Yoko Tani

Yōko Tani ( Japanese 谷 洋子 Tani Yōko ; born May 2, 1932 in Paris ; † July 3, 1999 ibid), also known as Yoko , was a Franco - Japanese actress .

Life

Yoko Tani was born in Paris in 1932 as the daughter of a Japanese man who was employed at the Japanese embassy there. She received her school education in Japan and then returned to her native city to be trained as a dancer. From the mid-1950s, the attractive Asian was represented with small extras and supporting roles in French feature film productions, including Raoul Andrés Marchandes d'illusions , Jacques Becker's fairy tale film Ali Baba (both 1954) and André Hunebelle's love film Love, Women and Paris (1956). She also appeared in some German and Japanese film productions. Tani made her debut in English-language cinema in 1958 with an extra role in Joseph L. Mankiewicz 's Four Pipes of Opium with Michael Redgrave . In the same year, with the female lead in Ralph Thomas ' ... because the wind can't read, an attempt was made to build her up as an international star. In the melodrama, which is set against the backdrop of the Burmese jungle fighting in India in 1943, she took on the role of a Japanese teacher who becomes the object of the desire of an English officer (played by Dirk Bogarde ). The New York Times then praised Sabbi's role as a “winning and occasionally pathetic heroine” in its contemporary criticism, and noted the “petite brunette” actress' charming but poor command of English . Likewise, the American industry service Variety highlighted the "doll-like, good looks" of the leading actress.

After a successful debut in the British cinema Tani took the part of a Japanese doctor in Kurt Maetzig East German-Polish science fiction -Filmproduktion The Silent Star (1960). In the same year she received the lead female role alongside Anthony Quinn and Peter O'Toole in Nicholas Ray's adventure film In the Land of Long Shadows (1960). The US $ 1.5 million mock documentary about Eskimo life in Greenland was featured in the competition at the 13th Cannes International Film Festival , but was largely only given technical attention. While Variety hailed Tani's role as "delight," New York Times reviewer Eugene Archer wrote that neither her and Anthony Quinn's performance nor the "stilted" Eskimo dialogue looked promising.

After the failure of In the Land of Long Shadows , Tani was unable to get leading roles in English-language films. In the comedies Meine Geisha (1962) and Who slept in my bed? (1963) she was overshadowed by Shirley MacLaine and Elizabeth Montgomery , respectively , while in Italian adventure films such as Marco Polo , Maciste in the violence of the tyrant (both 1961) and The Hordes of Khan (1962), because of her foreign appearance, she took on the role of the princess was subscribed to in need. Often used only in B-movies , Tani played theater and received fabulous reviews for her appearances in plays like Jacques Deval's Namouna with Fernand Gravey , who was her godfather. Furthermore, she played in La Petite Maison de thé by John Patrick and Jacques Charon's staging of François Campeaux ' Chérie Noire .

Yoko Tani, divorced from French actor Roland Lesaffre five years his senior , was active as a film and television actress until the mid-1980s. She died in 1999 after a long illness at the age of 67 in her hometown.

Filmography (selection)

• 1954: Ostracized women (Marchandes d'illusions)
• 1954: Ali Baba (Ali Baba es les quarante voleurs)
• 1955: betrayal of Germany
• 1955: I became a traitor (Interdit de séjour)
• 1955: Those who sell (Les Clandestines)
• 1955: girls disappear (Le Port du désir)
• 1955: The Prisoner (The Prisoner)
• 1956: Oh, la-la, Cherie (Paris canaille)
• 1956: Women in Prison (Jôshû to tomo ni)
• 1956: Love, Women and Paris (Mannequins de Paris)
• 1956: Fukuaki no seishun
• 1958: Slave of the South Seas (La fille de feu)
• 1958: Four Pipes of Opium (The Quiet American)
• 1958: ... because the wind cannot read (The Wind Cannot Read)
• 1960: The silent star
• 1960: In the Land of Long Shadows (The Savage Innocents)
• 1960: The signal is red (Piccadilly Third Stop)
• 1961: Marco Polo
• 1961: Maciste in the hands of the tyrant (Maciste alla corte del Gran Khan)
• 1962: My Geisha ( My Geisha )
• 1962: The Hordes of Khan (Ursus e la ragazza tartara)
• 1963: Who slept in my bed? (Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?)
• 1964: Operation Baalbeck (FBI operazione Baalbeck)
• 1964: The death rays of Dr. Mabuse
• 1965: invasion
• 1965: The chance is nil (Agent Z 55 missione disperata)
• 1966: Goldsnake - The Secret of the Golden Snake (Goldsnake 'Anonima Killers')
• 1966: Kong-Fu's infernal cat (Le spie amano i fiori)
• 1967: Danger Man - The Syndicate of the Cruel (Danger Man)
• 1967: The Sweet and the Bitter
• 1978: Ça fait tilt
• 1986: Série rose (TV series)

Web links

• Yoko Tani in the All Movie Guide (English)
• Yoko Tani in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. Yoko Tani , p. 413. In: Quinlan, David: Quinlan's illustrated directory of film stars . London: Batsford, 1989
2. ↑ cf. Hamlet, AH: Romance From Britain . In: The New York Times, March 10, 1960
3. ↑ cf. The Wind Cannot Read  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Variety, January 1, 1958 (English; accessed October 19, 2008)  
4. ↑ cf. The Savage Innocents  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Variety, January 1, 1960 (English; accessed October 19, 2008)  
5. ↑ cf. Archer, Eugene: 'The Savage Innocents' Is Seen in Neighborhood Theaters . In: The New York Times, May 25, 1961
6. ↑ cf. Biography in the Internet Movie Database (accessed October 19, 2008)
7. ↑ ^{a b} cf. Yoko Tani . In: Le Figaro , April 22, 1999, Disparitions