Kent Derricott

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kent Derricott is an actor and celebrity television personality, or gaijin tarento, in Japan who was born on 3 March 1955 in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.^[1] He first learned Japanese while working as a Mormon missionary in Japan when he was 19 years old.^[1]^[2] He is known as one of "the two Kents" (along with Kent Gilbert).^[3] Derricott was the first thing to come to the mind of Japanese when asked about Utah for a 2002 study for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[4]

While he has been offered celebrity jobs in the United States (such as the opportunity to be the replacement for Richard Dawson on Family Feud), he is not interested in becoming a celebrity outside of Japan.^[3] After returning from Japan in the 1990s, Derricott started his own television production company.^[3] Derricott is a consultant for businesses working in—or expanding to—Japan,^[1] and he now lives in Bountiful, Utah. He still makes occasional appearances on Japanese television.^[1]

[edit] Books

Derricott has written several books published in Japan.

Kent Derricott's OK! English Conversation (ケント・デリカットのだいじょうぶ!英会話, Kento Derikatto no Daijōbu! Eikaiwa^?) (Zenkoku Asahi Hōsō, November 1988, ISBN 4881311190)
Becoming a Papa! (パパになる!, Papa ni Naru!^?) (KTC Chūō Shuppan, July 1999, ISBN 4877581480)
Gum Trouble (ガムふんじゃった, Gamu Funjatta^?) (Hakusensha, October 2005, ISBN 459276109X)
Kent Derricott's Icebreaker (ケント・デリカットのアイスブレーカー, Kento Derikatto no Aisuburēkā^?) (Takeshobo, June 1991, ISBN 4884750837)