{{Short description|Japanese-American actor (1894–1970)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Infobox person | name = Tetsu Komai | image = Tetsu Komai in Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) 2.jpg | caption = Komai in ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' (1941) | birth_name = {{lang|ja|駒井哲}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|04|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Kumamoto, Kyushu, Japan | death_date = {{Death date and age|1970|08|10|1894|04|23|df=y}} | death_place = Gardena, California, U.S. | other_names = Tetsuo Komai | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1925–1964 | spouse = | children = }}
{{Nihongo|'''Tetsu Komai''' |駒井哲|Komai Tetsu}}<ref>{{cite news|title=謎の俳優 駒井哲 - ケペル先生のブログ|url=http://shisly.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2013/04/post-78a4.html|accessdate=28 July 2017|work=ケペル先生のブログ|archive-date=9 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609050857/http://shisly.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2013/04/post-78a4.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (23 April 1894 – 10 August 1970),<ref>''California, Death Index, 1940-1997''</ref> also known as '''Tetsuo Komai''', was a Japanese-born American actor, known for his minor roles in Hollywood films.
==Biography== Born in Kumamoto, Kyushu, Komai had small parts in over 50 films from the 1920s until the mid-1960s. In his early films, Tetsu, who was usually called on to play Chinese characters, was often described with derogatory terms such as "Chinaman,".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121021081153/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,769660-1,00.html ''Time'' (August 22, 1932)]</ref> He played the villain in many of his films.<ref>Sunday Arts & Leisure Section, ''The New York Times'' (December 1, 1940) p. X-4</ref>
Komai emigrated to the United States in December 1907, arriving at the Port of Seattle; he lived in Seattle for several years after this initial immigration. During the Second World War, following the signing of Executive Order 9066, the actor, his wife, and their children were interned with groups of other Japanese-Americans and Japanese resident aliens at the Gila River War Relocation Center in Arizona from August 27, 1942, to November 3, 1945.<ref>''Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II''; ''U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946''.</ref>
He died on 10 August 1970 at the age of 76 in Gardena, California of congestive heart failure.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
==Partial filmography== {{div col|colwidth=32em}} * ''The Unchastened Woman'' (1925) * ''Old Ironsides'' (1926) - Pirate (uncredited) * ''Tell It to the Marines'' (1926) - Hangchow Leader (uncredited) * ''Shanghai Bound'' (1927) - Scarface * ''Streets of Shanghai'' (1927) - Chang Ho * ''Detectives'' (1928) - Chin Lee * ''Moran of the Marines'' (1928) - Sun Yat * ''The Woman from Moscow'' (1928) - Groom * ''Manchu Love'' (1929) * ''Chinatown Nights'' (1929) - Woo Chung (uncredited) * ''Bulldog Drummond'' (1929) - Chong * ''Welcome Danger'' (1929) - Florist Henchman (uncredited) * ''New York Nights'' (1929) - Waiter (uncredited) * ''King of Jazz'' (1930) - Emcee, Japanese Version * ''The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu'' (1930) - Chang (uncredited) * ''The Sea Wolf'' (1930) - Igo, Waiter in Honky Tonk (uncredited) * ''East Is West'' (1930) - Hop Toy * ''Oriente es Occidente'' (1930) - Hop Toy * ''The Criminal Code'' (1930) - Convict (uncredited) * ''La mujer X'' (1931) - Bit Role (uncredited) * ''East of Borneo'' (1931) - Hrang the Raftsman (uncredited) * ''Daughter of the Dragon'' (1931) - Lao (uncredited) * ''Prestige'' (1931) - Sergeant * ''She Wanted a Millionaire'' (1932) - Charlie * ''Border Devils'' (1932) - The General * ''Radio Patrol'' (1932) - Valet (uncredited) * ''The Texas Bad Man'' (1932) - Yat Gow * ''Roar of the Dragon'' (1932) - Messenger on Horseback (uncredited) * ''War Correspondent'' (1932) - Fang * ''The Mask of Fu Manchu'' (1932) - Swordsman (uncredited) * ''The Secrets of Wu Sin'' (1932) - Wu Sin * ''The Bitter Tea of General Yen'' (1932) - General Yen's Messenger (uncredited) * ''Island of Lost Souls'' (1932) - M'ling * ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1933) - Ah Yet (uncredited) * ''White Woman'' (1933) - Chisholm Servant (uncredited) * ''Four Frightened People'' (1934) - Native Chief * ''Now and Forever'' (1934) - Mr. Ling, Hotel Manager * ''The Oil Raider'' (1934) - Chinese Cook (uncredited) * ''Oil for the Lamps of China'' (1935) - Ho * ''China Seas'' (1935) - Malay Pirate (uncredited) * ''Without Regret'' (1935) - General Wu Chen (uncredited) * ''Hong Kong Nights'' (1935) - Wong * ''Escape from Devil's Island'' (1935) - Ah Wong (uncredited) * ''Klondike Annie'' (1936) - Lan Fang (uncredited) * ''Roaming Lady'' (1936) - General Fang * ''The Princess Comes Across'' (1936) - Detective Kawati * ''Isle of Fury'' (1936) - Kim Lee * ''History Is Made at Night'' (1937) - SOS Radio Operator (uncredited) * ''China Passage'' (1937) - Wong (uncredited) * ''That Man's Here Again'' (1937) - Wong (uncredited) * ''The Singing Marine'' (1937) - Chang * ''Outlaws of the Orient'' (1937) - Ho-Feng's Man (uncredited) * ''West of Shanghai'' (1937) - General Ma (uncredited) * ''Torchy Blane in Chinatown'' (1939) - Lem Kee (uncredited) * ''The Real Glory'' (1939) - Alipang * ''The Letter'' (1940) - Head Boy * ''Adventures of Captain Marvel'' (1941, Serial) - Chan Lai [Ch. 4] * ''They Met in Bombay'' (1941) - Captain Chang's First Mate (uncredited) * ''Sundown'' (1941) - Kuypens' Shenzi Aide (uncredited) * ''Green Dolphin Street'' (1947) - Chinese Man (uncredited) * ''Task Force'' (1949) - Japanese Representative (uncredited) * ''Tokyo Joe'' (1949) - Lieutenant General 'The Butcher' Takenobu (uncredited) * ''Japanese War Bride'' (1952) - Japanese Servant * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (1958) (Season 3 Episode 37: "The Canary Sedan") - Old Bearded Man * ''Tank Battalion'' (1958) - 'Egg Charlie' * ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (1959) (Season 5 Episode 12: "Specialty of the House") - Lum Fong Ho * ''Tokyo After Dark'' (1959) - Father (uncredited) * ''The Night Walker'' (1964) - Gardener (final film role) {{div col end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Tetsu Komai}} *{{IMDb name|0464514}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Komai, Tetsu}} Category:1894 births Category:1970 deaths Category:People from Kumamoto Category:Japanese male film actors Category:20th-century Japanese male actors Category:Japanese emigrants to the United States Category:People from Gardena, California Category:Japanese-American internees Category:Japanese people imprisoned in the United States Category:Actors from Kumamoto Prefecture Category:American male actors of Japanese descent Category:Male actors from Los Angeles County, California