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Kintaro Hayakawa, known professionally as Sessue Hayakawa, was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man in the United States and Europe. His "broodingly handsome" good looks and typecasting as a sexually dominant villain made him a heartthrob among American women during a time of racial discrimination, and he became one of the first male sex symbols of Hollywood.
Birth Name
Kintaro Hayakawa
Born
Thursday, 10 June 1886
Died
Friday, 23 November 1973
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2007 |
| Anna May Wong, Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend | Ah Kee (clip from Daughter of the Dragon (1931)) | 2007 |
| Hollywood | Self / Actor 'The Cheat' | 1980 |
| The South Bank Show | Colonel Saito (clip from The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)) | 1978 |
| The Daydreamer | The Mole (voice) / The Mole | 1966 |
| The Love Goddesses | Self / (archive footage) | 1965 |
| Hollywood and the Stars | Self | 1963 |
| The Big Wave | The Old Man | 1961 |
| Hollywood: The Golden Years | Self | 1961 |
| Swiss Family Robinson | Kuala - Pirate Chief / Kuala, Pirate Chief | 1960 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| Why Be Good? Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema | Self / Self (archive footage) | 2007 |
| Anna May Wong, Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times and Legend | Ah Kee (clip from Daughter of the Dragon (1931)) | 2007 |
| Hollywood | Self / Actor 'The Cheat' | 1980 |
| The South Bank Show | Colonel Saito (clip from The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)) | 1978 |
| The Daydreamer | The Mole (voice) / The Mole | 1966 |
| The Love Goddesses | Self / (archive footage) | 1965 |
| Hollywood and the Stars | Self | 1963 |
| The Big Wave | The Old Man | 1961 |
| Hollywood: The Golden Years | Self | 1961 |
| Swiss Family Robinson | Kuala - Pirate Chief / Kuala, Pirate Chief | 1960 |
| Route 66 | Takasuka | 1960 |
| Here's Hollywood | Self | 1960 |
| Hell to Eternity | Gen. Matsui / General Matsui | 1960 |
| John Gunther's High Road | Self - Narrator | 1959 |
| Green Mansions | Runi | 1959 |
| The Geisha Boy | Mr. Sikita | 1958 |
| The Bridge on the River Kwai | Colonel Saito / Col. Saito | 1957 |
| Wagon Train | Sakae Ito | 1957 |
| The Mike Wallace Interview | Self - Actor | 1957 |
| The Steve Allen Plymouth Show | Self - Guest | 1956 |
| House of Bamboo | Inspector Kito | 1955 |
| The Red Skelton Hour | Japanese Officer | 1951 |
| The Motherland Far Far Away | Joe Hayami | 1950 |
| Three Came Home | Colonel Michio Suga | 1950 |
| Tokyo Joe | Baron Kimura | 1949 |
| Studio One | Dr. Sato | 1948 |
| Kraft Theatre | Japanese soldier | 1947 |
| Quartier chinois | Tchang | 1947 |
| Le cabaret du grand large | Professeur Wang | 1946 |
| Malaria | Saïdi | 1943 |
| Le soleil de minuit | Matsui | 1943 |
| Gambling Hell | Ying Tchaï | 1942 |
| Patrouille blanche | Halloway | 1942 |
| Tempête sur l'Asie | Le prince Ling / Prinz Ling | 1938 |
| The Cheat | Prince Hu-Long | 1937 |
| Yoshiwara | Ysamo, Kuli | 1937 |
| Atarashiki tsuchi | Iwao Yamato | 1937 |
| The Sun Rise from the East | Kenji | 1932 |
| Running Hollywood | Sessue Hayakawa | 1932 |
| Around the World with Douglas Fairbanks | Self | 1931 |
| Daughter of the Dragon | Ah Kee | 1931 |
| I Have Killed | Hideo - l'antiquaire japonais / Hideo | 1924 |
| Sen Yan's Devotion | Sen Yan | 1924 |
| The Danger Line | Marquis Yorisaka | 1924 |
| The Great Prince Shan | Prince Shan | 1924 |
| Night Life in Hollywood | Self | 1922 |
| The Vermilion Pencil | Tse Chan / The Unknown / Li Chan | 1922 |
| Five Days to Live | Tai Leung | 1922 |
| Where Lights Are Low | T'Su Wong Shih / T''Su Wong Shih | 1921 |
| Black Roses | Yoda | 1921 |
| An Arabian Knight | Ahmed | 1920 |
| Li Ting Lang | Li Ting Lang | 1920 |
| The Devil's Claim | Akbar Khan / Hassan | 1920 |
| The Brand of Lopez | Vasco Lopez | 1920 |
| The Beggar Prince | Nikki / Prince | 1920 |
| The Tong Man | Luk Chen | 1919 |
| The Illustrious Prince | Prince Maiyo | 1919 |
| The Dragon Painter | Tatsu - the Dragon Painter | 1919 |
| The Gray Horizon | Yamo Masata | 1919 |
| The Man Beneath | Dr. Chindi Ashutor | 1919 |
| His Debt | Goto Mariyama | 1919 |
| The Courageous Coward | Suki Iota | 1919 |
| A Heart in Pawn | Tomaya | 1919 |
| Bonds of Honor | Yamashito / Sasamoto | 1919 |
| The Temple of Dusk | Akira | 1918 |
| His Birthright | Yukio | 1918 |
| The City of Dim Faces | Jang Lung | 1918 |
| The Bravest Way | Kara Tamura | 1918 |
| The White Man's Law | John A. Genghis | 1918 |
| The Honor of His House | Count Ito Onato | 1918 |
| The Hidden Pearls | Tom Garvin | 1918 |
| The Secret Game | Nara-Nara | 1917 |
| The Call of the East | Arai Takada | 1917 |
| Hashimura Togo | Hashimura Togo | 1917 |
| Forbidden Paths | Sato | 1917 |
| The Jaguar's Claws | El Jaguar | 1917 |
| The Bottle Imp | Lopaka | 1917 |
| The Soul of Kura San | Toyo | 1916 |
| The Honorable Friend | Makino | 1916 |
| Temptation | Opera Admirer | 1915 |
| The Cheat | Haka Arakau (in 1918 re-release) / Hishuru Tori (original release) / Hishuru Tori [Haka Arakau] | 1915 |
| After Five | Oki - the Valet | 1915 |
| The Last of the Line | Tiah - Gray Otter's Son | 1914 |
| The Typhoon | Tokorama | 1914 |
| The Wrath of the Gods | Lord Yamaki | 1914 |
Director Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
Producer Filmography
| Title | Year |
|---|
| Where Lights Are Low | 1921 |
| Black Roses | 1921 |
| The Man Beneath | 1919 |
| His Birthright | 1918 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1958 | Oscar | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Nominated |
| 1958 | Golden Globe | Best Supporting Actor | Nominated |
