 1910 La Encina yearbook
Ella Lee, 1910 La Encina yearbook
Lee and her sister completed the
General Professional Course at the
Los Angeles State Normal School in March 1910.
The Exponent yearbook said
Barbara Ella Lee—Her voice was ever sweet, gentle and low.
Etta Lee—As brown in hue as hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels.
Evidently Lee skipped the graduation ceremony which was held on March 25. Two days earlier she was aboard the
Pacific Mail ship Korea whose first stop was Honolulu.
The 1910 census (enumerated in April) counted “Etta E. Martin”, her mother (a widow) and sister in Los Angeles at 1375 East Washington Street. At the time Lee was a public school teacher in Hawaii.
Lee returned to the mainland on July 11, 1911. On the next trip, Lee testified she went to Hawaii in September 1911. At San Francisco she returned on July 9, 1913. Lee sailed to Hawaii in 1915, 1916, 1917 and 1918. Below are Lee’s letters to an immigration officer.
On July 10, 1918 Lee was aboard the ship Logan when it departed Honolulu. She arrived in San Francisco on July 17. Her final destination was Los Angeles.
The
Hawaii Educational Review, June 1918, said Lee was scheduled to teach at Waimea. On October 4, 1918, Lee departed San Francisco. The ship Sachem was scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on October 12. Lee’s destination was Waimea, Kauai.
On June 28, 1918, Lee’s mother’s third marriage was to Andrew Jackson Frost.
At some point Lee returned Los Angeles. The 1920 census recorded Lee and her sister (both public school teachers) and their mother with the Frost surname. Lee’s stepfather was 70 years old.
He passed away on July 16, 1923.
From 1921 to 1935, Lee appeared in at least twenty-two films, numerous newspapers and magazines, and two stage plays. She and Anna May Wong appeared in “
The Toll of the Sea”, “The Thief of Bagdad”, and “The Chinese Parrot”.
Classic, June 1923, mentioned small
roles in “The Infidel” and “East Is West”
Niagara Falls Gazette, July 11, 1924
“One Night in Rome” role mentioned
October 16, 1924
Daily News (Batavia, New York), August 1, 1925.
Lee listed second.
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Lee’s stage appearances were in “
The Little Clay Cart” (1926) and “
The Scarlet Virgin” (1927). The
Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, August 19, 1927, said
Etta Lee Is Chinese Girl in Grove Drama
In spite of her Chinese nativity, Etta Lee, who is cast as Anna in Ramon Cerva’s sex comedy-drama, “The Scarlet Virgin” at the Orange Grove, is offering Occidental prayers for an aviator who if willing to risk his life in a non-stop flight to Shanghai.
Miss Lee, hailed by American film and stage producers as one of the most beautiful, Chinese girls in this country, was born in Honolulu. Her father is said to be one of the foremost Chinese business men of wealth and power on the islands and gave Etta his blessing plus financial backing when she asked his permission to attempt to fly from Los Angeles to Shanghai.
Miss Lee has never been in her mother country and desires to visit China. She also hankers to be the first girl to make such a trip as a passenger in an airplane. Several local aviators have been interviewed by Miss Lee, but none has voiced their desire to make the trip in planes at their command. During the past few days Miss Lee has flown many miles as a passenger in Henry Ford’s, big monoplane stationed at Rogers airport and has learned many things about aviation from various instructors.
According to the 1930 census, Etta E. Lee resided in the St. Francis Hotel at 5533 Hollywood Boulevard. She was a public school teacher.
In 1932 Lee married
Frank Robinson Brown.
Lee filed her Social Security application in December 1936.
Lee was listed in
The Motion Picture Almanac 1931. She had listings in the
1936 and
1937 editions of the
Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures. The 1938 Los Angeles city directory listed Lee and her husband at 5555 Hollywood Boulevard. The same address was recorded in the 1940 census.
On October 16, 1940, Frank Brown signed his World War II draft card. He listed Lee as next of kin. His address was 831 South Serrano Avenue which was crossed out replaced with 3101 Ellington Drive, Hollywood. Later it was updated to 5849 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood.
The 1948 California Voter Registration listed Lee and her husband at 433 Third Street in Eureka, California. They were Democrats.
Lee and her husband have not been found in the 1950 census.
The 1953–1954 Porterville, California city directory said their address was 699 Grand Avenue.
Lee’s
mother passed away on April 30, 1954.
The 1956 Eureka, California city directory listed the couple at 2765 Hall Avenue.
Lee was 70 years old when she passed away on October 27, 1956. An obituary appeared in the
Times Standard (Eureka, California), October 27, 1956.
Etta Lee Brown, Former Film Star, Dies in Eureka;
Etta Lee Brown, wife of Radio Commentator Frank Robinson Brown, died at 4 o’clock this morning at her home, 2765 Hall Avenue in Eureka. Mrs. Brown had suffered a long illness.
A former Hollywood in many film star and leading lady in many pictures, she retired from acting following her marriage to Brown in 1932. [See filmography below.] She was a charter member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
During her motion picture career, Mrs. Brown, whose film name was Etta Lee, played exotic roles opposite Rudolph Valentino and the late Douglas Fairbanks Sr. She co-starred with Greta Garbo in the first film production of Camille.
In Eureka, Mrs. Brown was widely known for her interest in community work. She was active in the Eureka Woman’s Club and in 1954 was chairman of the civic affairs committee of that organization. She was also a member of the Episcopal church.
Mrs. Brown was born in Kauai, Territory of Hawaii, in 1906. [Birth information incorrect.] She attended Occidental College in southern California, graduating with high honors.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by a sister, Mrs. Ella Deverill of Beverly Hills and two nephews, Spencer Deverill of Saudi Arabia and Edward Deverill of San Diego.
Funeral services will be Tuesday at 1:30 o’clock at Christ Episcopal church with Rev. J. Thomas Lewis officiating. Private interment will be at Sunset Memorial Cemetery under the direction of Cooper Mortuary.
Variety, October 31, 1956, said
Mrs. Etta Lee Brown, 50, former film actress, died Oct. 27 in Eureka, Calif. She played roles opposite Rudolph Valentino and Douglas Fairbanks Sr., before retiring from films in 1932. Her film credits included “The Shiek,” “Thief of Bagdad” and “Camille,” with Greta Garbo.
Husband, Frank Brown, a news commentator, for radio station KAQM, survives.
Brown passed away on September 11, 1981. Lee’s sister, Ella, passed away on March 23, 1987 in Los Angeles.
an extra, mentioned in Niagara Falls Gazette, July 11, 1924
Further Reading and Viewing
of Hollywood’s Golden Age
Substack, Half-Caste Woman, Young Hollywood Was Asian
The Shot, Forgotten Asian Actors
Eric Brightwell, A History of Asian-American Cinema
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