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Best known for her role of Kissy
in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live
Twice and Madame Piranha in King
Kong Escapes (1967), Mie Hama was
one of Toho's biggest actresses during
the Golden Age of Japanese cinema.
Hama's career started at Toho after producer Tomoyuki Tanaka spotted her while she was working as a bus fare conductor. She began working for the company late in 1959, at the young age of 16. Her
first Toho film was released in
1960. Although not by intent, Hama became attached to several of the biggest international franchises, with credits in the Godzilla, James Bond and King Kong films. Inside Japan, though, the actress was best known for her comedic work. Consequently, her nickname was "Funny
Face" due to her numerous appearances
alongside the Crazy Cats and comedian Hitoshi
Ueki on productions like Las Vegas Free-For-All (1967).
Hama was an incredibly prolific actress through the 1960's, although her output had dramatically slowed toward the end of the decade. Like many, the end of the Golden Age of Japanese cinema had impacted her. Hama's final Toho film was a mid-1970's production in the Young Guy franchise, Greatest Game Ever (1975). Afterwords she did sporadic television work up until 1990. In 1983 she hosted a radio show called Mie Hama: I Found a Good Person, which lasted 13 years into the mid-1990's. This was followed up by other radio work up until 2010. Throughout Hama has also remained a vigilant environmentalist as well. |
