George Kuwa (born Keichii Kuwahara) was a Japanese and American

Issei is a Japanese-language term used by ethnic Japanese in countries in North America and South America to specify the Japanese people who were the first generation to immigrate there. are born in Japan; their children born in the new country are ...

(Japanese immigrant) film actor of the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1931. He was the first actor to portray

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

on-screen in the 1926

film serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...

The House Without a Key ''The House Without a Key'' is a 1925 novel by Earl Derr Biggers, the first of the Charlie Chan mysteries. Set in 1920s Hawaii, the novel acquaints the reader with the look and feel of the islands from the standpoint of both white and non-white ...

''.Hanke (1989), xii.

Biography

According to contemporaneous reports, Kuwa was born in Hiroshima, Japan. His father was a judge and wanted George to follow suit. Kuwa moved to the U.S. around 1916 or 1917 and began a career in Hollywood. Like many Japanese actors of the era, he often played Chinese characters. He made several films in Japan as well before returning to the U.S.; he died in Los Angeles in 1931 at the age of 46.

Partial filmography

* '' The Soul of Kura San'' (1916) * ''

The Yellow Pawn ''The Yellow Pawn'' is a lost 1916 American drama silent film directed by George Melford and written by Frederic Arnold Kummer and Margaret Turnbull. The film stars Wallace Reid, Cleo Ridgely, William Conklin, Tom Forman, Irene Aldwyn and Clare ...

'' (1916) * ''

The Bottle Imp "The Bottle Imp" is an 1891 short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson usually found in the short story collection ''Island Nights' Entertainments''. It was first published in the '' New York Herald'' (February–March 1891) and ...

'' (1917) * '' The Countess Charming'' (1917) * ''

Rimrock Jones ''Rimrock Jones'' is a lost 1918 American silent Western film directed by Donald Crisp and starring Wallace Reid. Cast * Wallace Reid as Rimrock Jones * Ann Little as Mary Fortune * Charles Stanton Ogle as Hassayamp Hicks * Paul Hurst as ...

'' (1918) * '' The Woman in the Web'' (1918) * ''

Toby's Bow ''Toby's Bow'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Harry Beaumont and starring Tom Moore, Doris Pawn, Macey Harlam, Arthur Housman, Colin Kenny, and Augustus Phillips. It is based on the 1919 play of the same name by John Tainto ...

'' (1919) * '' The Willow Tree'' (1920) * '' Sick Abed'' (1920) * '' The Round-Up'' (1920) * '' Officer 666'' (1920) * '' Midsummer Madness'' (1921) * ''

The Invisible Fear ''The Invisible Fear'' is a lost 1921 American silent mystery film directed by Edwin Carewe and starring Anita Stewart. It was produced by Stewart and Louis B. Mayer with release through First National Pictures. Plot As described in a film mag ...

'' (1921) * '' Nobody's Fool'' (1921) * ''

Five Days to Live ''Five Days to Live'' is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by Norman Dawn and featuring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki, Goro Kino, Misao Seki, Toyo Fujita, and George Kuwa. An impoverished Chinese vase painter is considered an unsuitable ...

'' (1922) * '' Moran of the Lady Letty'' (1922) * '' Bought and Paid For'' (1922) * ''

Sherlock Brown ''Sherlock Brown'' is a 1922 American silent comedy-drama film. Directed by Bayard Veiller, the film stars Bert Lytell, Ora Carew, and Sylvia Breamer. It was released on June 26, 1922. Cast list * Bert Lytell as William Brown * Ora Carew as B ...

'' (1922) * '' The Half Breed'' (1922) * '' Enter Madame'' (1922) * ''

The Beautiful and Damned ''The Beautiful and Damned'' is a 1922 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in New York City, the novel's plot follows a young artist Anthony Patch and his flapper wife Gloria Gilbert who become "wrecked on the shoals of dissipati ...

'' (1922) * '' The World's Applause'' (1923) * ''

Daddy A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

'' (1923) * '' The Eternal Struggle'' (1923) * '' The Storm Daughter'' (1924) * '' Curlytop'' (1924) * ''

The Man from Wyoming ''The Man from Wyoming'' is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by Robert N. Bradbury and starring Jack Hoxie, Lillian Rich, and William Welsh. Plot As described in a film magazine, Jack Halloway (Payton) covets the land of cattlem ...

'' (1924) * '' Broken Barriers'' (1924) * '' Oh Doctor!'' (1925) * '' Head Winds'' (1925) * '' A Son of His Father'' (1925) * ''

The Enchanted Hill ''The Enchanted Hill'' is a 1926 American silent Western film directed by Irvin Willat and written by James Shelley Hamilton and Peter B. Kyne. The film stars Jack Holt, Florence Vidor, Noah Beery, Sr., Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, George Bancr ...

'' (1926) * ''

A Trip to Chinatown ''A Trip to Chinatown'' is a musical comedy in three acts by Charles H. Hoyt with music by Percy Gaunt and lyrics by Hoyt. In addition to the Gaunt and Hoyt score, many songs were interpolated into the score at one time or another during the run ...

'' (1926) * ''

The Dice Woman ''The Dice Woman'' is a 1926 American silent action adventure film directed by Eddie Dillon and starring Priscilla Dean. No known prints of it exist, and it is presumed lost. No longer a Universal contract star in 1926, Dean was in her career' ...

'' (1926) * ''

The Silver Treasure ''The Silver Treasure'' is a 1926 American silent action drama film directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring George O'Brien. It is based on the 1904 novel ''Nostromo'' by Joseph Conrad. It was produced and distributed by the Fox Film Corporat ...

'' (1926) * ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' (1926) * ''

That Model from Paris ''That Model from Paris'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring Marceline Day, Bert Lytell, and Eileen Percy Eileen Percy (August 1902 – 29 July 1973) was an Irish-born American actress of the ...

'' (1926) * ''

'' (1926) * '' Melting Millions'' (1927) * ''

Perch of the Devil ''Perch of the Devil'' is a 1927 American silent drama film directed by King Baggot and starring Mae Busch, Pat O'Malley, and Jane Winton. It is based on the 1914 novel of the same title by Gertrude Atherton. Plot As described in a film magazi ...

'' (1927) * '' White Pants Willie'' (1927) * ''

The Night Bride ''The Night Bride'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Marie Prevost, Harrison Ford and Franklin Pangborn.Munden p.543 Cast * Marie Prevost as Cynthia Stockton * Harrison Ford as Stanley Warringto ...

'' (1927) * ''

The Chinese Parrot ''The Chinese Parrot'' (1926) is the second novel in the Charlie Chan series of mystery novels by Earl Derr Biggers. It is the first in which Chan travels from Hawaii to mainland California, and involves a crime whose exposure is hastened by t ...

'' (1927) * '' The Warning'' (1927) * '' The Secret Hour'' (1928) * '' The Showdown'' (1928) * ''

Chinatown Charlie ''Chinatown Charlie'' is a 1928 silent film comedy directed by Charles Hines for release by First National Pictures. It stars actor Johnny Hines. Status One source states that a fragment and/or video copy survives of this picture at UCLA Fil ...

'' (1928) * '' After the Storm'' (1928) * ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

'' (1931)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuwa, George 1885 births 1931 deaths Japanese male film actors Japanese male silent film actors Japanese emigrants to the United States American male actors of Japanese descent American male film actors American film actors of Asian descent 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Japanese male actors