Sessue Hayakawa
Acting
- Born:
- 1889-06-10
- Died:
- 1973-11-23
- Place of birth:
- Nanaura, Chiba, Japan
Biography
Sessue Hayakawa (June 10, 1889 – November 23, 1973) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) actor who starred in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films. Hayakawa was the first and one of the few Asian actors to find stardom in the United States as well as Europe. Between the mid-1910s and the late 1920s, he was as well known as actors Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks. He was one of the highest paid stars of his time; making $5,000 a week in 1915, and $2 million a year via his own production company during the 1920s. He starred in over 80 movies and has two films in the U.S. National Film Registry. His international stardom transitioned both silent films and talkies. Of his English-language films, Hayakawa is probably best known for his role as Colonel Saito in the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, for which he received a nomination for Academy Award Best Supporting Actor in 1957. He also appeared as the pirate leader in Disney's Swiss Family Robinson in 1960. In addition to his film acting career, Hayakawa was a theatre actor, film and theatre producer, film director, screenwriter, novelist, martial artist, and an ordained Zen master. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sessue Hayakawa, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
Asian Americans
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
Hollywood
Lover's Duet
The Daydreamer
Taikouki
The Frozen Moment
The Big Wave
Swiss Family Robinson
Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
Hell to Eternity
John Gunther's High Road
Green Mansions
The Geisha Boy
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Wagon Train
House of Bamboo
日本敗れず
Kurama Tengu and Katsu Kaishū
The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki
47 Vendettas
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
The Motherland Far Far Away
Three Came Home
Tokyo Joe
Quartier chinois
Le Cabaret du Grand Large
Le Soleil de minuit
Malaria
Gambling Hell
Patrouille blanche
Tempête sur l'Asie
Forfaiture
Yoshiwara
The Daughter of the Samurai
The Sun Rises from the East
Running Hollywood
Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks
Daughter of the Dragon
I Have Killed
Sen Yan’s Devotion
The Danger Line
The Great Prince Shan
The Battle
Night Life in Hollywood
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
The Vermilion Pencil
Five Days to Live
The Swamp
Where Lights Are Low
Black Roses
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
The First Born
An Arabian Knight
Li Ting Lang
The Devil's Claim
The Brand of Lopez
The Beggar Prince
The Tong Man
The Illustrious Prince
Bonds of Honor
The Dragon Painter
The Gray Horizon
The Man Beneath
His Debt
The Courageous Coward
A Heart in Pawn
The Temple Of Dusk
Banzai
His Birthright
The City of Dim Faces
The Bravest Way
The White Man's Law
The Honor of His House
Hidden Pearls
The Secret Game
The Call of the East
Hashimura Togo
Forbidden Paths
The Jaguar's Claws
The Bottle Imp
Each to His Kind
The Victoria Cross
The Soul of Kura San
The Honorable Friend
Alien Souls
Temptation
The Cheat
The Secret Sin
The Clue
The Chinatown Mystery
After Five
The Last of the Line
The Typhoon
The Death Mask
The Wrath of the Gods
O Mimi san