Tetsu Komai
Tetsu Komai (駒井哲 Komai Tetsu)[1] (April 23, 1894 – August 10, 1970),[2] also known as Tetsuo Komai, was a Japanese-American actor, known for his minor roles in Hollywood films.
Biography
Born in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Komai had small parts in over 50 films from the 1920s until the mid-1960s. In his early films, Tetsu, who was usually called on to play Chinese characters, was often described with derogatory terms such as "Chinaman,"[3]. He played the villain in many of his films.[4]
He immigrated to the United States in December 1907, arriving at the Port of Seattle; he lived in Seattle for several years after this initial immigration. During the Second World War, the actor, his wife, and their children were interned with groups of other Japanese-Americans and Japanese resident aliens at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona from August 27, 1942 to November 3, 1945.[5]
He died in Gardena, California of congestive heart failure, aged 76.
Selected filmography
- The Unchastened Woman (1925)
- Shanghai Bound (1927)
- Streets of Shanghai (1927)
- The Woman from Moscow (1928)
- Detectives (1928)
- Bulldog Drummond (1929)
- East of Borneo (1931)
- Island of Lost Souls (1932)
- War Correspondent (1932)
- She Wanted a Millionaire (1932)
- The Secrets of Wu Sin (1932)
- White Woman (1933) (uncredited)
- Four Frightened People (1934)
- Now and Forever (1934)
- Hong Kong Nights (1935)
- Oil for the Lamps of China (1935)
- The Princess Comes Across (1936)
- Isle of Fury (1936)
- China Passage (1937)
- The Real Glory (1939)
- The Letter (1940)
- Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)
- They Met in Bombay (1941) (uncredited)
- Green Dolphin Street (1947) (uncredited)
- Task Force (1949) (uncredited)
- Tokyo Joe (1949) (uncredited)
- Japanese War Bride (1952)
- Tank Battalion (1958)
- The Night Walker (1964)
References
- ↑ "謎の俳優 駒井哲 - ケペル先生のブログ". ケペル先生のブログ. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- ↑ California, Death Index, 1940-1997
- ↑ Time (August 22, 1932)
- ↑ Sunday Arts & Leisure Section, The New York Times (December 1, 1940) p. X-4
- ↑ Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II; U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tetsu Komai. |
- Tetsu Komai on IMDb