Jimmy Taenaka
American actor
James Katsuyuki Taenaka (妙中克之 Taenaka Katsuyuki; born November 27, 1964), better known as Jimmy T, is a Singapore-based American film and television actor. He starred opposite the late Brandon Lee in Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) as well as David Carradine and Daryl Hannah in Kung Fu Killer (2008).
01Early life
Taenaka was born in Fort Ord, California and raised in Monterey, California. His parents had immigrated from Osaka, Japan. He attended Monterey High School in Monterey, California. Taenaka was a USA Junior National Judo Champion, and represented California at USA Junior National Wrestling Championships.
02Career
Taenaka appears on television and film both in Asia and the United States. In Singapore, he starred in the epic World War II television drama A War Diary about the Japanese occupation of Singapore, where he also received a nomination at the Asian Television Awards in 2002 for Best Drama Performance by an Actor.
03Personal life
Taenaka is married to Lim Li Li. He is also involved as the VP and coach of the Wrestling Federation of Singapore.
04Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Studio |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Showdown in Little Tokyo | Warner Brothers |
| 1993 | American Yazuka | |
| 1994 | The Shadow | Universal Pictures |
| 1995 | The Low Life | |
| 1997 | Psycho Sushi | |
| 1998 | Looking Italian | |
| 2001 | Fatal Blade | |
| 2002 | Tequila, the Movie | |
| 2004 | The Second Singapore Short Story | |
| 2005 | L'Empire du Tigre | TF1 |
| 2008 | Dance of the Dragon | |
| 2008 | Ovunque Tu Sia | RAI International |
| 2010 | Tiger Team: The Mountain of the 1000 Dragons | Sony Pictures |
| 2012 | Dead Mine | HBO Asia |
| 2014 | Banting | |
| 2014 | Filial Party |
Television
| Year | Title | Studio | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Cop Files | Fox TV | |
| 1997 | JAG | CBS | |
| 1998 | Brooklyn South | CBS | |
| 1999 | Martial Law | CBS | |
| 2000 | Making Love | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2001 | A War Diary | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2002 | One Peep Too Many | TV movie | |
| 2003 | Amnesia | MediaCorp TV | TV movie |
| 2004 | Rouge | MTV Asia | |
| 2004 | Singapore Shakes | TV movie | |
| 2004 | Like My Own | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2004 | Machine | TV movie | |
| 2004 | Daddy's Girls | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2004 | The Second Singapore Short Story | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2005 | Shooting Stars | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2005 | First Mums | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2008 | En Bloc | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2008 | Calefare | MediaCorp TV | Guest star |
| 2008 | Kung Fu Killer | RHI Entertainment | TV miniseries |
| 2010 | The Pupil | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2017 | BRA | MediaCorp TV | |
| 2017 | Silo | meWATCH | meWATCH Original |
| 2017 | Halfworlds | HBO Asia | Season 2 (guest star) |
| 2018 | Grisse | HBO Asia | |
| 2021 | Glória | Netflix | Netflix Original |
Hosting
- Get Drunk in China (2007) Channel News Asia TV Series
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Jimmy Taenaka”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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