
Acting
Born June 10, 1889 · Nanaura, Chiba, Japan
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.

Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019

Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007

Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
2002

Lover's Duet
1967

The Daydreamer
1966

The Frozen Moment
1964

The Big Wave
1961

Swiss Family Robinson
1960

Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
1960

Hell to Eternity
1960

John Gunther's High Road
1959

Green Mansions
1959

The Geisha Boy
1958

The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
1958

The Bridge on the River Kwai
1957

House of Bamboo
1955

日本敗れず
1954

The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki
1953

47 Vendettas
1953

Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
1950

Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
1950

The Motherland Far Far Away
1950

Three Came Home
1950

Tokyo Joe
1949

Quartier chinois
1947

Le Cabaret du Grand Large
1946

Le Soleil de minuit
1943

Malaria
1943

Gambling Hell
1942

Patrouille blanche
1942

Tempête sur l'Asie
1938

Forfaiture
1937

Yoshiwara
1937

The Daughter of the Samurai
1937
The Sun Rises from the East
1932
Running Hollywood
1932

Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks
1931

Daughter of the Dragon
1931

I Have Killed
1924
Sen Yan’s Devotion
1924

The Danger Line
1924

The Great Prince Shan
1924

The Battle
1923

Night Life in Hollywood
1922

Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
1922

The Vermilion Pencil
1922

Five Days to Live
1922

The Swamp
1921

Where Lights Are Low
1921

Black Roses
1921

Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
1921

The First Born
1921

An Arabian Knight
1920

Li Ting Lang
1920

The Devil's Claim
1920

The Brand of Lopez
1920

The Beggar Prince
1920

The Tong Man
1919

The Illustrious Prince
1919

Bonds of Honor
1919

The Dragon Painter
1919

The Gray Horizon
1919

The Man Beneath
1919

His Debt
1919

The Courageous Coward
1919

A Heart in Pawn
1919

The Temple Of Dusk
1918
Banzai
1918

His Birthright
1918

The City of Dim Faces
1918

The Bravest Way
1918
The White Man's Law
1918

The Honor of His House
1918

Hidden Pearls
1918

The Secret Game
1917

The Call of the East
1917

Hashimura Togo
1917

Forbidden Paths
1917

The Jaguar's Claws
1917

The Bottle Imp
1917

Each to His Kind
1917

The Victoria Cross
1916

The Soul of Kura San
1916

The Honorable Friend
1916

Alien Souls
1916

Temptation
1915

The Cheat
1915

The Secret Sin
1915

The Clue
1915

The Chinatown Mystery
1915

After Five
1915

The Last of the Line
1914

The Typhoon
1914

The Death Mask
1914

The Wrath of the Gods
1914

O Mimi san
1914