Masumi Okada was a renowned Japanese actor, singer, stand-up comedian, emcee, host-presenter, and film producer, known by his nickname "Fanfan". Born in Nice, France, to a Japanese father and a Danish mother, he was the younger of two sons, with his older brother, Taibi "Erick" Okada, also an actor and presenter.
Okada spent his early years in France before relocating to Japan in 1939. He received his education at Saint Joseph International School in Yokohama, graduating in 1955. In 1952, he debuted as an actor in a musical at the Nichigeki Music Hall, and in 1954, he signed with Nikkatsu Corporation, appearing in his first film, "Hatsukoi Kanariya Musume", the following year.
Okada's breakthrough performance came in 1956 when he was cast as the bandmaster in Takumi Furukawa and Yujiro Ishihara's "Taiyo no Kisetsu"/"Season of the Sun". This led to his appearance in the companion film, "Kurutta Kajitsu"/"Crazed Fruit" (1956),where he played the cool, laid-back, finger-snapping Amerasian, "Frank Hirosawa", the unofficial leader of a band of young "rebels without a cause".
Throughout his career, which spanned over five decades, Okada appeared in over 140 films, showcasing his versatility in all genres, from stage musicals to horror films, from comedies to historicals, and from Shakespeare to science-fiction. His mixed ethnicity and proficiency in Japanese, English, and French enabled him to portray a wide range of characters, from "Count Dracula" in "The Vampire Dracula Comes To Kobe" (1979) to "Brother Michael" in James Clavell's "Shogun" (1980).
Okada's stage credits include the Toho musicals, where he starred after leaving Nikkatsu Corporation, as well as the French musical, "La Cage aux Folles", which ran for over 400 performances. He also founded the theater company, Gekidan Keyaki, in Japan.
In television, Okada appeared in numerous shows, including NHK's "Wakai Kisetsu", "The Space Giants", "Latitude Zero", "Marco", "Shogun", and "The Hunted", which became international hits and brought him into contact with actors such as Joseph Cotten, Richard Jaeckel, and Cesar Romero.
Okada was a regular judge in the "Iron Chef" series and the host for many Japanese variety and game shows, including NTV's celebrity quiz show, "Sarujie". He was also the emcee for many beauty pageants, including the Miss International contest, and was appointed as one of Japan's Ambassadors to the Hans Christian Andersen 2005 bicentenary.
Okada was married three times and had four sons. In 2000, his elder brother, Taibi, died of Parkinson's Disease, and in 2004, his third son was found hanged at his mother's home in Tokyo. Okada passed away on May 29, 2006, at the age of 70, due to complications from throat cancer.
