Golden Gate Girls (2013)

Surprising or not, the first female director of Southern China was a San Francisco native and an open lesbian. Esther Eng, 1914-70, was a true pioneer. She made 11 Cantonese language films: one in Hollywood, five in China, three in California, one in Hawaii and one in New York, all before, during and after WWII. In her 1941 film Golden Gate Girl, she gave Bruce Lee his screen debut with the role of a baby girl. She created at least four restaurants in New York City, including a fine dining Esther Eng Restaurant in uptown with very good ratings and frequented by celebrities like Marlon Brando and Tennessee Williams. Her obituary appears in both New York Times and Variety she died in 1970.