Known For
Acting
Born
Jun 10, 1889
Died
Nov 23, 1973
Place of Birth
Nanaura, Chiba, Japan
Credits
100 titles
Sessue Hayakawa
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
Self
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
(archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
Self (archive)
Lover's Duet
Tajima
The Daydreamer
The Mole (voice)
Taikouki
Takeda Shingen
The Frozen Moment
Self
The Big Wave
The Old Man
Swiss Family Robinson
Kuala, Pirate Chief
Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
Hell to Eternity
General Matsui
John Gunther's High Road
Self
Green Mansions
Runi
The Geisha Boy
Mr. Sikita
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
Self
The Bridge on the River Kwai
Col. Saito
Wagon Train
Sakae Ito
House of Bamboo
Inspector Kito
日本敗れず
Kurama Tengu and Katsu Kaishū
Awanokami Katsu
The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki
Tomoyuki Yamashita
47 Vendettas
Sakon Tachibana
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
The Motherland Far Far Away
Joe Hayami
Three Came Home
Colonel Michio Suga
Tokyo Joe
Baron Kimura
Quartier chinois
Tchang
Le Cabaret du Grand Large
Professeur Wang
Le Soleil de minuit
Matsui
Malaria
Gambling Hell
Ying Tchaï
Patrouille blanche
Tempête sur l'Asie
Prinz Ling
Forfaiture
Prince Hu-Long
Yoshiwara
Ysamo, Kuli
The Daughter of the Samurai
Iwao Yamato
The Sun Rises from the East
Kenji
Running Hollywood
Sessue Hayakawa
Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks
Self
Daughter of the Dragon
Ah Kee
I Have Killed
Hideo
Sen Yan’s Devotion
Sen Yan
The Danger Line
Marquis Yorisaka
The Great Prince Shan
Prince Shan
The Battle
Le Marquis Yorisaka
Night Life in Hollywood
Self
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
Self
The Vermilion Pencil
Tse Chan / The Unknown / Li Chan