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Sessue Hayakawa

Acting Born Jun 10, 1889 Nanaura, Chiba, Japan 24 credits

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.

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Known for

Film

Revenge of the Pink Panther

as Sakae Ito
Film

The Bridge on the River Kwai

as Col. Saito
Film

Swiss Family Robinson

as Kuala, Pirate Chief
Film

Green Mansions

as Runi
Film

The Daydreamer

as The Mole (voice)

Full filmography

  • Wagon Train (1957) as Sakae Ito
  • Taikouki (1965) as Takeda Shingen
  • The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) as Col. Saito
  • Asian Americans (2020) as Self
  • Swiss Family Robinson (1960) as Kuala, Pirate Chief
  • Tokyo Joe (1949) as Baron Kimura
  • Green Mansions (1959) as Runi
  • Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019) as (archive footage)
  • House of Bamboo (1955) as Inspector Kito
  • Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom (1950)
  • The Geisha Boy (1958) as Mr. Sikita
  • Lover's Duet (1967) as Tajima
  • Les Miserables I: God and the Devil (1950)
  • The Bravest Way (1918) as Kara Tamura
  • 日本敗れず (1954)
  • The Daydreamer (1966) as The Mole (voice)
  • The Motherland Far Far Away (1950) as Joe Hayami
  • Hell to Eternity (1960) as General Matsui
  • The Cheat (1915) as Hishuru Tori [Haka Arakau]
  • Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007) as Self (archive footage)
  • His Birthright (1918) as Yukio
  • Forfaiture (1937) as Prince Hu-Long
  • The Big Wave (1961) as The Old Man
  • Three Came Home (1950) as Colonel Michio Suga