Personal Life
Howe met his wife, Sanora Babb, before World War II. They traveled to Paris in 1937 to marry, but their marriage was not recognized by the United States until 1948, after the law banning racial intermarriage was abolished. Due to the ban, Howe's studio contract "morals clause" prohibited him from publicly acknowledging their marriage. They would not cohabit due to his traditional Chinese views, so they had separate apartments in the same building.
During the early years of the HUAC witch-hunts, Babb was blacklisted,and moved to Mexico City to protect the "graylisted" Howe from harassment.
Howe raised his godson, producer and director Martin Fong, after Fong arrived in America.
He is buried at Pierce Bros. Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
Read more about this topic: James Wong Howe
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