Sessue Hayakawa

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 mid1910s 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 5000 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 US National Film Registry His international stardom transitioned both silent films and talkies Of his Englishlanguage 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 Disneys 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 CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia