Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
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| Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 27, 1950 Tokyo, Japan |
| Other name(s) | Cary Tagawa |
| Occupation | actor, producer, martial artist |
| Years active | 1986 - present |
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (田川 洋行 Tagawa Hiroyuki?, born 27 September 1950) is a Japanese American actor. In addition to his extensive film work, he has appeared on television in Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Encounter at Farpoint" (1987), Thunder in Paradise (1995), Nash Bridges (1996), Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding (2003), and Heroes (2007). He also provided the voice of Sin Tzu for the video game Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
He was born in Tokyo, Japan, the son of an actress from Tokyo and a Japanese-American father who served in the United States Army (stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Polk, Louisiana and Fort Hood, Texas).[1][2][3] He was raised in various cities. He began acting in high school in Southern California. He attended the University of Southern California, and was an exchange student in Japan.
[edit] Career
His breakthrough as an actor came when he was cast as the Eunuch Chang in The Last Emperor (1987). In 1989 he posed as an undercover agent of the Hong Kong Narcotics Board in the James Bond film License to Kill. In 1991 he starred alongside Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee in the action film Showdown in Little Tokyo, where he played the role of Yakuza boss Yoshida. He also starred alongside James Hong and Jeff Speakman in the same year in the film The Perfect Weapon, where he played Kai, an assistant to the Korean mafia families.
Many remember him from the movie Mortal Kombat (1995) as the shape-shifting sorcerer Shang Tsung, and as the deadly pirate leader Kabai Singh in The Phantom (1996). Tagawa is among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen (2006), directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian-American men in Hollywood.
[edit] Filmography
- The Last Emperor (1987)
- Twins (1988)
- Bulletproof (1988)
- Licence to Kill (1989)
- Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)
- Kickboxer 2: The Road Back (1991)
- The Perfect Weapon (1991)
- American Me (1992)
- Nemesis (1993)
- Rising Sun (1993)
- Picture Bride (1994)
- Mortal Kombat (1995)
- The Phantom (1996)
- Top of the World (1997)
- Danger Zone (1997)
- Vampires (1998)
- Johnny Tsunami (1999)
- Snow Falling on Cedars (1999)
- The Art of War (2000)
- Pearl Harbor (2001)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
- Hawaii (television series, 2004)
- Faith of My Fathers (2005)
- Elektra (2005)
- Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
- The Slanted Screen (documentary, 2006)
- Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2006)
- Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board (2007)
- Balls of Fury (2007)
- Ghost Voyage (2008)
- Slaughter (2008)
- Tekken (2009 film)
[edit] Bibliography
- Paul, Louis (2008). "Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa", Tales From the Cult Film Trenches; Interviews with 36 Actors from Horror, Science Fiction and Exploitation Cinema. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, p.254-261. ISBN 978-0-7864-2994-3.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
