Miiko Taka
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese American actress best known for co-starring with Marlon Brando
as Hana-ogi in the 1957
movie Sayonara
.
, California
as a Nisei
; her parents had immigrated from Japan
. She graduated from Los Angeles High School
in 1943. After director Joshua Logan
's first choice for the role of Hana-ogi, Audrey Hepburn
, turned him down, he looked to cast an unknown actress. Taka, who at the time was working as a clerk at a travel agency in Los Angeles, was discovered by a talent scout at a local Nisei festival. Although she had no previous acting experience, Variety
gave her a positive review in their review of the film. Warner Bros.
gave her a term contract as a result of her performance in Sayonara.
, Bob Hope
, Cary Grant
, and Toshirō Mifune
(whom she also worked alongside of in the 1980 television miniseries, Shõgun
). She also served as a translator for Mifune as well as Akira Kurosawa
when they visited Hollywood
in Baltimore
in 1944, and they had one son and one daughter. They divorced in 1958.
She married Los Angeles TV news director Lennie Blondheim in 1963.
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
as Hana-ogi in the 1957
1957 in film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
movie Sayonara
Sayonara
Sayonara is a 1957 color American film starring Marlon Brando. It tells the story of an American Air Force flier who was an "ace" fighter pilot during the Korean War....
.
'Sayonara'
Taka was born in Seattle, but raised in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as a Nisei
Nisei
During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...
; her parents had immigrated from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. She graduated from Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School
Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are blue and white and the teams are called the Romans....
in 1943. After director Joshua Logan
Joshua Logan
Joshua Lockwood Logan III was an American stage and film director and writer.-Early years:Logan was born in Texarkana, Texas, the son of Susan and Joshua Lockwood Logan. When he was three years old his father committed suicide...
's first choice for the role of Hana-ogi, Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, turned him down, he looked to cast an unknown actress. Taka, who at the time was working as a clerk at a travel agency in Los Angeles, was discovered by a talent scout at a local Nisei festival. Although she had no previous acting experience, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave her a positive review in their review of the film. Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
gave her a term contract as a result of her performance in Sayonara.
Post-'Sayonara' career
After Sayonara, she steadily worked in various movies starring James GarnerJames Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
, Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
, and Toshirō Mifune
Toshiro Mifune
Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo...
(whom she also worked alongside of in the 1980 television miniseries, Shõgun
Shogun (TV miniseries)
Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the...
). She also served as a translator for Mifune as well as Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
when they visited Hollywood
Personal life
Taka married Dale IshimotoDale Ishimoto
Dale Ishimoto was an American actor of Japanese descent. He was born in Delta, Colorado in 1923 and was raised in Guadalupe, California.-Military service:...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
in 1944, and they had one son and one daughter. They divorced in 1958.
She married Los Angeles TV news director Lennie Blondheim in 1963.
Motion pictures
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Sayonara Sayonara Sayonara is a 1957 color American film starring Marlon Brando. It tells the story of an American Air Force flier who was an "ace" fighter pilot during the Korean War.... |
Hana-ogi | Screen debut, co-star with Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St... |
| 1960 | Hell to Eternity Hell to Eternity Hell to Eternity is a 1960 World War II film starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic Damone and directed by Phil Karlson. This film biopic is about the true experiences of Marine hero Pfc... |
Ester | Stars Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt... |
| 1961 | Cry for Happy Cry for Happy Cry for Happy is a 1961 colour movie directed by George Marshall.-Plot:A Navy photographer and his three-man team occupy a Tokyo geisha house during the Korean War. Though off-limits,... |
Chiyoko | Reunites with Sayonara co-star Miyoshi Umeki Miyoshi Umeki was a naturalized American actress and standards singer. She was best known for her roles as Katsumi, the wife of Joe Kelly , in the 1957 film Sayonara, as Mei Li in the 1958 Broadway musical and 1961 film Flower Drum Song, and as Mrs. Livingston, the housekeeper of Bill Bixby's and Brandon Cruz's... |
| 1961 | Operation Bottleneck | Ari | Shares top billing with Ron Foster Ron Foster Ron Foster is the name of:*Ron Foster , American actor*Ron Foster , English footballer... and Norman Alden Norman Alden Norman Alden is an American character actor who has performed in television programs and motion pictures since first appearing on The 20th Century Fox Hour in 1957. He provided the voice of Kay in The Sword in the Stone film in 1963 and received Oscar buzz for his role in I Never Promised You a... |
| 1963 | A Global Affair A Global Affair A Global Affair is a 1964 film directed by Jack Arnold, and starring Bob Hope, Michele Mercier, and Yvonne DeCarlo.... |
Fumiko | Stars Bob Hope Bob Hope Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel... |
| 1965 | The Art of Love | Chou Chou | Reunites with Sayonara co-star James Garner James Garner James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades... |
| 1966 | Walk Don't Run Walk Don't Run Walk, Don't Run is a 1966 comedy film set in Tokyo during the Olympic Games in 1964. The movie marked the last appearance by Cary Grant in a feature film, and is a remake of the 1943 film The More the Merrier.-Plot:... |
Aiko Kurawa | Final film of Cary Grant Cary Grant Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship... 's career |
| 1968 | The Power The Power (film) The Power is a 1968 film based on the science fiction novel The Power by Frank M. Robinson. It stars George Hamilton and Suzanne Pleshette.-Plot:... |
Mrs. Van Zandt | |
| 1973 | Lost Horizon Lost Horizon (1973 film) Lost Horizon is a 1973 musical film directed by Charles Jarrott and starring Peter Finch, John Gielgud, Liv Ullmann, Michael York, Sally Kellerman, Bobby Van, George Kennedy, Olivia Hussey, James Shigeta and Charles Boyer.... |
Nurse | |
| 1975 | Paper Tiger Paper Tiger (film) Paper Tiger is a 1975 British film starring David Niven and child actor Ando.-Plot summary:Mr Bradbury , an apparently posh and well-educated, ex-military Englishman is hired as tutor to the son of a Japanese ambassador, Koichi Kagoyama... |
Madame Kagoyama | first movie working with Toshirō Mifune Toshiro Mifune Toshirō Mifune was a Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo... |
| 1978 | The Big Fix The Big Fix The Big Fix is a 1978 film directed by Jeremy Kagan and based on the novel by Roger L. Simon, who also wrote the screenplay. It starred Richard Dreyfuss as private detective Moses Wine and co-starred Susan Anspach and John Lithgow... |
Saleswoman | Stars Richard Dreyfuss Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About... |
| 1982 | The Challenge The Challenge (1982 film) The Challenge is a 1982 American action film directed by John Frankenheimer and co-written by John Sayles. The film stars Scott Glenn and Toshirō Mifune.-Plot:... |
Yoshida's wife | Last film to date |