I started dancing because of my mother. She was from Poland, a professional dancer. When I was small in Hong Kong, I would watch her do her exercises. She would tell me, “Oh, you want to try? Follow me.” By age 7, I was performing in a nightclub.

When the Communists started moving into Shanghai in 1949, we left for a refugee camp in the Philippines. We were there for two years—then America accepted us. My mother knew I would be judged differently because I am half-Chinese. She told me, “You’ve got to be 10 times better than whoever they have there.”

In New York, I went to the training school for the New York City Ballet. At the time, George Balanchine was choreographing his Nutcracker, and he decided to use me for the Chinese Tea dance. I could jump really high. I was hoping to get a spot in the company, but they said I was too short.

Still, I had to work. I got cast in Flower Drum Song, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, and learned jazz dance. The director, Gene Kelly, made a spot for me in one number where I could do solo jumping. From there, I danced in whatever shows I could get. I was ready for anything.

Eventually, in 1980, I decided to retire from show business. I was in Las Vegas, and a friend suggested I get trained as a blackjack dealer.

Dealing is my second career. Customers come in looking for me. They are like a big family for me.

A few years ago, a journalist named Jennifer Lin contacted me. She wanted to make a short documentary about me. The film was released this year, and it has been great. I have gotten to think about and talk about everything that happened to me. But I’m happy where I am. I’ve worked all my life, and I’m still working. —As told to Leslie Quander Wooldridge

George R. Lee, 89, a blackjack dealer at the Four Queens Casino in Las Vegas, is the subject of the new documentary Ten Times Better.