Jerry Ito

was an American actor, singer, and tarento, who spent most of his professional life in Japan. He was part of a showbusiness family, headed by his father Michio Itō.

Early life and education Itō was born into a showbusiness family in New York City in 1927. He was the son of Japanese dancer and choreographer Michio Itō and American dancer Hazel Wright. His uncles included playwright and actor Koreya Senda and art director Kisaku Itō, and his cousins included composer Teiji Itō and Olympic judoka Teimoc Johnston-Ono.

Itō served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War, where he was attached to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, was a member of the American Theatre Wing. However, he was recalled to service during the Korean War, this time in the Army, where he worked for Special Services. After his second discharge, he joined the Actors Studio. Itō moved to Japan in the mid-1950s, where he married his wife Wakana Hanayagi. While taking Japanese-language classes, he worked as an English-language dubber for Toho Studios.

Personal life Itō was married to Wakana Hanayagi (real name: Sakae Itō), a Nihon-buyō dancer who taught at the University of Toronto and Yale University.

Later life and death After suffering a stroke in 1997, Itō moved to Los Angeles for treatment at UCLA Medical Center's Speech Pathology Clinic, where he was involved with the Japanese Language Scholarship Foundation. He lived there until his death from pneumonia in July 2007, four days before his 80th birthday.

Filmography

Film

Television