Mai Tai Sing

Mai Tai Sing (December 22, 1923 – July 11, 2018) was an American actress and businesswoman. Her acting credits include the TV series Hong Kong, Forbidden, and Strange Portrait.

Mai Tai Sing
Sing c. 1960
Born
May Tsang

(1923-12-22)December 22, 1923
Oakland, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 11, 2018(2018-07-11) (aged 94)
Hawaii, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1953–2018
SpouseWilbur Tai Sing
Children2
Mai Tai Sing
Simplified Chinese梅蒂仙

Background

She was born in Oakland, California as May Tsang. Most of her young years were in Hong Kong. When she was about fourteen, she and her family moved back to the California Bay area. One of her early jobs was waitressing at the Forbidden City nightclub. It was there she became interested in performing.[1]

In the early 1940s, she became a chorus girl there. She met Wilbur and Jessie Tai Sing, a dancing duo. Later she replaced Jessie. By 1942, she was married to Wilbur Tai Sing and had two children to him.[2][3]

In the 1960s she became romantically involved with actor Jeffrey Hunter. An article in The Milwaukee Sentinel said that they were to be married. At this time they had been working together in the film Strange Portrait.[4] In the 1970s she relocated to Hawaii.[5]

Film and television roles

Film

In 1953, she appeared in a film with Tony Curtis, playing the part of Soo Lee.[6] Forbidden was directed by Rudolph Maté. Other cast included Joanne Dru and Victor Sen Yung.[7] Her last film role was in the ill-fated Strange Portrait that starred Jeffry Hunter. In this film she played a wealthy but reclusive and insane woman living alone in a mansion who has an obsession with a portrait of her husband that had abandoned her.[8]

Television

In the 1950s she appeared in two episodes of The New Adventures of China Smith aka The Affairs of China Smith which was an action/adventure series about an American adventurer living in Singapore. The main role was played by Dan Duryea.[9] In the early 1960s had a recurring role as Ching Mei in the series Hong Kong. [10][11] She played the owner of The Golden Dragon, a supper club. The cast included Rod Taylor and Lloyd Bochner.[12]

She would also host Charlie Chan films on channel 44, a local San Francisco television station.[13][14]

Club management
Advertising poster for Ricksha Bistro in San Francisco

She had an association with clubs that goes back to the 1940s as a chorus girl,[15] she would eventually end up in management. One of the clubs that she ran was The Rickshaw in San Francisco. That club is known for a night when John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Billy Preston stopped by.[16]

She moved to Hawaii in the 1970s. Another club she managed was "Trappers", located in the Hyatt Waikiki. The club featured the Betty Loo Taylor Trio. She was hostess and manager there until her retirement in 2003 at age 79.[17][18] Her retirement marked 28 years of management and hosting at Trappers and later at the Ciao Mein.[19][20]

Filmography

Television
  • Jake and the Fatman, Eipisode: "Chinatown, My Chinatown" (1990) ... Hostess
  • Hawaii Five-O, Episode: "Wooden Model of a Rat" (1975) ... Reporter #2
  • Sam Benedict Episode: "Nothing Equals Nothing" ... Lily Sin
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "The Runaway" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "Murder by Proxy" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "With Deadly Sorrow" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "The Hunted" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "Lesson in Fear" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • Hong Kong, Episode: "Suitable for Framing" (1961) ... Ching Mei
  • The New Adventures of China Smith Episode: "The Black Wings of the Fire Bird" (1954) ... Moonflower
  • The New Adventures of China Smith Episode: "The Talons of Tongking" (1954) ... Ah Chee

Film

[22]

References
  1. Shaping San Francisco's Digital Archive @ Mai Tai Sing Historical Essay Source material from Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs by Trina Robbins.
  2. "These Nightclub Entertainers Paved The Way For Asian-Americans In Showbiz by Heidi Chang", npr.org; accessed July 30, 2018.
  3. Chinese in Hollywood by Jenny Cho and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Page 61
  4. Buck Herzog, Sign Has Double Meaning (pg. 15), The Milwaukee Sentinel, February 15, 1966.
  5. "Mai Tai Sing - FoundSF".
  6. New York Times Forbidden (1953) Acting Credits
  7. Screen World Vol. 6 1955 by Blum, Daniel Page 18 Forbidden
  8. Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances by Paul Green Green Chapter 19 Strange Portrait - Dimension 5 page 119
  9. TV Guide China Smith TV Show, Cast & Crew
  10. epguides.com Hong Kong (a Titles & Air Dates Guide
  11. Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010, 2d ed. by Vincent Terrace Page 474, 4156 Hong Kong
  12. Broadcasting December 12, 1960 Page 73 Changes in 'Hong Kong' assure Kaiser backing
  13. Chinese in Hollywood By Jenny Cho and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Page 61
  14. Shaping San Francisco's Digital Archive @ Mai Tai Sing Historical Essay Source material from Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs by Trina Robbins.
  15. These Nightclub Entertainers Paved The Way For Asian-Americans In Showbiz by Heidi Chang, WPSU.org, March 17, 2015.
  16. Mai Tai Sing, Jimmy Borges, Hyatt's Trapperettes reunite by Ben Wood, Honolulu Star Advertiser, March 14, 2015.
  17. Mai Tai Sing, Jimmy Borges, Hyatt's Trapperettes reunite by Ben Wood, Honolulu Star Advertiser, March 14, 2015.
  18. Trina Robbins, Mai Tai Sing Historical Essay Source material from Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs, Shaping San Francisco's Digital Archive, foundsf.org; accessed July 30, 2018.
  19. Ben Wood, "One last round for Hyatt's Mai Tai Sing", Honolulu Star Bulletin archives, October 25, 2003.
  20. Body & Soul Hawaii, Honolulu Star Bulletin archives, December 24, 1997.
  21. Hollywood.Com Mai Tai Sing Credits)
  22. Mai Tai Sing filmography, imdb.com; accessed July 30, 2018.
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