Francisca Tu

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Francisca Tu , also Francesca Tu (* 3. November 1943 as Shiu-Yung in Wenzhou , China ) is a Chinese-born German actress with an international career.

Life

The early years

Born in Shiu-Yung, she was led to the Catholic faith by her German stepmother and was given the new first name Francisca by her. She started school in her native city at the age of four, and later Francisca Tu also attended a school in Shanghai . As a result of the communist seizure of power by the Maoists , her family fled to Germany and settled near Hanover , where she grew up with her older sister and two German stepsisters.

Film work in Germany and Great Britain

Francisca Tu took ballet lessons at the Hanover Opera House , trained at the Hanover University of Music, Theater and Media and soon appeared on stage (in addition to operas, classical theater). At the age of 19 she went to London , where she stayed with a cousin and assisted him in an auction house. During this time, Francisca Tu learned a lot about Chinese art, while working as a photo model and for advertising. She continued her artistic training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art . On her 21st birthday, Francisca Tu received a photo opportunity from the BBC and immediately afterwards her first assignment as an actress in a television production.

Shortly afterwards, the slim, 1.57-meter-long artist, who internationally called herself Francesca Tu, achieved her breakthrough when she was used as an exotic eye-catcher in a number of entertainment films. Francisca Tu played the title role in Jürgen Roland's Hong Kong crime thriller Lotus Blossoms for Miss Quon , but did not survive the end of the film. Almost at the same time she was cast in England with the much smaller role of Mr. Osato's secretary at the side of Sean Connery in the James Bond film James Bond 007 - You Only Live Twice . In addition, it was the right hand of by Christopher Lee played the Chinese master criminal Dr. Fu Man Chu in several international exploitation films . In the second half of the 1960s, she starred in smaller roles alongside Jerry Lewis ( The Weirdo ), Marcello Mastroianni ( Diamonds for Breakfast ), Gregory Peck ( The Most Dangerous Man in the World ) and Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. ( Salt and Pepper ) decided. Her last major international film role was in 1970 in the western The Wind of Death blows quietly to the side of Gene Hackman , Oliver Reed and Candice Bergen . Francisca Tu regularly returned to Germany for television engagements and appeared in popular multi-part series and series such as The Death Runs Behind and The Offender On The Trail . In 1969, she played the flight attendant Yukiko on the side of Johanna von Koczian in the ARD evening series Stewardessen .

The late years

After meeting a German law student, the actress left the UK. Both married and moved to Hamburg in 1971 . Francisca Tu appeared occasionally in front of the camera, with the birth of her son in the summer of 1974, she largely withdrew from acting. Instead, she ran her father's Chinese restaurants. In 1978 Francisca Tu returned to Hanover with her husband and son. She bought a run-down hotel in Sarstedt , renovated it and opened another Chinese restaurant there. In addition, Francisca Tu took care of the training of young hotel staff. For film and television engagements, she returned from time to time in front of the camera. Filming took her to Florida and Hawaii . She had a leading, recurring role in the German series Florida Lady in 1993/94 .

In the new millennium, Francisca Tu ended her career as a hotel and restaurant operator and moved to Berlin in 2006 , where she continues to work as an actress.

In 2017, for the 50th anniversary of the Bond film "You Only Live Twice", Tu was a guest in the "Mission Bond" series in Braunschweig and was interviewed by host Danny Morgenstern in front of around 700 guests about her work in the film and about her life.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Do, Francisca
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tu, Francesca; Shiu-Young (Chinese maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Chinese actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Wenzhou , China