Sessue Hayakawa

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

99

Gender

Male

Birthday

1889-06-10

Day of death

1973-11-23 (84 years old)

Place of Birth

Nanaura, Chiba, Japan

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

  • Wagon Train

    Wagon Train

  • Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

    Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

  • The Bridge on the River Kwai

    The Bridge on the River Kwai

  • The Daydreamer

    The Daydreamer

  • The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant

    The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant

  • The City of Dim Faces

    The City of Dim Faces

  • Malaria

    Malaria

  • Yoshiwara

    Yoshiwara

  • Running Hollywood

    Running Hollywood

  • Taikouki

    Taikouki

  • His Debt

    His Debt

  • Forfaiture

    Forfaiture

  • Green Mansions

    Green Mansions

  • The Cheat

    The Cheat

  • Swiss Family Robinson

    Swiss Family Robinson

  • Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making

    Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making

  • His Birthright

    His Birthright

  • Les Miserables I: God and the Devil

    Les Miserables I: God and the Devil

  • Tokyo Joe

    Tokyo Joe

  • Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom

    Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom

  • Alien Souls

    Alien Souls

  • The Daughter of the Samurai

    The Daughter of the Samurai

  • Lover's Duet

    Lover's Duet

  • 日本敗れず

    日本敗れず

  • Hell to Eternity

    Hell to Eternity

  • John Gunther's High Road

    John Gunther's High Road

  • The Big Wave

    The Big Wave

  • The Illustrious Prince

    The Illustrious Prince

  • Black Roses

    Black Roses

  • The Motherland Far Far Away

    The Motherland Far Far Away

  • The Last of the Line

    The Last of the Line

  • Daughter of the Dragon

    Daughter of the Dragon

  • 47 Vendettas

    47 Vendettas

  • The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki

    The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki

  • The Victoria Cross

    The Victoria Cross

  • House of Bamboo

    House of Bamboo

  • Escape to Paradise/Water Birds

    Escape to Paradise/Water Birds

  • Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

    Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

  • The Secret Sin

    The Secret Sin

  • The Geisha Boy

    The Geisha Boy

  • Gambling Hell

    Gambling Hell

  • The Chinatown Mystery

    The Chinatown Mystery

  • Five Days to Live

    Five Days to Live

  • The Call of the East

    The Call of the East

  • Tempête sur l'Asie

    Tempête sur l'Asie

  • Three Came Home

    Three Came Home

  • Bonds of Honor

    Bonds of Honor

  • The Devil's Claim

    The Devil's Claim

  • The Brand of Lopez

    The Brand of Lopez

  • Asian Americans

    Asian Americans

  • Patrouille blanche

    Patrouille blanche

  • The Frozen Moment

    The Frozen Moment

  • The Temple Of Dusk

    The Temple Of Dusk

  • The Great Prince Shan

    The Great Prince Shan

  • Each to His Kind

    Each to His Kind

  • Temptation

    Temptation

  • The Secret Game

    The Secret Game

  • The Dragon Painter

    The Dragon Painter

  • The Soul of Kura San

    The Soul of Kura San

  • Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12

    Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12

  • The Courageous Coward

    The Courageous Coward

  • Le Soleil de minuit

    Le Soleil de minuit

  • The Honorable Friend

    The Honorable Friend

  • Quartier chinois

    Quartier chinois

  • The Typhoon

    The Typhoon

  • Where Lights Are Low

    Where Lights Are Low

  • Night Life in Hollywood

    Night Life in Hollywood

  • The Swamp

    The Swamp

  • Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)

    Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)

  • The Tong Man

    The Tong Man

  • The White Man's Law

    The White Man's Law

  • The Bravest Way

    The Bravest Way

  • The Man Beneath

    The Man Beneath

  • Hashimura Togo

    Hashimura Togo

  • After Five

    After Five

  • The Jaguar's Claws

    The Jaguar's Claws

  • A Heart in Pawn

    A Heart in Pawn

  • The First Born

    The First Born

  • The Honor of His House

    The Honor of His House

  • The Wrath of the Gods

    The Wrath of the Gods

  • O Mimi san

    O Mimi san

  • Li Ting Lang

    Li Ting Lang

  • Le Cabaret du Grand Large

    Le Cabaret du Grand Large

  • Hidden Pearls

    Hidden Pearls

  • The Bottle Imp

    The Bottle Imp

  • An Arabian Knight

    An Arabian Knight

  • The Battle

    The Battle

  • The Beggar Prince

    The Beggar Prince

  • The Vermilion Pencil

    The Vermilion Pencil

  • The Clue

    The Clue

  • Forbidden Paths

    Forbidden Paths

  • Sen Yan’s Devotion

    Sen Yan’s Devotion

  • The Death Mask

    The Death Mask

  • Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks

    Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks

  • The Gray Horizon

    The Gray Horizon

  • Banzai

    Banzai

  • I Have Killed

    I Have Killed

  • The Danger Line

    The Danger Line

  • The Sun Rises from the East

    The Sun Rises from the East