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Beulah Quo was recently honored at the Chinese Historical Society of America’s Half of Heaven: Women of Honor program in San Francisco, where she was heralded for her work in the media and performing arts.

Community Mourns Sudden Death of APA Actress

Beulah Quo: April 17, 1923 - Oct. 23, 2002

By Gerrye Wong
Special to AsianWeek

Asian Pacific Americans across the nation, as well as many movie and television fans, are mourning the sudden passing of actress and respected community leader, Beulah Quo, who died Oct. 23 in La Mesa, Calif., during routine surgery.

Quo was recently honored at the Chinese Historical Society of America’s “Half of Heaven: Women of Honor” program in San Francisco where she was heralded for her work in the media and performing arts. Speaking to the audience, she fondly recalled an early job as a social service worker at the Chinese YWCA, now the site of the Chinese American National Museum and Learning Center.

As an eternally community-minded activist, she expressed gratitude that the historic building had been saved to house the Chinese American history of which she was a continual supporter.

Quo was the loving wife of husband Edwin Kwoh, and the mother of Stewart and Mary Ellen Shu. Quo changed her last name from “Kwoh” when she began her acting career.

Born in Stockton, Calif., Quo earned her BA in Sociology at UC Berkeley and her MA at the University of Chicago. She taught sociology at Los Angeles Community College as well as at Ginling College in Nanjing, China, the latter as a new bride.

Of her many roles, Quo portrayed Kublai Khan’s empress in the NBC miniseries Marco Polo; starred as a Vietnamese orphanage director in CBS’ The Children of An Lac; played a stern Chinese university dean in CBS’ Forbidden Nights; and was nominated for an Emmy for her performance as Tzu-hsi, dowager empress of China, in an episode of Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds series. Quo was the driving force in the production of Carry the Tiger to the Mountain in which she played the role of Lily Chin, Vincent Chin’s mother. Chin was a young Chinese American who was killed in 1982 by two autoworkers in Detroit.

In 1985, Quo began her role as Olin, the hip-talking housekeeper and confidante on ABC’s General Hospital, and captured the hearts of soap opera fans across the country—so much that they even organized a fan club for her. As a stage actress, Quo received the 1997 Drama-Logue Award for outstanding performance on stage for her role in Alice Tuan’s Ikebana.

Quo helped found the groundbreaking APA theater company, the East West Players, and served as president of the board during the company’s first eight years. She then helped to organize the Association of Asian American Pacific Artists (AAAPA), which saluted her with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.

More recently, she headed the capital fundraising campaign that successfully raised more than $1.7 million to build a new 240-seat East West Players Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. As a member of the California Sesquicentennial Commission, commemorating California’s 150 years of statehood, Quo conceived of the musical production Heading East that told of the dreams and struggles of early Asian immigrants.

In 1999, she actively recruited then-California Assemblyman Mike Honda to head the California Asian Pacific American Experience of Silicon Valley, which brought her musical show to Los Altos in Northern California, together with a photo documentary exhibit of 100 years of APA history in California. Due to her tenacity and enthusiasm for this project, the exhibit has since been shown at universities, libraries, museums, the Mineta San Jose International Airport and government buildings throughout Northern California.

Quo was actively involved in the United Way, El Nido Social Services, Asian Pacific American Friends of the Los Angeles Center Theater Group, AAPAA and the China Society. For her dedication to public service, Quo received many honors, such as the Los Angeles YWCA Silver Achievement Leadership Award; a place in the California Public Education Hall of Fame; and the Committee of 100’s Pioneer Award. In 1999, Antonio R. Villaraigosa, speaker of the state Assembly, selected Quo to be the 45th District’s Woman of the Year.

As a tribute to the woman who was beloved by fans and friends worldwide, the Oct. 27 airing of NBC’s Law & Order was dedicated to Quo. Due to the number of APAs in this episode, the producers felt it was an appropriate tribute to a woman who had made such an impact on the growth of APAs in the industry.

Services for Beulah Quo will be held at Forest Lawn, Glendale, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests donations be made to any of the following nonprofit organizations: East West Players; Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California; Wilshire Presbyterian Church.