Sessue Hayakawa

Sessue Hayakawa

Sessue Hayakawa was born in Chiba, Japan on 10 June, 1889 was the first Asian American silent movies Actor who started acting in the movies in between 1910 and 1920. Sessue Hayakawa was the first Asian Actor to act in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films.

He was nominated for Academy Award for his role in the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai” a British movie based on the novel of French writer Pierre Boulle about World War II. Sessue Hayakawa played the role of Colonel Saito in the movie the movie was about the Allied Soldier Prisoners of War and Asian laborers’ worked on the Bridge of river Kwai Railway under the Japanese army in order to construct the 415 km long part of the railway line between Burma and Thailand.

Sessue Hayakawa has acted in 1915 “The Cheat” a sexploitation shocker from Cecil B. DeMille. Hayakawa dumped his career plans to become a naval officer and joined a theatre company that finally toured American in 1913. Sessue Hayakawa was the discovery of famous motion picture producer Thomas H. Ince he offered Sessue Hayakawa a motion picture contract which he accepted gratefully. Sessue gained his fame from 1914 film “The Wrath of the Gods” and The Typhoon.

In May of 1914 Sessue Hayakawa married actress “Tsuru Aoki”, the couple adopted three children two girls and a boy, Yoshiko, became an actress and Fujiko the other girl became a dancer his wife died in 1961, Sessue Hayakawa announced his retirement in 1966 and went back to Japan where he became a Zen teacher.

Museum of Modern Arts held a show on his work titled as “Sessue Hayakawa: East and West, When the Twain Met. He died in Tokyo, Japan on November 23, 1973.

Sessue Hayakawa

Sessue Hayakawa

Sessue Hayakawa