Eiko Ando
| Eiko Ando | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 8, 1934 Harbin, Manchukuo (today China) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1958 |
Eiko Ando[1] (安藤 永子 Andō Eiko, born May 8, 1934) was a Japanese actress best known for appearing opposite John Wayne in The Barbarian and the Geisha in 1958.
Ando was born in Harbin, Heilongjiang, in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (today Northeast China), to a Japanese industrialist. When the Communists took over the family fled back to Japan. After her father died in 1953, she went to work as a singer and then as a burlesque dancer. At the time of filming for The Barbarian and the Geisha she was 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) and weighed 115 pounds (52 kg). When director John Huston was looking for an actress for the part of Okichi, a friend of Ando's who worked in the Tokyo office of 20th Century-Fox recommended Ando to Huston. Once Huston saw her, after auditioning 33 other actresses, he and producer Eugene Frenke were done looking, mainly because of her height over the other women.[2][3]
References
- ↑ 映画年鑑 [Film Industry Yearbook]. Jiji Press. 1960.
- ↑ Thomas, Bob (March 18, 1958), "Try In First Hollywood Role", The Portsmouth Times (United Press International), p. 15
- ↑ Durgin, Cyrus (October 2, 1958), "Asiatic Beauty Won First Role In Films With No Experience", Daily Boston Globe, p. 24
External links
- Eiko Ando at the Internet Movie Database
- Eiko Ando at AllMovie
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