Irene Tsu

Last updated
Irene Tsu
諸慧荷
Hawaii Five-O (1968-1980) Press Photo of Irene Tsu.jpg
Tsu c.1973 in a publicity photo for Hawaii Five-O (1968–1980)
Born (1945-11-04) November 4, 1945 (age 78)
Alma mater UCLA
Occupations
  • Actress
  • yoga instructor
  • real estate salesperson
Years active1961–present
Employer(s) Coldwell Banker (real estate), motion picture industry, and yoga schools
OrganizationsMember of
Known forActress
Height5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Board member ofBeverly Hills Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors (BHGLA)
Spouse
(m. 1971;div. 1980)
Children1
AwardsVoted woman of the year 1969 by US information Service
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 諸慧荷
Simplified Chinese 诸慧荷
Website irenetsu.com

Irene Tsu (born November 4, 1945, Shanghai, China) is an actress who started in the film Flower Drum Song in 1961. She was featured in an advertising campaign (Wiki wiki dollar) in the 1960s. She speaks English and three varieties of Chinese.[ which? ]

Contents

Early life and career

Tsu was born in Shanghai, China to Z.M. and Dulcie Lynn Tsu. [1] Her father was a banker and her mother a painter. After political changes in China in the 1940s, the family left for Taiwan, then Hong Kong. Her father remained behind in Taiwan while in 1957 she and the rest of her immediate family (sister and mother) emigrated to Larchmont, New York, a suburb of New York City, where her aunt lived. Irene attended Mamaroneck Elementary School in Mamaroneck, New York and studied ballet.

In the late 1950s. she auditioned for a dancing job in Broadway's Flower Drum Song . A staff member of the producer David Merrick's office saw the performance and auditioned her for the Broadway musical The World of Suzie Wong and Tsu got a part. Later Irene auditioned for choreographer Hermes Pan in the upcoming film adaptation of the musical Flower Drum Song. [2] The choreographer brought Irene to Hollywood and she was a teenage dancer in the film Flower Drum Song (1961), directed by Henry Koster. [2] He gave her her first speaking role as a teenage prostitute in his next film, Take Her, She's Mine (1963) starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee, which started her acting career.[ citation needed ]

She studied acting with Ned Maderino, Lee Strasberg and Peggy Feury [ citation needed ] and attended Los Angeles City College, [3] UCLA Film School, and California State University, Los Angeles. [4]

In 1961, Tsu entered the Miss Chinatown USA beauty pageant on behalf of New York and won first place.

On November 21, 1963, the evening before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Tsu's only appearance on Perry Mason was aired on CBS, as she played the role of defendant Juli Eng in "The Case of the Floating Stones." She made guest appearances on most of the other popular '60s-70s television shows such as I Spy , The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea , Family Affair , Mission: Impossible , Wonder Woman , and The Wild Wild West . She was tested for, but didn't get the female lead of The Sand Pebbles . [5] In the 1960s, Tsu met Frank Sinatra in Miami, Florida where she was filming the "Chevron Island" commercials and Sinatra was filming Tony Rome . They dated for over two years.

Tsu married director Ivan Nagy in 1971, although they later separated. [6] [7]

Later career

From 1978 until 1989, Tsu was Chief Operating Officer and head designer for her own leisure apparel company, The IT Company/Irene Tsu Designs.

Since 1990 Tsu has been a realtor for Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills, California. [4] [8]

A long-time yoga practitioner, Tsu studied with yoga master Bikram Choudhury and is featured in both of his books Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class. She taught at Bikram Yoga College in Encinitas, California. [9] She teaches weekly yoga classes at the Bikram HQ in Los Angeles and for the Beverly Hills Department of Parks.

She is a single mother to her daughter, an adopted niece from China. [6] [10]

Selected filmography

Film

Television

  • Perry Mason TV series, episode: The Case of the Floating Stones (21 November 1963) as Juli Eng
  • My Favorite Martian TV series, Season 2 Episode 9 - Double Trouble (1964) as Leilani
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series, episode: The Hong Kong Shilling Affair (15 March 1965) as Jasmine
  • I Spy TV series, episode: A Cup of Kindness (22 September 1965)
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, episode: The Peacemaker (November 21, 1965) as Su Yin
  • My Three Sons , TV series, episode: Robbie and the Slave Girl (20 January 1966) as Terry
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E. , episode: The Five Daughters Affair: Part II (7 April 1967) - Reikko
  • The Wild Wild West TV series, episode: The Night of the Samurai (13 October 1967) - Reiko O'Hara
  • Family Affair TV series, episode: Eastward Ho (1970) - Ming Lee
  • Mission: Impossible TV series, episode: Double Dead (12 February 1972) as Penyo
  • Hawaii Five-O TV series, episode: Engaged to Be Buried (27 February 1973) as Alia
  • Future Cop TV series (1977) as Doctor Tingley
  • The Rockford Files , TV series, episode: Irving the Explainer (18 November 1977) as Daphne Ishawaharda
  • Wonder Woman , TV series, episode: The Man Who Made Volcanoes (18 November 1977) as Mei Ling
  • Trapper John, M.D. , TV series, episode: Heart and Seoul (28 January 1986) as Dr. Julie Lok
  • Noble House (1988) all four episodes
  • Tell Me No Secrets, (1997) TV movie
  • Star Trek: Voyager , TV series, episode: Author, Author (April 18, 2001) as Mary Kim
  • Cold Case , TV series, episode: Chinatown (22 November 2009) as Da Chun Lu
  • Law & Order: LA TV series, episode: Angel's Knoll (25 May 2011) as Christina Yu

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    A wiki wiki dollar was a giveaway promotion in the United States from the Chevron gasoline company during the 1960s. The advertising campaign featured a wiki wiki girl, played by dancer Irene Tsu, dressed in a grass skirt and performing a brisk hula while standing on a gasoline pump.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois Maxwell</span> Canadian actress (1927–2007)

    Lois Ruth Maxwell was a Canadian actress who portrayed Miss Moneypenny in the first fourteen Eon-produced James Bond films (1962–1985), from Dr. No in 1962 to A View to a Kill in 1985. She did not appear in the 1967 adaptation of Casino Royale, nor in the 1983 remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again, as the production was not Eon's, though she did, as a similar character, appear in the spoof O.K. Connery.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Benson Fong</span> American actor (1916-1987)

    Benson Fong was an American character actor.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Joi Lansing</span> American actress (1929–1972)

    Joi Lansing was an American model, film and television actress, and nightclub singer. She was noted for her pin-up photos and roles in B-movies, as well as a prominent role in the famous opening "tracking shot" in Orson Welles' 1958 crime drama Touch of Evil.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Irene Handl</span> British character actress in over 100 films (1901-1987)

    Irene Handl was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Ahn</span> American actor (1905–1978)

    Philip Ahn was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asian-American character actors of his time. He is widely regarded as the first Korean American film actor in Hollywood. He is not to be confused with Philson Ahn, another screen actor who broke into films in the late 1930s; Philson was Philip's younger brother.

    Joan Leslie Freeman is a retired American actress.

    <i>How to Stuff a Wild Bikini</i> 1965 film by William Asher

    How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 Pathécolor beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams. The film features a brief appearance by Frankie Avalon and includes Buster Keaton in one of his last roles.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Vito Scotti</span> American actor

    Vito Giusto Scozzari, also known as Vito Scotti, was an American character actor who played both dramatic and comedy roles on Broadway, in films, and later on television, primarily from the late 1930s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen appearances in a career spanning 50 years and for his resourceful portrayals of various ethnic types. Of Italian heritage, he played everything from a Mexican bandit, to a Russian doctor, to a Japanese sailor, to an Indian travel agent.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianna Hill</span> American actress (born 1942)

    Marianna Hill is an American actress who is known for her starring roles in the Western films El Condor (1970) and High Plains Drifter and the cult horror film Messiah of Evil, as well as many roles on television series in the 1960s and 1970s. She was sometimes credited as Mariana Hill.

    Joyce Nizzari is an American model, dancer, and actress. She was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its December 1958 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Bunny Yeager. She was born in The Bronx, New York and is of Italian descent.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Carey</span> American actress (1942–2018)

    Michele Carey was an American actress who was best known for her role as Josephine "Joey" MacDonald in the 1966 Western film El Dorado. She appeared in movies and guest-starred in television series in the 1960s and 1970s.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Loo</span> American actor (1903–1983)

    Richard Loo was an American film actor who was one of the most familiar Asian character actors in American films of the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1931 and 1982.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jill Haworth</span> English-American actress (1945-2011)

    Valerie Jill Haworth was an English-American actress. She appeared in films throughout the 1960s, and started making guest appearances on television in 1963. She originated the role of Sally Bowles in the musical Cabaret on Broadway in 1966.

    Maggie Thrett was an American actress and singer.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulla Strömstedt</span> Swedish actress

    Ulla Strömstedt was a Swedish-born actress who appeared in several films and television shows.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Eddie Ryder</span> American television and film actor

    Eddie Ryder was an American television and film actor, as well as a writer and television director. Ryder was born in New York City and died in El Paso, Texas.

    <i>The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go</i> 1970 film by Burgess Meredith

    The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Burgess Meredith. It was shot in Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeannine Riley</span> American actress

    Jeannine Brooke Riley is an American actress.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Shipman</span> Retired American film and television actress, born 1938

    Nina Shipman is a retired American film and television actress. Shipman is a member of the Shipman show business family.

    References

    1. Cf. Lisanti (2001), p.158
    2. 1 2 "Profile: Irene Tsu", Glamor Girls of the Silver Screen, website
    3. "Actress Irene Tsu, an LACC Alum, Talks to LACC Cinema Students About her Film Career", Los Angeles City College News, December 1, 2006
    4. 1 2 Realtor: Irene Tsu - webpage
    5. Lisanti, Tom, "How Actress Irene Tsu Lost the Female Lead in The Sandpebbles", cinemaretro.com Archived 2019-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
    6. 1 2 Cf. Lisanti & Paul (2002), p.295
    7. Beck, Marilyn, "Hollywood Hotline: Frank Sinatra Works on TV Special and Off-Beat Movie", Friday, September 26, 1969
    8. Irene Tsu: Salesperson License #00975925 issued 12/21/87, State of California, Department of Real Estate
    9. Bikram Yoga - Encinitas, California
    10. Cf. Lisanti (2001), p.167

    Sources

    Further reading