Nancy Kwan was just 18, studying dance with England's Royal Ballet School, when she was spotted by producer Ray Stark, who tested her and gave her the starring role of a free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute who captivates artist William Holden in "The World of Susie Wong" (1960). She followed it the next year with the hit musical "Flower Drum Song" and became one of Hollywood's most visible Asian actresses. Born in China by her Chinese father and British mother, Kwan spent the '60s commuting between film roles in American and Europe, but faded from view in the West when she returned to her native Hong Kong in 1972 to be with her critically ill father. Divorced from her second husband, Austrian hotelier David Giler, and with a young son from her first marriage, Kwan intended to stay a year--but wound up staying a decade. As managing director of her own production company, she produced and directed dozens of commercials for the Southeast Asia market. She also acted in a spate of films made for Southeast Asian audiences, including a 1977 movie, "Fear," that introduced her to filmmaker Norbert Meisel her latest romantic involvement. She returned to the States in 1979 so that her teen-age son, Bernie Pock, could complete his education. (A martial-arts master who speaks fluent Chinese, he's now a stunt coordinator and actor.) After returning to the states, Kwan appeared on numerous TV series and co-starred in the NBC miniseries "Noble House" and the CBS TV movie "Miracle Landing." She also played various characters in various epsiodes including the pilot for "Hawaii 5-0". She's politically active as the spokeswoman for the Asian American Voters Coalition, and touts a beauty product, Oriental Pearl Cream, in TV spots. Kwan was at the ceremonies in Los Angeles at Hollywood Park where the Asian community gathered to watch the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese.
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