Sessue Hayakawa (早川 雪洲, Hayakawa Sesshū?, June 10, 1889 – November 23, 1973) was a Japanese and American Issei actor who starred in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films. Active at the beginning of the American film industry, Hayakawa was the first and remains one of the few Asian actors to find stardom in the United States and Europe. His brooding good looks and typecasting as a sinister villain with sexual dominance made him a heartthrob among American women and the first male sex symbol of Hollywood before Rudolf Valentino. In his time Hayakawa was as well known and popular as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks although today his name is mostly unknown to the general public.
His popularity, sex appeal and extravagant lifestyle (such as hosting wild parties and driving a gold-plated Pierce-Arrow) caused tension within American society resulting in discriminatory stereotypes and the de-sexualizing of Asian men in cinema, as exemplified by the controversial I.Y. Yunioshi character in Breakfast At Tiffany's. Refusing to adopt negative stereotypes he decided to leave Hollywood and moved into European cinema where he was treated equally. Hayakawa's friendship with fellow actors would see him return to Hollywood once again, although to this day few Asian actors have ever had the chance to play a respectable lead role in an American film. He was one of the highest paid stars of his time; making $5,000 a week in 1915, and $2 million a year through his own production company during the 1920s. He starred in over 80 movies and has two films in the U.S. National Film Registry.
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 for Best Supporting Actor in 1957. He also appeared in the 1950 film Three Came Home and 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 a Zen master.
Read more about Sessue Hayakawa: Early Life, Career Beginnings, Stardom, Stardom Outside The United States, Later Career, Other Works, Acting Style, Racial Barriers, Personal Life, Death, Legacy