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was a Japanese Issei actor who starred in American, Japanese, French, German, and British films. Hayakawa was active at the outset of the American film industry. He was the first Asian actor to find stardom in the United States and Europe. He is the first Asian American as well as the first Japanese American movie star and the first Asian American leading man. His "broodingly handsome" 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, several years in advance of Rudolph Valentino. During those early years, Hayakawa was as well known and as popular as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, although today his name is largely unknown to the public. His popularity, sex appeal, and extravagant lifestyle (''e.g.'', his wild parties and his gold-plated Pierce-Arrow) may have fed tension within segments of American society which was already filled with feelings of the "yellow peril". While at the time Chinese actors were treated in a demasculinized way, Hayakawa's example directly contrasts with this. However, with the rising tensions with Japan, Japanese actors were no longer welcome in Hollywood. Following the end of the war, Asian characters were depicted in a desexualized fashion, something that continues to today in modern Hollywood and in the wider society, as exemplified by the controversial character of I.Y. Yunioshi in ''Breakfast At Tiffany's''. Hayakawa refused to adopt the negative stereotypes. He abandoned Hollywood for European cinema and there he was treated equally. Hayakawa's friendships with American actors led him to return to Hollywood. He was one of the highest paid stars of his time, earning $5,000 per week in 1915, and $2 million per year through his own production company during the 1920s.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=goldsea.com )〕 He starred in over eighty movies, and two of his films stand in the United States 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, member of the French Resistance, and a Zen master. == Early life and career == Hayakawa was born in the village of Nanaura, now part of Chikura Town in the city of Minamibosō in Chiba Prefecture, Japan on June 10, 1889, the second eldest son of the provincial governor.〔 From an early age, Hayakawa's family intended him to become an officer in the navy. However, while a student at the Naval Academy in Etajima, he swam to the bottom of a lagoon (he grew up in a shellfish diving community) on a dare and ruptured his eardrum. The injury caused him to fail the navy physical and his father felt shame and embarrassment by his son's failure and this drove a wedge between them. The strained relationship drove the young Hayakawa to attempt seppuku (ritual suicide). One evening, Hayakawa entered a shed on his parents' property and prepared the venue. He put his dog outside and attempted to uphold his family's samurai tradition by stabbing himself more than 30 times in the abdomen. The barking dog brought Hayakawa's parents to the scene and his father used an axe to break down the door, saving his life.〔 After he recovered from the suicide attempt, Hayakawa began to study political economics at the University of Chicago to fulfill his family's new wish that he become a banker.〔 He lived in the United States from 1911 until 1923, returned to Japan to attend his father's funeral,〔 and came back in 1925. After his second year of studies at the University of Chicago, Hayakawa decided to quit school and return to Japan. He traveled to Los Angeles and awaited a transpacific steamship. During his stay, he discovered the Japanese Theatre in Little Tokyo and became fascinated with acting and performing plays. It was around this time he first assumed the name Sessue Hayakawa.〔 One of the productions in which Hayakawa performed was called ''The Typhoon''. Film producer Thomas Ince saw the production and offered to turn it into a silent movie with the original cast. Anxious to return to his studies at the University of Chicago, Hayakawa decided to try to dissuade Ince by requesting the astronomic fee of $500 a week, but Ince agreed to his request.〔 ''The Typhoon'', filmed in 1914, became an instant hit and was followed by two additional pictures produced by Ince, ''The Wrath of the Gods'' co-starring his new wife, Issei actress Tsuru Aoki, and ''The Sacrifice''. With Hayakawa's rising stardom, Jesse L. Lasky soon offered Hayakawa a contract, which he accepted, making him part of Famous Players-Lasky (now Paramount Pictures).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sessue Hayakawa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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