Denis Akiyama

Career

Film Akiyama started in film, before performing on stage. He was well-known for his role as the supporting villain Shinji in the cult cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic (1995). He also appeared in films like David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers (1989), Space Truckers (1996), Cypher (2002), The Pacifier (2005), Flash of Genius (2008), Repo Men (2010), and Resident Evil: Afterlife (also 2010). In 2015, he appeared as Pac-Man creator Tōru Iwatani in Pixels.

Television Akiyama had a regular role on Katts and Dog as Officer Ron Nakemura and as Mr. Lee on She's the Mayor. He guest starred on numerous series, including Street Legal, War of the Worlds, ReGenesis, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Mayday, and Warehouse 13.

Theatre In the early 1990s, Akiyama's stage performances included Miss Saigon on Broadway and in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Other theatre appearances include Philip Kan Gotanda's Song for a Nisei Fisherman, Sally Han's Naomi's Road, M. J. Kang's Dreams of Blonde & Blue, and Hiro Kanagawa's The Tiger of Malaya.

Death Akiyama died in Toronto on June 28, 2018, from a "very rare and aggressive cancer". He was 66 years old.