Loading amazing content...
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
June 10, 1889
Died
November 23, 1973
Place of Birth
Nanaura, Chiba, Japan
Also Known As
- 早川雪洲
- Kintarō Hayakawa
- 早川 金太郎
Sessue Hayakawa
0.5 Popularity
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
10.0
Self
Asian Americans
2020
5.7
(archive footage)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
4.3
Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
0.0
Self (archive)
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
2002
0.0
Tajima
Lover's Duet
1967
4.6
The Mole (voice)
The Daydreamer
1966
0.0
Takeda Shingen
Taikouki
1965
0.0
Self
The Frozen Moment
1964
0.0
The Old Man
The Big Wave
1961
6.9
Kuala, Pirate Chief
Swiss Family Robinson
1960
Credits
Asian Americans
as Self
2020
10.0
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)
2019
5.7
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
as Self (archive footage)
2007
4.3
Swiss Family Robinson: Adventure in the Making
as Self (archive)
2002
0.0
Lover's Duet
as Tajima
1967
0.0
The Daydreamer
as The Mole (voice)
1966
4.6
Taikouki
as Takeda Shingen
1965
0.0
The Frozen Moment
as Self
1964
0.0
The Big Wave
as The Old Man
1961
0.0
Swiss Family Robinson
as Kuala, Pirate Chief
1960
6.9
Escape to Paradise/Water Birds
1960
0.0
Hell to Eternity
as General Matsui
1960
6.3
John Gunther's High Road
as Self
1959
10.0
Green Mansions
as Runi
1959
5.9
The Geisha Boy
as Mr. Sikita
1958
6.2
The Rise and Fall of a Jungle Giant
as Self
1958
0.0
The Bridge on the River Kwai
as Col. Saito
1957
7.8
Wagon Train
as Sakae Ito
1957
6.6
House of Bamboo
as Inspector Kito
1955
6.1
日本敗れず
1954
0.0
The Tragic General: Yamashita Tomoyuki
as Tomoyuki Yamashita
1953
0.0
47 Vendettas
as Sakon Tachibana
1953
0.0
Les Miserables II: Banner of Love and Freedom
1950
0.0
Les Miserables I: God and the Devil
1950
0.0
The Motherland Far Far Away
as Joe Hayami
1950
0.0
Three Came Home
as Colonel Michio Suga
1950
6.6
Tokyo Joe
as Baron Kimura
1949
6.1
Quartier chinois
as Tchang
1947
0.0
Le Cabaret du Grand Large
as Professeur Wang
1946
0.0
Malaria
1943
0.0
Le Soleil de minuit
as Matsui
1943
0.0
Gambling Hell
as Ying Tchaï
1942
6.4
Patrouille blanche
1942
0.0
Tempête sur l'Asie
as Prinz Ling
1938
0.0
Forfaiture
as Prince Hu-Long
1937
6.5
Yoshiwara
as Ysamo, Kuli
1937
8.0
The Daughter of the Samurai
as Iwao Yamato
1937
5.3
🎬
The Sun Rises from the East
as Kenji
1932
0.0
🎬
Running Hollywood
as Sessue Hayakawa
1932
0.0
Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks
as Self
1931
0.0
Daughter of the Dragon
as Ah Kee
1931
5.1
I Have Killed
as Hideo
1924
0.0
🎬
Sen Yan’s Devotion
as Sen Yan
1924
0.0
The Danger Line
as Marquis Yorisaka
1924
0.0
The Great Prince Shan
as Prince Shan
1924
0.0
The Battle
as Le Marquis Yorisaka
1923
0.0
Night Life in Hollywood
as Self
1922
0.0
Screen Snapshots, Series 3, No. 12
as Self
1922
0.0
The Vermilion Pencil
as Tse Chan / The Unknown / Li Chan
1922
0.0
Five Days to Live
as Tai Leung
1922
0.0
The Swamp
as Wang
1921
0.0
Where Lights Are Low
as T''Su Wong Shih
1921
5.0
Black Roses
as Yoda
1921
0.0
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
as Himself
1921
0.0
The First Born
as Chan Wang
1921
0.0
An Arabian Knight
as Ahmed
1920
0.0
Li Ting Lang
as Li Ting Lang
1920
0.0
The Devil's Claim
as Akbar Khan / Hassan
1920
0.0
The Brand of Lopez
as Vasco Lopez
1920
0.0
The Beggar Prince
as Nikki / Prince
1920
0.0
The Tong Man
as Luk Chen
1919
5.7
The Illustrious Prince
as Prince Maiyo
1919
0.0
Bonds of Honor
as Yamashito / Sasamoto
1919
0.0
The Dragon Painter
as Tatsu - the Dragon Painter
1919
6.3
The Gray Horizon
as Yamo Masata
1919
0.0
The Man Beneath
as Dr. Chindi Ashutor
1919
6.0
His Debt
as Goto Mariyama
1919
0.0
The Courageous Coward
as Suki Iota
1919
0.0
A Heart in Pawn
as Tomaya
1919
0.0
The Temple Of Dusk
as Akira
1918
1.0
🎬
Banzai
as The American General
1918
0.0
His Birthright
as Yukio
1918
5.2
The City of Dim Faces
as Jang Lung
1918
3.3
The Bravest Way
as Kara Tamura
1918
0.0
🎬
The White Man's Law
as John A. Genghis
1918
0.0
The Honor of His House
as Count Ito Onato
1918
0.0
Hidden Pearls
as Tom Garvin
1918
0.0
The Secret Game
as Nara-Nara
1917
5.6
The Call of the East
as Arai Takada
1917
0.0
Hashimura Togo
as Hashimura Togo
1917
0.0
Forbidden Paths
as Sato
1917
0.0
The Jaguar's Claws
as El Jaguar
1917
0.0
The Bottle Imp
as Lopaka
1917
0.0
Each to His Kind
as Rhandah
1917
0.0
The Victoria Cross
as Azimoolah
1916
0.0
The Soul of Kura San
as Toyo
1916
0.0
The Honorable Friend
as Makino
1916
0.0
Alien Souls
as Sakata
1916
0.0
Temptation
as Opera Admirer
1915
0.0
The Cheat
as Hishuru Tori [Haka Arakau]
1915
6.0
The Secret Sin
as Lin Foo
1915
0.0
The Clue
as Nogi
1915
0.0
The Chinatown Mystery
as Yo Hong
1915
0.0
After Five
as Oki - the Valet
1915
0.0
The Last of the Line
as Tiah - Gray Otter's Son
1914
6.6
The Typhoon
as Tokorama
1914
0.0
The Death Mask
as Running Wolf
1914
2.5
The Wrath of the Gods
as Lord Yamaki
1914
6.3
O Mimi san
as Yorotomo
1914
0.0