Yoko Tani

Yoko Tani

Biography: 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.

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: August 02, 1928

Deathday: April 19, 1999

Popularity:

3.49

Known For

F.B.I. Operation Baalbeck
F.B.I. Operation Baalbeck

1964-06-29

My Geisha
My Geisha

1962-03-09

First Spaceship on Venus
First Spaceship on Venus

1960-02-26

The Wind Cannot Read
The Wind Cannot Read

1958-06-10

Mannequins of Paris
Mannequins of Paris

1956-09-19

The Quiet American
The Quiet American

1958-02-08

The Savage Innocents
The Savage Innocents

1960-03-20

Marco Polo
Marco Polo

1962-04-13

Seven Golden Chinese
Seven Golden Chinese

1967-12-12

Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World
Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World

1961-10-31

The Spy Who Loved Flowers
The Spy Who Loved Flowers

1966-08-12

Invasion
Invasion

1965-10-01

Piccadilly Third Stop
Piccadilly Third Stop

1960-09-05

The Babes Make the Law
The Babes Make the Law

1955-03-29

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?

1963-12-25

The Golden Lotus
The Golden Lotus

1991-01-01

Yoko Tani in London
Yoko Tani in London

1959-04-02

OSS 77 - Operazione fior di loto
OSS 77 - Operazione fior di loto

1965-08-26

Pleasures and Vices
Pleasures and Vices

1955-09-02

Nights of Shame
Nights of Shame

1954-08-04

In the Manner of Sherlock Holmes
In the Manner of Sherlock Holmes

1956-06-05

To Chase A Million
To Chase A Million

1967-01-01

Koroshi
Koroshi

1968-11-28

裸足の青春
裸足の青春

1956-10-16

Fire in the Flesh
Fire in the Flesh

1958-01-17

Suicide Mission to Singapore
Suicide Mission to Singapore

1966-06-02

Ursus and the Tartar Princess
Ursus and the Tartar Princess

1961-12-30

The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse
The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse

1964-09-17

Vice Dolls
Vice Dolls

1954-10-18

The Ostrich Has Two Eggs
The Ostrich Has Two Eggs

1957-08-29

Bianco, rosso, giallo, rosa
Bianco, rosso, giallo, rosa

1964-12-29

Women in Prison
Women in Prison

1956-09-11

Maid in Paris
Maid in Paris

1956-01-20

Desperate Mission
Desperate Mission

1965-11-13

House on the Waterfront
House on the Waterfront

1955-04-15