
Acting
Yoko Tani
Born 1928-08-02 · Paris, France
Yoko Tani (谷洋子, Tani Yōko, 2 August 1928 – 19 April 1999) was a French-born Japanese actress and nightclub entertainer. Tani was born in Paris. Her birth name was Itani Yōko (猪谷洋子). She has occasionally been described as 'Eurasian', 'half French', 'half Japanese' and even, in one source, 'Italian Japanese', all of which are incorrect. French records (1958) show that her father and mother—both Japanese—were attached to the Japanese embassy in Paris, with Tani herself conceived en route during a shipboard passage from Japan to Europe in 1927 and subsequently born in Paris the following year, hence given the name Yōko (洋子), one reading of which can mean "ocean-child.". Tani would later play a diplomat's daughter in Piccadilly Third Stop. According to Japanese sources, the family returned to Japan in 1930, when Yoko would still have been a toddler, and she did not return to France until 1950 when her schooling was completed. Given that there were severe restrictions on Japanese travelling outside Japan directly after World War II, this would have been an unusual event; however, it is known that Itani had attended an elite girls' school in Tokyo (Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School, currently Ochanomizu University Senior High School), and then graduated from Tsuda University. She subsequently secured a Catholic scholarship to study aesthetics at the University of Paris (Sorbonne) under Étienne Souriau. Once back in Paris, Tani found little interest in attending university (although by her own account she persevered for two years despite understanding hardly anything that was being said). Instead, she developed a more compelling attraction to the cabaret, the nightclub, and the variety music-hall, where, setting herself up as an exotic oriental beauty, she quickly established a reputation for her provocative "geisha" dances, which generally ended with her slipping out of her kimono. It was here she was spotted by Marcel Carné, who took her into his circle of director and actor-friends, including Roland Lesaffre, whom she was later to marry. As a result, she began to get bit parts in films—starting as (perhaps predictably) a Japanese dancer, in Gréville's Le port du désir (1953–1954, released 1955)—and on the stage, with a role as Lotus Bleu in la Petite Maison de Thé (French adaptation of The Teahouse of the August Moon) at the Théâtre Montparnasse, 1954–1955 season. ... Source: Article "Yoko Tani" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Acting credits
6.8An Eskimo who has had little contact with white men goes to a trading post where he accidentally kills a missionary and finds himself being pursued by the police.
The Savage Innocents
1960
6.5Famed movie director Paul Robaix breaks with tradition by not casting his actress-comedienne wife, Lucy Dell, in his latest film production, a version of Madame Butterfly. Undaunted, the resourceful Lucy wings her way to Tokyo and, masquerading as a Japanese geisha, lands the coveted role from her unsuspecting husband! But in front of the cameras (and behind the pancake makeup), Lucy faces greater challenges: her lecherous leading man - and a husband who is beginning to realize that his talented new "discovery" seems vaguely familiar...
My Geisha
1962
NRA fun tour of 1950s West End with international film star Yoko Tani.
Yoko Tani in London
1959
4.0The woman prison has a cast all with a story of their own and with no dull or routine day. There is an employee who is divorced after her husband had an affair. She loves the jailed criminals and almost sees them as family. One day at a workshop someone faints while working hard to make money because she has a poor boyfriend. Another inmate is knocked up Another is a mother and has her child with her.
Women in Prison
1956
4.5Italian explorer rescues the daughter of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, meets a hermit who has invented gunpowder and builds a cannon.
Marco Polo
1962
6.1TV star Jason Steel reluctantly becomes the sounding board for his best friends' bored wives, and must fend off their advances while managing his own fragile relationship.
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
1963
5.8Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.
The Quiet American
1958
4.9A mysterious magnetic spool found during a construction project is discovered to have originated from Venus. A rocket expedition to Venus is launched to discover the origin of the spool and the race that created it.
The Silent Star
1960
9.0A secret agent travels to Singapore in search of a secret formula. Just about everyone he trusts ends up betraying him.
Suicide Mission to Singapore
1966
8.0Secret agent John Drake (aka Danger Man) goes to Japan to infiltrate a secret society that specialises in murder.
Koroshi
1968
5.5Peplum movie from 1961
Ursus and the Tartar Princess
1961
5.7He was nicknamed Gueule d'ange (Angel's Face) because of his good looks, which enabled him to make a certain amount of money from wealthy ladies. Having given up on touching little Marie, he fell into the clutches of fashionable decorator Loina. Both love money, both go for it. Their characters bind them together. So much so that when Loina falls on hard times, Gueule d'ange would fly to help her. A loyal friend stops him. Loina leaves. Distraught, the handsome boy looks inward. It's time for him to settle down.
Pleasures and Vices
1955
6.4A British officer falls in love with his Japanese instructor at a military language school. They start a romance, but she is regarded as the enemy and is not accepted by his countrymen.
The Wind Cannot Read
1958
9.0Véronique Lanier runs one of the most highly rated haute couture houses in Paris. Her first partner is her husband Pierre, who has left aside a promising artist career to design the styles which make their firm a success. The trouble is that Véronique lives only for her job and does not allow herself -and her husband for that matter - a moment's respite. In Cannes, Pierre meets Wanda, a young singer with strange, fascinating eyes. The frustrated husband falls for her but gradually realizes that the light mercurial creature cannot possibly fulfill him. Véronique, feeling miserable, understands she is on the wrong track. She promises Pierre that she will make efforts to reconcile work and married life. Véronique and Pierre will live and work together again, each one forgiving the other for their faults.
Mannequins of Paris
1956
7.1Martine is searching for her sister that disappeared mysteriously. Lequévic agrees to help her.
House on the Waterfront
1955
10.0Penelope Benson, known as Penny, is both romantic and determined. Put in a select boarding school by her mother, she takes advantage of a trip to Paris to get away from it all and live her own life. That's how she meets Antoine du Merlet, whom she takes for a young hoodlum when in fact he's a police superintendent. She spends the night at his place, which leads to a number of setbacks for poor Antoine, who is stigmatized by the headmistress, abandoned by his mistress and has to face a strip-tease session starring the unconscious Penny... But Penny's a spicy one and Antoine's a nice guy, so... !
Maid in Paris
1956
6.2The evil Dr. Mabuse develops a death ray with which he threatens the world.
The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse
1964
6.7A playboy tries to recruit a gang, who include an American who needs cash to satisfy his wife's expensive tastes, and an old time expert cracksman, to rob a foreign embassy's safe, but trouble starts when the plan begins to go wrong.
Piccadilly Third Stop
1960
8.0Sankichi Matsutani, a poor young fisherman, falls in love with Kikue, the only daughter of fisher Shiimbei. As the star-crossed lovers come from different religious backgrounds, they soon meet fierce opposition from their communities.
Love on Rainbow Island
1956
6.3Samson must rescue a beautiful Chinese princess from a marauding horde of warriors.
Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World
1961
5.5Marie-Thérèse is firmly involved in a charity dedicated to the rehabilitation of prostitutes. She approaches Marcelle who, for the love of Pierre, an honest painter, hides her dishonorable profession, and she befriends Maria, in love with the gentle René. Marcelle's aunt is murdered, and her daughter arrested. Marie-Thérèse sets out to prove her innocence, but the two boys learn all about the two unfortunate women. Pierre is unforgiving. Happier, Maria will start a new life with René.
Nights of Shame
1954
5.1Three enemy agents lead a government security man on a perilous trail as the hunter becomes the hunted.
The Spy Who Loved Flowers
1966
6.9In this French crime drama, a young man gets revenge upon the criminals who caused his grandfather to kill himself. Unfortunately, the fellow doesn't realize how bad the criminals are. Fortunately, a kindly hooker, who does know the crooks, saves him from the same fate.
Vice Dolls
1954
4.0A whimsical commedia all'italiana divided into four episodes.
Bianco, rosso, giallo, rosa
1964