QUEENSLINE
This Golden Globe winner grew up in Forest Hills
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | JUNE 18-JUNE 24, 2021 13
In conjunction with the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society, TimesLedger
Newspapers presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s
history.
Born on June 2, 1988, in
Stony Brook, New York, Nora
Lum is an American actress,
comedian, internet personality,
rapper, author, and television
host known by her nickname
Awkwafina.
She rose to fame when she
released a rap song on YouTube
in 2012. In 2019, she became
the first Asian woman to win a
Golden Globe in a lead actress
film category. Awkwafina grew
up in Forest Hills. Her Chineseimmigrant
great-grandfather
opened Lum’s, one of the
first Chinese restaurants in
Flushing, in the 1940s.
The future celebrity was
born to a Chinese-American
father and Korean immigrant
mother who passed away when
Nora was 4 years old. Later in
her career, the Queens native
reflected on the impact of her
mother’s loss.
“Family members would
come up to me and cry, and I
didn’t like that,” she said. “So
I tried this sideshow of ‘Hey, let
me make you laugh.’ I needed
people to feel joy. That’s how
this all began. I was the class
clown all the way.”
She graduated Fiorello H.
LaGuardia High School, where
she adopted her stage name
Awkwafina as an alter ego to
her quiet personality in high
school and during college at
SUNY Albany. The artist began
rapping at age 13, and after her
first YouTube performance, she
released a hip-hop album titled
Yellow Ranger in 2014.
In 2016, Lum collaborated
with comedian Margaret Cho
on a song titled Green Tea that
pokes fun at Asian stereotypes.
In the same year, she was profiled
in the documentary Bad
Rap, which spotlighted Asian-
American rappers.
In 2018, Awkwafina released
her second album, In Fina We
Trust.
Not content with rapping,
Lum is also a gifted actress.
She has appeared in comedies
including “Neighbors 2: Sorority
Rising,” “Ocean’s 8,” “Crazy
Rich Asians,” and “Jumanji:
The Next Level.”
In 2019, Awkwafina played
a leading role in the deeply
moving comedy-drama “The
Farewell.” In this film, a Chinese
American family learn
that their beloved matriarch in
China has only a short time left
to live, but decide not to tell her
and plan a wedding to say goodbye
to her. For her performance
in the movie, Lum won the
Golden Globe Award for Best
Actress in a Motion Picture –
Comedy or Musical.
The following year, Awkwafina
became co-creator, writer
and executive producer of the
Comedy Central series “Awkwafina
Is Nora from Queens.”
Starring as a fictionalized version
of herself, the main character
is a “20-something woman
in Queens who strives for a
larger-than-life existence.” Recently,
the young actress from
Queens also lent her voice as
Sisu, the last dragon alive, in
the computer-animated fantasy
adventure film Raya and the
Last Dragon.
In recent years, the rising
star from Queens has been recognized
far and wide for her on
screen talent. Aside from her
2020 Golden Globe for The Farewell,
Awkwafina was honored
as Kore Asian Media’s Female
Breakout of the Year in 2017.
She was also nominated for
Best Comedic Performance for
her role in Crazy Rich Asians
at the 2019 MTV Movie & TV
Awards.
The future is bright for the
young actress who turned early
sorrow into joy for so many of
her fans.
For further info, call the
Greater Astoria Historical
Society at 718-278-0700 or www.
astorialic.org.
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