Daughter of Shanghai

How it was to live in the shadow of a changing China and later in England amidst the vagaries of the British theater are described by the actress whose career peaked in 1960 with her eponymous role in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong. Raised in Shanghai--her father a classical actor, her mother of Westernized background--Tsai Chin enjoyed the perquisites of her family's caste. The charming glimpses she offers of her childhood in a close-knit family provide also an informal history of Chinese theater. With this as prelude, the author's re-creation of her transformation as a sex symbol of the '60s, involved in a highly public affair with critic Kenneth Tynan, is especially jarring alongside her description of the fate of her family who were jailed and died during the cultural revolution in China. Her affecting memoir bridges two disparate worlds and eras. Photos. (Nov.)