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    TCM in May: Sessue Hayakawa

    By Last Updated

    TCM Star of the Month for May, Sessue Hayakawa (Photo courtesy TCM)

    Sessue Hayakawa – movie star, film maker, Zen priest and more – is the Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month for May 2024.

    TCM will show 11 of Hayakawa ‘s films, including The Bridge on the River Kwai , Tokyo Joe and The Dragon Painter, on Mondays in May.  The tribute begins with his 1915 silent movie The Cheat on Monday, May 6 and ends with his best-known role, as the Japanese commander in The Bridge on the River Kwai on Memorial Day, May 27.  Read more about Hayakawa below and at:TCM Star of the Month Sessue Hayakawa.

    Complete TCM Schedule, Highlights

    For TCM schedules and more information see the links below.

    TCM Tribute to Sessue Hayakawa

    MONDAY, MAY 6 STAR OF THE MONTH: SESSUE HAYAKAWA

    8:00 PM The Cheat (1915)
    9:15 PM The Dragon Painter (1919)
    10:15 PM The Tong Man (1919)

    MONDAY, MAY 13 STAR OF THE MONTH: SESSUE HAYAKAWA
    8:00 PM Tokyo Joe (1949)
    9:45 PM The Geisha Boy (1958)
    11:45 PM Daughter of the Dragon (1931)

    MONDAY, MAY 20 STAR OF THE MONTH: SESSUE HAYAKAWA
    8:00 PM House of Bamboo (1955)
    10:00 PM Green Mansions (1959)
    12:00 AM Hell to Eternity (1960)

    MONDAY, MAY 26 MEMORIAL DAY / STAR OF THE MONTH: SESSUE HAYAKAWA

    8:00 PM Three Came Home (1950)
    10:00 PM The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957

    Sessue Hayakawa (1886 – 1973)

    Kintarō Hayakawa (June 10, 1886 – November 23, 1973), known professionally as Sessue Hayakawa, was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol.

    He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man in the United States and Europe. came one of the first male sex symbols of Hollywood.[3][4][5]

    After withdrawing from the Japanese naval academy, Hayakawa attended the University of Chicago, where he studied political economics in accordance with his wealthy parents’ wish that he become a banker. Upon graduating, he traveled to Los Angeles in order to board a scheduled ship back to Japan, but decided to try out acting in Little Tokyo. There, Hayakawa impressed Hollywood figures and was signed on to star in The Typhoon (1914). He made his breakthrough in The Cheat (1915), and thereafter became famous for his roles as a forbidden lover. Hayakawa was one of the highest paid stars of his time, earning $5,000 per week in 1915, and $2 million per year through his own production company from 1918 to 1921.[

    Of his talkies, Hayakawa is probably best known for his role as Kuala, the pirate captain in Swiss Family Robinson (1960) and Colonel Saito in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), for which he earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Hayakawa starred in over 80 feature films, and three of his films (The Cheat, The Dragon Painter, and The Bridge on the River Kwai) stand in the United States National Film Registry.

    TCM previews are below.

    How to Watch TCM

    Turner Classic Movies is available on every cable and satellite TV provider, including:

        • DirecTV: Channel 256
        • Dish: Channel 132
        • Spectrum: Channel varies by location; to find yours visit Spectrum Channel Guide

    If you have TCM on your cable, you can also stream it free on your smartphone or PC:  Streaming TCM

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    Gil Arnold of SeniorDaily

    About Gil Arnold

    Gil Arnold is Editor and Publisher of Senior Daily. Mr. Arnold has been in the software and publishing industry for more than 40 years. He writes extensively on technology, health news, and other topics. You can reach him at: editor@seniordaily.com or via LinkedIn. For a list of his Senior Daily articles visit his Author Page.