was a Japanese-American actress best known for her role as Okichi opposite

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

in ''

The Barbarian and the Geisha ''The Barbarian and the Geisha'' (working titles ''The Townsend Harris Story'' and ''The Barbarian'') is a 1958 American adventure film directed by John Huston and starring John Wayne. The film was shot primarily on location in Japan. Townsend H ...

'' in 1958. Ando was born in

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

, in the Japanese puppet state of

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

(today Northeast

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

), to a Japanese

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

. When the Communists took over the family fled back to Japan. After her father died in 1953, she went to work as a singer and then as a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

dancer. When director

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

was looking for an actress for the part of Okichi, a friend of Ando's who worked in the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

office of

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film production and distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Com ...

recommended Ando to Huston. Once Huston saw her, after auditioning 33 other actresses, he and producer

Eugene Frenke Eugene Frenke (1 January 1895 – 10 March 1984) was a Russian-born film producer, director and writer. He twice collaborated with the director John Huston on the films '' Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison'' and ''The Barbarian and the Geisha ''The Barb ...

were done looking, mainly because of her height over the other women. At the time of filming for ''

'' she was . Ando died in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on August 28, 2018, at the age of 84.

References

External links

* 1934 births 2018 deaths Actresses from Harbin Japanese film actresses Japanese women singers Burlesque performers Japanese female dancers Japanese dancers Japanese people from Manchukuo Japanese expatriates in China {{Japan-film-actor-stub