Sessue Hayakawa
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.
Acting
Movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai
as Col. Saito
1957
Movie
Swiss Family Robinson
as Kuala, Pirate Chief
1960
Movie
The Cheat
as Hishuru Tori [Haka Arakau]
1915
Movie
House of Bamboo
as Inspector Kito
1955
Movie
The Geisha Boy
as Mr. Sikita
1958
Movie
Tokyo Joe
as Baron Kimura
1949
Movie
Green Mansions
as Runi
1959
TV
Wagon Train
as Sakae Ito
1957
Movie
Three Came Home
as Colonel Michio Suga
1950
Movie
The Dragon Painter
as Tatsu - the Dragon Painter
1919
Movie
Daughter of the Dragon
as Ah Kee
1931
Movie
Hell to Eternity
as General Matsui
1960
Movie
The Wrath of the Gods
as Lord Yamaki
1914
Movie
The Daydreamer
as The Mole (voice)
1966
Movie
The Tong Man
as Luk Chen
1919
Movie
Gambling Hell
as Ying Tchaï
1942
Movie
Forfaiture
as Prince Hu-Long
1937
Movie
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)
2019
Movie
The Last of the Line
as Tiah - Gray Otter's Son
1914
Movie
The Secret Game
as Nara-Nara
1917
Movie
His Birthright
as Yukio
1918
Movie
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
as Self (archive footage)
2007
Movie
The Daughter of the Samurai
as Iwao Yamato
1937
Movie
The City of Dim Faces
as Jang Lung
1918
