Miiko Taka
| Miiko Taka | |
|---|---|
Miiko Taka in 1958
|
|
| Born |
July 24, 1925 Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
| Other names | Betty Ishimoto |
| Years active | 1957–1982 |
| Spouse(s) |
Dale Ishimoto (1944–1958) Lennie Blondheim (1963–Present) |
Miiko Taka (高美以子 Taka Miiko?) (born Miiko Shikata July 24, 1925), is a Japanese American actress best known for co-starring with Marlon Brando as Hana-ogi in the 1957 movie Sayonara.
Taka was born in 1925 in Seattle, but raised in Los Angeles, California as a Nisei; her parents had immigrated from Japan. In 1942, she was interned with her family at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona.
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.
After Sayonara, she worked in films with James Garner, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, and Toshirō Mifune (whom she also worked alongside of in the 1980 television miniseries, Shõgun). She also served as an interpreter for Mifune as well as Akira Kurosawa when they visited Hollywood
...
Wikipedia