A Cigarette that Bears a Lipstick’s Traces

Katie Gee Salisbury
10 min readApr 12, 2023

the woman who inspired one of the most famous love songs ever written

Anna May Wong, circa 1933

Anna May Wong had many lovers. She was a movie star, after all, and a legendary beauty at that. Her slim-cut figure and graceful gait seduced more than a few in her day, sometimes without her even trying. British composer Constant Lambert, who first set eyes on the actress as…

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Katie Gee Salisbury

Author of NOT YOUR CHINA DOLL, a new biography of Anna May Wong, forthcoming from Dutton on March 12, 2024. Available for pre-order: www.notyourchinadoll.com