Known For
Acting
Born
Dec 13, 1939
Place of Birth
Ota, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
Credits
44 titles
Akiko Wakabayashi
Biography
Akiko Wakabayashi (born December 13, 1939 in Ōta, Tokyo) is a Japanese actress, best known in English-speaking countries for her role as Bond girl, Aki in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice. Prior to this, she made many movies in her native Japan, especially Toho Studio's monster movies such as Dagora, the Space Monster and Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (both of which were also released under various other titles). When production of You Only Live Twice began, Wakabayashi was originally slated to play the role of Kissy Suzuki whilst her co-star Mie Hama played Suki, one of Tiger Tanaka's top agents. When learning English proved to be a major hurdle to Hama, the women switched roles, with Hama now playing the smaller part of Kissy and Wakabayashi playing the larger part of Suki. Wakabayashi, as Aki in the movie You Only Live Twice. At her suggestion, the character of Suki was renamed to Aki. This is probably partly because[citation needed] in 1966, Woody Allen took the Japanese action film International Secret Police: Key of Keys (in which both Mie Hama and Wakabayashi starred), re-edited, re-dubbed, re-plotted, and renamed it What's Up, Tiger Lily?. In the film, Wakabayashi's character was "Suki Yaki" whereas her You Only Live Twice co-star Hama played "Teri Yaki". Wakabayashi made only one more film (and a guest TV appearance) before disappearing from both the big and small screen. In an interview in G-FAN magazine (No. 76), Wakabayashi said she retired from acting due to injuries sustained while making a movie. Description above from the Wikipedia article Akiko Wakabayashi, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
Shirley's World
Diamonds of the Andes
You Only Live Twice
Aki
What's Up, Tiger Lily?
Suki Yaki
It Started In The Alps
Adventure in Kigan Castle
Spuria, Chamberlain's daughter
The Stranger Within a Woman
Sayuri Sugimoto
More Than 10,000 Women But...
Satoko (Kyushu woman)
Key of Keys
Bai-Lan
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
Princess Maas Doulina Salno of Selgina
A Keg of Powder
Girl Taken at Haneda
Dogora
Gang Moll
Hello, Baby
Shizuko Nagata
Samurai Pirate
Yaya's maid
Walleyed Nippon
Riko Arikane
Interpol Code 8
Mie Tsugawa
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Tamiye (uncredited)
Sensation Seekers
Anything For Success
The Weed of Crime
Sararīman Gonza to Sukejū ren'ai kōsa-ten
Youth Season
Our Failures
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Tamiye
Pig and Goldfish
Whirlpool of Love
The Crimson Sky
Kanpai! Sararīman shokun
Bandits on the Wind
Acchan no bebi gyangu
Midori
Girl from Hong Kong
Anna Suh
Akiko
Akiko
Respect, Flatter, and Love
Reporters from the Sky
New Third Class Executive: Fortune Teller
Haruko Momoyama
The Orientals
Ginza Tomboy
Woman in Jail A
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
Hostess
The Terrible Game
Mariko's Friend B
The Beast Shall Die
Hostess at the Rollita B
The Entrapped Gangster
Female Detective Story: S.O.S Woman
In Self-Defense
Song for a Bride