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.
Acting (88 movies)
The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957
House of Bamboo
1955
The Honorable Friend
1916
Temptation
1915
The City of Dim Faces
1918
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
1922
Hell to Eternity
1960
The Geisha Boy
1958
Forfaiture
1937
Green Mansions
1959
Swiss Family Robinson
1960
Tokyo Joe
1949
The Cheat
1915
Patrouille blanche
1942
Le Soleil de minuit
1943
Malaria
1943
Le Cabaret du Grand Large
1946
Quartier chinois
1947
The Devil's Claim
1920
The Dragon Painter
1919
Three Came Home
1950
Daughter of the Dragon
1931
The Wrath of the Gods
1914
John Gunther's High Road
1959
The Tong Man
1919
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
The Last of the Line
1914
Yoshiwara
1937
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
1958
The Typhoon
1914
The Daydreamer
1966
The Death Mask
1914
The Daughter of the Samurai
1937
The Clue
1915
The Motherland Far Far Away
1950
The Secret Game
1917
His Birthright
1918
悲劇の将軍 山下奉文
1953
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
1950
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
1950
The Frozen Moment
1964
The Bottle Imp
1917
Gambling Hell
1942
The Courageous Coward
1919
The Man Beneath
1919
Tempête sur l'Asie
1938
The Call of the East
1917
The Great Prince Shan
1924
47 Vendettas
1953
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
1921
The Victoria Cross
1916
The Battle
1923
Lover's Duet
1967
The Big Wave
1961
The Temple Of Dusk
1918
The Secret Sin
1915
Where Lights Are Low
1921
The Swamp
1921
Bonds of Honor
1919
Li Ting Lang
1920
An Arabian Knight
1920
The Honor of His House
1918
Hidden Pearls
1918
The First Born
1921
Black Roses
1921
Forbidden Paths
1917
O Mimi san
1914
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
I Have Killed
1924
Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks
1931
A Heart in Pawn
1919
The Bravest Way
1918
The Vermilion Pencil
1922
Night Life in Hollywood
1922
After Five
1915
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
2002
Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
1960
The Soul of Kura San
1916
Each to His Kind
1917
日本敗れず
1954
The Chinatown Mystery
1915
His Debt
1919
The Beggar Prince
1920
The Illustrious Prince
1919
The Brand of Lopez
1920
Hashimura Togo
1917
Five Days to Live
1922
The Jaguar's Claws
1917
Directing (2 movies)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| His Birthright | 1918 | Producer |
| The First Born | 1921 | Producer |
| Black Roses | 1921 | Producer |
| Where Lights Are Low | 1921 | Producer |