Manu Tupou
| Manu Tupou | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 5, 1935 Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji |
| Died | June 5, 2004 (aged 69) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Occupation | Actor, Writer, Director, and Teacher |
Manu Tupou (January 5, 1935 – June 5, 2004) was an American-based Fijian actor, writer, director, and teacher.
He trained for 15 years in New York under the finest teachers: Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Harold Clurman, Sanford Meisner. He was an Honors graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York) and a Senior Life Member of the Actors Studio (New York and Hollywood). He received a B.A. from both the University of Hawaii and the University of London. He was one of the most studied scholars and researchers of the dramatic arts.
Manu Tupou was born on Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji Islands. After completing his studies at the University of Hawaii on U.S. government scholarship, He began studying at the University of London on a BBC scholarship. On a summer vacation his girlfriend told him that he fit the description for a casting ad in the local newspaper. When he arrived, casting director Marion Dougherty pulled out a picture she had acquired from the Fiji Visitor Bureau. On a lark, he had posed with Dinah Shore's stand-in, who was in Fiji working on a network Christmas special. The picture became a poster which adorned the wall of the Fiji airport. When Dougherty and director George Roy Hill saw it, they knew they had found their man. When they asked the Fiji Visitor's Bureau, where can we find this young man, they were told that he was a young man of great importance (as he was part of the royal of family of Tonga and quite noteworthy of a person on the island). The Bureau told them that he was in Hawaii on vacation for school. Dougherty and Hill went off to Hawaii to find this young man. So by the time he arrived at the address in the ad they were expecting him. He auditioned and they both felt they had found their Prince. But Tupou declined as he was starting school in a couple of days.
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