After moving to Los Angeles, Sessue Hayakawa became interested in acting and starred in his debut silent film in 1914 — and soon became the first Asian leading man in Hollywood.

Sessue Hayakawa had the class of Carey Grant, the clout of Lionel Barrymore, and the magnetism of Douglas Fairbanks. Despite the prejudice of early Hollywood, the Japanese actor sizzled on screen, a fiery persona burning beneath an elegant facade. He played villainous ivory merchants, noble colonels, pirate captains, spies, artists, and princes.

And his life off-screen was as fascinating as that of any character he portrayed.

Though it’s mired in some mystery, Hayakawa’s story is replete with adventure. It spanned a seppuku attempt in Imperial Japan, a successful career in silent film, and a return to the silv

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