Shirley Yamaguchi Actress Singer -
Born 12 February 1920, Fushun, Liaoning Province, China
Died 7 September 2014, Tokyo, Japan (heart failure)
Birth Name Yoshiko Yamaguchi
Nickname The Judy Garland of Japan
Mini Bio (1) Shirley Yamaguchi was born to Japanese parents in Manchuria in 1920. She used the Chinese name Li Xianglan (Ri Koran in Japanese) and made pro-Japanese films in Japanese-occupied areas in China. She also was a popular singer and some of her hits, including "fragrance of the night" (Ye Lai Xiang), remain popular even today. After the Japanese surrendered she escaped treason and possible execution by revealing her Japanese heritage.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Chi Ip
Spouse (2)
Hiroshi Otaka (1958 - 2001) his death
Isamu Noguchi (1952 - 1957) divorced
Trivia (3)
After her marriage to famed Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi, they moved into a house in Kita-Kamakura provided by Japanese potter and epicure Kitaoji Rosanjin.
She was elected to the first of several terms in the House of Councillors, the upper body of Japan's parliament in 1974. Her life story has been made into a musical that has appeared on Tokyo stages.
Ian Buruma's novel, "The China Lover," is a fictional recreation of Shirley Yamaguchi's life and career.
Biography by Tom Vick
Born in 1920 to Japanese parents in Manchuria, Yoshiko Yamaguchi (known as Shirley Yamaguchi in the United States) became a movie star in three countries and had one of the most adventurous careers of any actress. Blessed with a magnificent singing voice, she began performing on the radio in China while still in high school. During the Japanese occupation of China, she was hired as an actress by the Manchu Film Studio, which produced her first film, Honeymoon Express, in 1938. The Manchu Film Studio essentially made propaganda films promoting friendship between China and the occupying Japanese, with Yamaguchi usually playing a young Chinese girl who meets and falls in love with a Japanese man. In order to give her characters more authenticity, the bilingual Yamaguchi was given a Chinese name, Li Xianglan. She made more than 20 movies under this name before Japan's surrender six years later. A few months after the surrender, Yamaguchi was arrested by the Chinese government and charged with collaborating with the enemy. The charges were dropped, however, when her Japanese nationality was revealed. Yamaguchi then went to Japan, where, thanks to such films as Madame White Snake, Escape at Dawn, and Scandal (the only film she made with Akira Kurosawa, in which she starred opposite a young Toshiro Mifune), she became one of Japan's biggest postwar stars. In the 1950s she made a handful of movies in Hollywood, most notably King Vidor's social drama Japanese War Bride and Samuel Fuller's eccentric caper movie House of Bamboo. She also married the Japanese sculptor Isamu Noguchi, but was divorced a few years later. At the age of 38 she officially retired from acting and married a Japanese diplomat. She later entered politics herself, serving on Japan's Diet from 1972 to 1992. She died in 2014, at age 94.
http://www.allmovie.com/artist/shirley-yamaguchi-p77840
You can find people similar to Shirley Yamaguchi by visiting our lists Pathé Records (China) artists and Mandarin-language singers of Japan.
Full name at birth | Yoshiko Yamaguchi
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Date of birth | 12 February 1920
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Place of birth | Fushun, Liaoning Province, China (Manchuria)
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Date of death | 7 September 2014
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Age | 94 (age at death)
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Place of death | Tokyo, Japan
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Cause of death | Heart Failure
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Occupation | Singer, Actress
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Shirley Yamaguchi is known for her role in the film Crazy Rich Asians (2018) as performer: "The Evening Primrose" - as Li Xianglan.
She is also known for her role in the film Gangster Squad (2013) as performer: "Evening Primrose" - as Li Xianglan.
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