Tsuru Aoki
Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia Tsuru Aoki (September 9, 1892 – October 18, 1961) was a popular Japanese stage and screen actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1920s. Aoki may have been the first Asian actress to garner top-billing in American motion pictures.
Born: September 9, 1892
Place of Birth: Tokyo, Empire of Japan [now Tokyo, Japan]
Known For
The Last of the Line
Sioux leader Chief Gray Otter sends his son Tiah to the white man's school so that he can become a great leader. The son returns home drunk, disappointing his father. Things get worse when the son joins a group of renegades and robs a payroll wagon. The father, observing the clash from a distance, takes a side.
The Dragon Painter
A wild man and genius becomes a master painter's disciple, but loses his divine gift when he finds love.
The Wrath of the Gods
An American sailor falls in love with a fisherman's daughter and convinces her that Jesus is more powerful than the gods who have cursed her.
His Birthright
Yukio is illegal in the United States and is used by a gang of spies for their plans. Yukio must steal secret documents from an admiral. When he's submitting the documents to the gang, he realizes what he has done and claims the documents back. A struggle follows.
The Death Mask
A Native American warrior travels to a faraway tribe to find and defend a woman that haunts his dreams.
The Honorable Friend
Makino works for Kayosho, a Japanese curio dealer in America. To reward Makino's dedication, Kayosho sends for Toki-ye, a picture bride. Upon arrival, she is married to Makino in a civil ceremony. However, Kayosho intends to keep Toki-ye for himself. This angers Goto, another employee. Kayosho was betrothed to Goto's niece, Hana. One day Kayosho is found dead in a pool.
The Courageous Coward
Sessue Hayakawa was making the transition from Asian villain to sympathetic hero in this picture. The plot is a combination of racial stereotypes that were common in the U.S. during the silent era and real-life situations experienced by Asians living Stateside. Hayakawa plays Suki Iota, a student who, while born and bred in America, wants a wife with traditional Japanese values. She appears in the form of Rei (Tsuru Aoki, Hayakawa's real-life wife), a singer who becomes known as the Japanese Nightingale.
The Typhoon
Tokoramo, a Japanese diplomat on a mission to Paris, begins a love affair with Helene, a chorus girl, who subsequently rejects her American fiancé, Richard Bernisky. When the Japanese discover the affair, they try to force Tokoramo to end it, but Helene refuses to stop visiting him. One night, during one of her visits, Bernisky comes to Tokoramo's apartment and, while Helene hides, rebukes her to her lover. After Bernisky leaves, Tokoramo orders Helene out, but when he realizes his love for her, he calls her back. Suddenly, she rejects and insults him to the point that he strangles her. Tokoramo wants to confess his crime, but he must complete his work, and so his countrymen sacrifice a boy, Hironari, who pleads guilty to the murder and eventually is guillotined. In the end, Tokoramo also dies and his colleagues burn his valuable papers in order to protect Japan. -From the TCM.com Database, powered by the AFI.
The Call of the East
While visiting Alan, who works in Tokyo, she attends a festival with her Japanese maid while wearing a Japanese kimono. There she meets the wealthy Arai Takada, who is taken by the mysterious woman. Alan has dishonored and betrayed O'Mitsu, and her brother Arai plans a terrible revenge.
The Great Prince Shan
An assassinated Lord's daughter refuses to marry a Chinese prince but agrees to be his mistress.
Filmography
as Marquise Yorisaka
as Nita
as La Marquise Yorisaka
as Self
as Ko Ai
as Blossom (as Tsura Aoki)
as Yuki Onda
as Asuti Hishuri
as Lotus Blossom
as Toku-ko (as Tsuri Aoki)
as Ume-Ko
as O Haru San
as Rei Oaki
as Sada
as Saki San
as Sat-u
as Omi San
as O'Mitsu, His Sister
as Princess Nada
as Kura-San
as Toki-Ye
as Yuri Chan
as Woo
as Girl at Riverside
as Princess Nona
as Toya San
as O Mimi San