Takayo Fischer

(b. 1932) Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress

Keeping Japanese Performance Arts Alive in the Camps Passing Time in the Camps with Baton Twirling Takayo Fischer’s Love of Acting Started with Shibai Facing Prejudice as a Japanese American Teenager in Chicago after the War Takayo Fischer on Her First Time Expressing Outward Affection to Her Parents Being Confused about Racial Identity in Postwar United States Shock of Her Granddaughter Not Knowing Her Japanese Heritage On the Difference between Being a Role and Playing a Role Working on the Set of Pirates of the Caribbean and Meeting Keith Richards The Emotional Toll of Being Incarcerated in Camp during World War II Representing her Family and the Japanese American Community in Acting Sister’s Trauma from being Incarcerated during World War II Her Approach to Preparing for Roles Getting the Role of Gwennie in The World of Suzie Wong

Transcripts available in the following languages:

Takayo Fischer, born in November 1932, is a Nisei American stage, film, and TV actress. During World War II, as a young child, she and her family were forcibly evacuated from the West Coast and spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps. Fischer later lived in Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, she won the crown of “Miss Nisei Queen.” She has appeared in dozens of major Hollywood films, including Moneyball (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005). She also appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958 and many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles. (June 2018)

acting actor camps dance music Odori plays baton majorette kabuki shibai chicago post-war prejudice affection culture japanese american racism United States granddaughter hapa identity Mixed roles Keith Richards movie incarceration World War II community sister movies television broadway The World of Suzie Wong