Loading AI tools
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank B. Tokunaga was a Japanese actor, director, and screenwriter who worked in Japan and Hollywood.[1]
Frank Tokunaga | |
---|---|
Born | Frank B. Tokunaga |
Occupation(s) | Actor, director, screenwriter |
Spouse | Komako Sunada |
Tokunaga began his career in show business in 1912 while managing a troupe of Japanese acrobats for Barnum & Bailey, and later worked as an actor in Broadway productions.[2]
Tokunaga then began working at Thomas H. Ince's motion picture studio in Santa Monica, before taking on roles for Louis B. Mayer and then joining Universal's stock company.[3] He did all sorts of work during the silent era, often serving as an interpreter and a location man.[4]
For a time, Tokunaga returned to Japan, where he was a pioneering writer and director at Nikkatsu Studios.[2] Later on in his career, he would return to the United States sporadically to work as a character actor in Hollywood films.
Tokunaga was married to Komako Sunada, an actress who was known as the Japanese answer to Mary Pickford in the press. (She was born in Japan but raised in Los Angeles.)[5][6] The pair collaborated on a pair of screenplays: 1925's Tôyô no Karumen and 1926's Zoku Tôyô no Karumen.
As director:
As actor:
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.