Jimmy Taenaka

Infobox actor
name = Jimmy T


imagesize = 350px
caption = Jimmy Taenaka on film
birthname = James Katsuyuki Taenaka
birthdate = birth date and age|1964|11|27
location = Fort Ord, California
United States flagicon|USA
deathdate =
deathplace =
othername =
yearsactive = 1987-Present
spouse = Lim Li Li (2005-Present)
homepage =

James Katsuyuki Taenaka (妙中克之 "Taenaka Katsuyuki"; born November 27, 1964), better known as Jimmy T, is an American actor.

Biography

Personal life

Taenaka, a Japanese American, was born in Fort Ord, California and raised in Monterey, California. He attended Monterey High School in Monterey, California. His parents are from Osaka, Japan and he has a brother, Steven aka Etienne who is a celebrity stylist for Alyssa Milano, Rinko Kikuchi, Gwen Stefani and Ian McKellen at Vidal Sassoon Salon in Beverly Hills, California.

He lost his mother to cancer in 2007. Better known as "Yasuko" in the community, she owned and operated Bijin Hair Studio, a premier hair salon in Monterey, California.

Career

Taenaka is a familiar face 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 - Japanese Occupation of Singapore, where he also received a nomination at the Asian Television Awards in 2002 for Best Drama Performance by an Actor.

He is also a spokesperson for L'Oreal Paris throughout Asia as of December 2007.

Profile

*Name: Jimmy T / Jimmy Taenaka / James Katsuyuki Taenaka
*Height: 1.83m (6'0")
*Management: Fly Entertainment Pte Ltd. (Singapore)

Trivia

*Former U.S.J.F. United States Jr. Judo Champion

*California State place winner - Greco-Roman wrestling 132 pound division

*United States Jr. National competitor - Greco-Roman wrestling

*Assistant Coach Chuck Liddell - "The Iceman" (UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) on the wrestling team while he attended San Marcos High in Santa Barbara, California at the 178 pound division.

*Coached the wrestling team at University High School in West Los Angeles, California.

*Played American football at Monterey High School in Monterey, California - Defensive End #82

*Best Friends: Jason Scott Lee and Yuji Okumoto.

*Favorite Actors: Yusaku Matsuda, Bruce Lee, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn and Gary Oldman.

*Worked with the late Brandon Lee.

*Same birthday and Chinese horoscope (Dragon) as Bruce Lee.

=Career=

Filmography

*"Wherever You Are" (2008) RAI International
*"Dance of the Dragon" (2008)
*"L'Empire du Tigre" (2005) TF1
*"The Second Singapore Short Story" (2004)
*"Tequila - the Movie" (2002)
*"Fatal Blade" (2001)
*"Looking Italian" (1998)
*"Psycho Sushi" (1997)
*"The Low Life" (1995)
*"The Shadow" (1994)
*"American Yakuza" (1993)
*"Showdown in Little Tokyo" (1991)

Drama

United States

*Kung Fu Killer (2008) TV Mini-Series RHI Entertainment
*Martial Law" (1999) TV Episode CBS
*Brooklyn South (1998) TV Episode CBS
*JAG (1997) TV Episode CBS
*Cop Files (1993) TV Episode FOX TV

Singapore

*En Bloc (2008) TV Series

*First Mums (2005) TV Series

*Shooting Stars (2005) TV Series

*The Second Singapore Short Story (2004) TV Series

*Machine (2004) TV Movie

*Like My Own (2004) TV Series

*Singapore Shakes (2004) TV Movie

*Rouge (2004) MTV Asia - TV Episode

*Amnesia (2003) TV Movie

*One Peep Too Many (2002) TV Movie

*A War Diary (2001) TV Series

*Making Love (2000) MediaCorp TV Series

*Daddy's Girls (2004) MediaCorp TV Episode

Hosting

China

*Get Drunk In China (2007) Channel News Asia TV Series

External links

*imdb name|id=0846359|name=Jimmy T
* [http://www.myspace.com/eagameboy Jimmy T] on MySpace