Sessue Hayakawa

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Kintaro Hayakawa

Birth Place

Japan

Born

June 10, 1889

Died

November 23, 1973

Biography

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Established himself as a villainous mainstay of the silent era with his appearances in "The Typhoon" (1914) and C.B. DeMille's "The Cheat" (1915). After his appearance in the latter, Hayakawa became the first person of Asian descent to reach star status in Hollywood film (his wife, Tsuri Aoki, also acted in silent films). After a lengthy stay in Europe, Hayakawa made a US comeback as a c...

Filmography

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The Daydreamer (1966)

The Big Wave (1962)

Hell to Eternity (1960)

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

Green Mansions (1959)

The Geisha Boy (1958)

Photos & Videos

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Dragon Painter, The (1919) -- (Movie Clip) The Last Descendant

Dragon Painter, The (1919) -- (Movie Clip) He Seeks An Enchanted Princess

Family & Companions

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Tsuru Aoki

Wife

Actor. Born September 9, 1892 in Tokyo; married 1914 until her death on October 18, 1961 in Tokyo.

Biography

Established himself as a villainous mainstay of the silent era with his appearances in "The Typhoon" (1914) and C.B. DeMille's "The Cheat" (1915). After his appearance in the latter, Hayakawa became the first person of Asian descent to reach star status in Hollywood film (his wife, Tsuri Aoki, also acted in silent films). After a lengthy stay in Europe, Hayakawa made a US comeback as a character player, earning acclaim and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as a steely-eyed Japanese officer in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957).

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

The Daydreamer (1966)

The Big Wave (1962)

Hell to Eternity (1960)

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

Green Mansions (1959)

The Geisha Boy (1958)

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

House of Bamboo (1955)

Three Came Home (1950)

Colonel Michio Suga

Tokyo Joe (1949)

Forfaiture (1937)

Daughter of the Dragon (1931)

The Danger Line (1924)

Marquis Yorisaka

J'ai Tue! (1924)

Sen Yan's Devotion (1924)

The Vermilion Pencil (1922)

Tse Chan/The Unknown/Li Chan

Five Days to Live (1922)

Night Life in Hollywood (1922)

Themselves and wife

The Swamp (1921)

Where Lights Are Low (1921)

The First Born (1921)

Black Roses (1921)

An Arabian Knight (1920)

The Brand of Lopez (1920)

The Beggar Prince (1920)

Li Ting Lang (1920)

The Devil's Claim (1920)

Akbar Khan/Hassan

The Dragon Painter (1919)

Tatsu, the Dragon Painter

The Man Beneath (1919)

Dr. Chindi Ashutor

The Illustrious Prince (1919)

Bonds of Honor (1919)

Yamashito/Sasamoto

The Tong-Man (1919)

A Heart in Pawn (1919)

The Gray Horizon (1919)

The Courageous Coward (1919)

His Debt (1919)

The White Man's Law (1918)

John A. Ghengis

His Birthright (1918)

The Bravest Way (1918)

The Honor of His House (1918)

Count Ito Onato

The City of Dim Faces (1918)

The Temple of Dusk (1918)

Hidden Pearls (1918)

Each to His Kind (1917)

The Jaguar's Claws (1917)

The Secret Game (1917)

Forbidden Paths (1917)

The Call of the East (1917)

The Bottle Imp (1917)

Hashimura Togo (1917)

Alien Souls (1916)

The Soul of Kura-San (1916)

The Honorable Friend (1916)

The Victoria Cross (1916)

Temptation (1915)

The Cheat (1915)

After Five (1915)

The Clue (1915)

The Secret Sin (1915)

The Typhoon (1914)

The Wrath of the Gods (1914)

The Last of the Line (1914)

Writer (Feature Film)

The Swamp (1921)

His Birthright (1918)

Life Events

1908

Began stage career in Japan

1913

Toured American West with his Japanese Imperial Company

1914

Made first film for Thomas Ince, "The Typhoon"

1915

Put under contract by Paramount Pictures

1915

Starred in "The Cheat", directed by Cecil B DeMille

1918

Formed production company Haworth Film Corporation

1921

Formed Hayakawa Feature Play Company; produced four films

1921

Screenwriter "The Swamp"

1931

Made one-shot return to American films in "Daughter of the Dragon"

1957

Won Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for role as POW camp comandant in "The Bridge on the River Kwai"

1966

Final feature, "The Day Dreamer"

Photo Collections

Tokyo Joe - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Tokyo Joe - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Tokyo Joe - Lobby Cards

Tokyo Joe - Lobby Cards

Videos

Dragon Painter, The (1919) -- (Movie Clip) The Last Descendant The second scenario, having established leading man (and producer) Sessue Hayakawa as the obsessive artist in the faraway mountains, we meet in Tokyo artist Indara (Edward Peil) and his daughter Ume-ko (Tsuru Aoki), then return to the hero (on location at Yosemite National Park), in the Hollywood silent feature <>The Dragon Painter, 1919.

Dragon Painter, The (1919) -- (Movie Clip) He Seeks An Enchanted Princess From Milestone Films and George Eastman House, the opening introducing leading man and de-facto producer Sessue Hayakawa, for the rediscovered feature by his Hollywood-based Haworth Pictures, directed by Hayakawa’s partner William Worthington, shot at Yosemite National Park, The Dragon Painter. 1919.

Bridge On The River Kwai, The (1957) -- (Movie Clip) He's Done It! Triumphal moment from director David Lean, as Col. Nicholson (Alec Guinnes) is summoned from "The Oven" by Japanese prison-camp commandant Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), who agrees to exempt British officers from manual labor, in The Bridge On The River Kwai, 1957.

Bridge On The River Kwai, The (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Colonel Bogey March The British prisoners led by Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) enter the Japanese prison camp in Burma whistling the jaunty Colonel Bogey March, in a famous early moment from David Lean's The Bridge On The River Kwai, 1957.

Bridge On The River Kwai, The (1957) -- (Movie Clip) It Will Be Pleasant Work Japanese prison camp commandant Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) addressing just-arrived British Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and his troops, seeds of conflict in David Lean's The Bridge On The River Kwai, 1957.

Three Came Home -- (Movie Clip) Bow To Your Japanese Officers! Claudette Colbert, playing Agnes Newton Keith who wrote the memoir on which the film is based, as the Japanese, led by Colonel Suga (Sessue Hayakawa) seize British Borneo, in Three Came Home, 1950.

Green Mansions - (Original Trailer) Audrey Hepburn is Rima, the Bird Woman of the Amazon rain forest in the romantic adventure Green Mansions (1959) co-starring Anthony Perkins.

Companions

Tsuru Aoki

Wife

Actor. Born September 9, 1892 in Tokyo; married 1914 until her death on October 18, 1961 in Tokyo.

Bibliography

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