Masumi Okada(1935-2006)
- Actor
- Producer
Masumi Okada was an eminent and popular Tokyo-based professional actor,
singer, stand-up comedian, emcee, host-presenter and film producer.
Also known by his nickname, "Fanfan", he was born in Nice, France, to a
Japanese father who was an artist, and a Danish mother, Ingeborg Sevaldsen.
Masumi Okada was the younger of two sons; his older brother, Taibi
"Erick" Okada, was also an actor and presenter -- known professionally
as E.H. Eric, he was the emcee for the Beatles' 1966 concert in Tokyo.
Okada spent the first four years of his life in France before
relocating to Japan in 1939. He received his education under his
Western name, Otto Sevaldsen, at Saint Joseph International School
(SJIS) in the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture, graduating in
1955. In 1952, while still a student at SJIS, Okada debuted as an actor
in a musical at the Nichigeki Music Hall. He signed with Nikkatsu
Corporation in 1954, appearing in his first film, "Hatsukoi Kanariya
Musume" the following year.
In 1956, Okada was casted as the bandmaster in Takumi Furukawa and
Yujiro Ishihara's "Taiyo no Kisetsu"/"Season of the Sun". This
performance led to his appearance in the companion film, "Kurutta
Kajitsu"/"Crazed Fruit" (1956), in which he played the cool, laid-back,
finger-snapping Amerasian, "Frank Hirosawa", the unofficial leader of a
band of young "rebels without a cause". Okada allegedly stole every
scene in which he appeared.
In a career which spanned more than five decades, Okada went on to
appear in over 140 films. A talented and versatile entertainer, he was
also active on stage and television. His credits include all genres in
the three media -- from stage musicals to horror films, from comedies
to historicals to tragedies, and from Shakespeare to science-fiction.
Okada's mixed ethnicity and proficiency in Japanese, English and French
enabled him to portray a wide range of characters, in roles as diverse
as "Count Dracula" in "The Vampire Dracula Comes To Kobe" (1979) to
"Brother Michael" in James Clavell's "Shogun" (1980). He acted as the
French physicist, "Dr. Jules Masson", in Ishiro Honda's "Latitude
Zero"/"Ido Zero Daisakusen"/"Atragon II" (1969). In the film, "Marco"
(1973), he was the Chinese ambassador, "Ti Wai". In "Bye-Bye,
Jupiter"/"Sayonara, Jupiter" (1984), he was cast as "Dr. Mohammed
Mansur", and in "Getting Any" (1994) -- a comedy with "Beat" Takeshi
Kitano -- Okada made a cameo appearance as the Russian leader, Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin.
Okada's other contributions to the film industry include his role as a
producer for both "Battle Royale" (2000) and "Battle Royale II:
Requiem" (2003), as well as "Chichan wa sokyu no muko". He was also the
executive producer of "Blue" (2002), a critically-acclaimed film about
the relationship between two schoolgirls involved in a lesbian crush.
Okada's stage credits include the Toho musicals, in which he starred
after leaving Nikkatsu Corporation, as well as the French musical, "La
Cage aux Folles", which ran for over 400 performances. In 2001, he
appeared as the French philosopher and writer, Voltaire, in a
Japanese-language version of the operatta, "Candide", by Leonard
Bernstein. Okada also founded the theater company, Gekidan Keyaki, in
Japan.
In 1962, Okada appeared in NHK's "Wakai Kisetsu". In 1966, Masumi Okada
was cast as the newspaper reporter, "Ito Mura", in Osamu Tezuka's
television series, "The Space Giants" (aka "Ambassador Magma", "Space
Avenger" and "Monsters From Outer Space"), produced by P Productions
and directed by Hidehito Ueda. Okada also starred in the 1980s series,
"Miracle Girl", a Japanese television detective drama, and the 1998
series, "Nemureru Mori"/"A Sleeping Forest". In the Tunnels' 1988
parody, "Kamen Norida", Okada played Joker's "Colonel Fanfan".
Okada's performances were not restricted to Japanese audiences. "The
Space Giants", "Latitude Zero", "Marco", "Shogun" and "The Hunted" were
some of his credits which became international hits, and brought him
into contact with actors such as Joseph Cotten, Richard Jaeckel and
Cesar Romero ("Latitude Zero"), Desi Arnaz Jr. and Zero Mostel
("Marco"), Richard Chamberlain and John Rhys-Davies ("Shogun") and
Christopher Lambert ("The Hunted").
Okada was a regular judge in the "Iron Chef" series, and the host for
many Japanese variety and game shows, including NTV's celebrity quiz
show, "Sarujie". In "Sarujie", he wore a monkey suit and make-up, in
line with the theme of the show -- "saru" translates into "monkey",
and, "jie"/"chie", "wit", the term "sarujie" meaning "shallow cunning".
Okada was an exceptional Master of Ceremonies, and was the emcee for
many beauty pageants held in Japan. For over two decades, he served as
the host-presenter for The International Beauty Pageant, popularly
known as the Miss International contest. Tall, good-looking, charming,
charismatic, suave and witty, with his affectionate personality and
magnetism, he could always liven up a show, regardless of its audience
and the other participants in the show. Again, his ability to speak
fluent Japanese, English and French proved to be an asset, as were his
powerful, deep and sensuous vocals.
Okada was appointed as one of Japan's Ambassadors to the Hans
Christian Andersen 2005 bicentenary, a list of events organized in
celebration of the nineteenth-century Danish author's life and works.
Okada was married three times. In 1960, he announced his two-year
"contractual marriage" to the renowned dancer and mime choreographer,
Yoneyama Mamako -- a union which ended even before the first year was
over. Okada then remained single for over a decade; in 1972, he married
Japanese actress Midori Fujita, with whom he had three sons. 22 years
later, Okada divorced Fujita, and, in 1995, he took his third wife,
Keiko, who gave him his fourth son in 1999.
The turn of the millennium brought two tragic deaths in Okada's life.
In 2000, his elder brother, Taibi, died of Parkinson's Disease in
Sprecklesville, Maui Island, Hawaii. Then, on July 27, 2004, Okada's
third son with Fujita was found hanged at his mother's home in the
Denenchofu suburb of Tokyo. Shocked, Okada did not attend son's private
funeral the following day, but called a press conference a month later
to refute allegations by the Shuukan Josei magazine that there had been
bad blood between him and his 26-year-old son, who was an assistant
stage designer with a theater company prior to his suicide.
Masumi Okada devoted his entire life to the entertainment industry and
never retired from show business. In June 2005, he was diagnosed with
throat (more specifically, esophageal) cancer, and underwent surgery.
Less than three months later, he was again in front of the cameras,
hosting the Miss International 2005 beauty pageant in Tokyo, although
his fatigue surfaced towards the end of the show when he apparently
read out the names of the top 12 contestants -- Miss Venezuela, Miss
Philippines, Miss Brazil, Miss Japan, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss
Columbia, Miss Turkey, Miss Finland, Miss France, Miss Ukraine, Miss
Peru and Miss Serbia and Montenegro -- in the space of 20 seconds.
Nevertheless, the show was a huge success, with wide media coverage.
Okada suffered a relapse of his malignancy and was re-hospitalized, but
succumbed to his illness at a Tokyo hospital on May 29, 2006, at 4.05
p.m. (7.05 a.m. GMT), aged 70 years. He had hoped to live until he was
at least 80 years of age.
singer, stand-up comedian, emcee, host-presenter and film producer.
Also known by his nickname, "Fanfan", he was born in Nice, France, to a
Japanese father who was an artist, and a Danish mother, Ingeborg Sevaldsen.
Masumi Okada was the younger of two sons; his older brother, Taibi
"Erick" Okada, was also an actor and presenter -- known professionally
as E.H. Eric, he was the emcee for the Beatles' 1966 concert in Tokyo.
Okada spent the first four years of his life in France before
relocating to Japan in 1939. He received his education under his
Western name, Otto Sevaldsen, at Saint Joseph International School
(SJIS) in the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture, graduating in
1955. In 1952, while still a student at SJIS, Okada debuted as an actor
in a musical at the Nichigeki Music Hall. He signed with Nikkatsu
Corporation in 1954, appearing in his first film, "Hatsukoi Kanariya
Musume" the following year.
In 1956, Okada was casted as the bandmaster in Takumi Furukawa and
Yujiro Ishihara's "Taiyo no Kisetsu"/"Season of the Sun". This
performance led to his appearance in the companion film, "Kurutta
Kajitsu"/"Crazed Fruit" (1956), in which he played the cool, laid-back,
finger-snapping Amerasian, "Frank Hirosawa", the unofficial leader of a
band of young "rebels without a cause". Okada allegedly stole every
scene in which he appeared.
In a career which spanned more than five decades, Okada went on to
appear in over 140 films. A talented and versatile entertainer, he was
also active on stage and television. His credits include all genres in
the three media -- from stage musicals to horror films, from comedies
to historicals to tragedies, and from Shakespeare to science-fiction.
Okada's mixed ethnicity and proficiency in Japanese, English and French
enabled him to portray a wide range of characters, in roles as diverse
as "Count Dracula" in "The Vampire Dracula Comes To Kobe" (1979) to
"Brother Michael" in James Clavell's "Shogun" (1980). He acted as the
French physicist, "Dr. Jules Masson", in Ishiro Honda's "Latitude
Zero"/"Ido Zero Daisakusen"/"Atragon II" (1969). In the film, "Marco"
(1973), he was the Chinese ambassador, "Ti Wai". In "Bye-Bye,
Jupiter"/"Sayonara, Jupiter" (1984), he was cast as "Dr. Mohammed
Mansur", and in "Getting Any" (1994) -- a comedy with "Beat" Takeshi
Kitano -- Okada made a cameo appearance as the Russian leader, Joseph
Vissarionovich Stalin.
Okada's other contributions to the film industry include his role as a
producer for both "Battle Royale" (2000) and "Battle Royale II:
Requiem" (2003), as well as "Chichan wa sokyu no muko". He was also the
executive producer of "Blue" (2002), a critically-acclaimed film about
the relationship between two schoolgirls involved in a lesbian crush.
Okada's stage credits include the Toho musicals, in which he starred
after leaving Nikkatsu Corporation, as well as the French musical, "La
Cage aux Folles", which ran for over 400 performances. In 2001, he
appeared as the French philosopher and writer, Voltaire, in a
Japanese-language version of the operatta, "Candide", by Leonard
Bernstein. Okada also founded the theater company, Gekidan Keyaki, in
Japan.
In 1962, Okada appeared in NHK's "Wakai Kisetsu". In 1966, Masumi Okada
was cast as the newspaper reporter, "Ito Mura", in Osamu Tezuka's
television series, "The Space Giants" (aka "Ambassador Magma", "Space
Avenger" and "Monsters From Outer Space"), produced by P Productions
and directed by Hidehito Ueda. Okada also starred in the 1980s series,
"Miracle Girl", a Japanese television detective drama, and the 1998
series, "Nemureru Mori"/"A Sleeping Forest". In the Tunnels' 1988
parody, "Kamen Norida", Okada played Joker's "Colonel Fanfan".
Okada's performances were not restricted to Japanese audiences. "The
Space Giants", "Latitude Zero", "Marco", "Shogun" and "The Hunted" were
some of his credits which became international hits, and brought him
into contact with actors such as Joseph Cotten, Richard Jaeckel and
Cesar Romero ("Latitude Zero"), Desi Arnaz Jr. and Zero Mostel
("Marco"), Richard Chamberlain and John Rhys-Davies ("Shogun") and
Christopher Lambert ("The Hunted").
Okada was a regular judge in the "Iron Chef" series, and the host for
many Japanese variety and game shows, including NTV's celebrity quiz
show, "Sarujie". In "Sarujie", he wore a monkey suit and make-up, in
line with the theme of the show -- "saru" translates into "monkey",
and, "jie"/"chie", "wit", the term "sarujie" meaning "shallow cunning".
Okada was an exceptional Master of Ceremonies, and was the emcee for
many beauty pageants held in Japan. For over two decades, he served as
the host-presenter for The International Beauty Pageant, popularly
known as the Miss International contest. Tall, good-looking, charming,
charismatic, suave and witty, with his affectionate personality and
magnetism, he could always liven up a show, regardless of its audience
and the other participants in the show. Again, his ability to speak
fluent Japanese, English and French proved to be an asset, as were his
powerful, deep and sensuous vocals.
Okada was appointed as one of Japan's Ambassadors to the Hans
Christian Andersen 2005 bicentenary, a list of events organized in
celebration of the nineteenth-century Danish author's life and works.
Okada was married three times. In 1960, he announced his two-year
"contractual marriage" to the renowned dancer and mime choreographer,
Yoneyama Mamako -- a union which ended even before the first year was
over. Okada then remained single for over a decade; in 1972, he married
Japanese actress Midori Fujita, with whom he had three sons. 22 years
later, Okada divorced Fujita, and, in 1995, he took his third wife,
Keiko, who gave him his fourth son in 1999.
The turn of the millennium brought two tragic deaths in Okada's life.
In 2000, his elder brother, Taibi, died of Parkinson's Disease in
Sprecklesville, Maui Island, Hawaii. Then, on July 27, 2004, Okada's
third son with Fujita was found hanged at his mother's home in the
Denenchofu suburb of Tokyo. Shocked, Okada did not attend son's private
funeral the following day, but called a press conference a month later
to refute allegations by the Shuukan Josei magazine that there had been
bad blood between him and his 26-year-old son, who was an assistant
stage designer with a theater company prior to his suicide.
Masumi Okada devoted his entire life to the entertainment industry and
never retired from show business. In June 2005, he was diagnosed with
throat (more specifically, esophageal) cancer, and underwent surgery.
Less than three months later, he was again in front of the cameras,
hosting the Miss International 2005 beauty pageant in Tokyo, although
his fatigue surfaced towards the end of the show when he apparently
read out the names of the top 12 contestants -- Miss Venezuela, Miss
Philippines, Miss Brazil, Miss Japan, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss
Columbia, Miss Turkey, Miss Finland, Miss France, Miss Ukraine, Miss
Peru and Miss Serbia and Montenegro -- in the space of 20 seconds.
Nevertheless, the show was a huge success, with wide media coverage.
Okada suffered a relapse of his malignancy and was re-hospitalized, but
succumbed to his illness at a Tokyo hospital on May 29, 2006, at 4.05
p.m. (7.05 a.m. GMT), aged 70 years. He had hoped to live until he was
at least 80 years of age.