Irene Tsu (born November 4, 1945) is a Shanghai-born American actress who has appeared in over thirty films, the first being 1961's Flower Drum Song. In the late 1960s, she starred in Chevron's popular "Wiki Wiki Dollar" advertising campaign. She speaks English and three varieties of Chinese.

Early life and career Tsu was born in Shanghai, China to Z.M. and Dulcie Lynn Tsu.Cf. Lisanti (2001), p.158 Her father was a banker and her mother a painter. After political changes in China in the 1940s, the family left for Taiwan, then Hong Kong. Her father remained behind in Taiwan while in 1957 she and the rest of her immediate family (sister and mother) emigrated to Larchmont, New York, a suburb of New York City, where her aunt lived. Irene attended Mamaroneck Elementary School in Mamaroneck, New York and studied ballet.

In the late 1950s, she auditioned for a dancing job in Broadway's Flower Drum Song. A staff member of the producer David Merrick's office saw the performance and auditioned her for the Broadway musical The World of Suzie Wong and Tsu got a part. Later Irene auditioned for choreographer Hermes Pan in the upcoming film adaptation of the musical Flower Drum Song."Profile: Irene Tsu", Glamor Girls of the Silver Screen, website The choreographer brought Irene to Hollywood and she was a teenage dancer in the film Flower Drum Song (1961), directed by Henry Koster. That same year, Tsu entered the Miss Chinatown USA beauty pageant on behalf of New York and won first place. Soon after, Tsu scored her first speaking role in another Hermes Pan film, Take Her, She's Mine (1963), starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee. Many film appearances followed, including a stint alongside Elvis Presley in his 1966 film Paradise, Hawaiian Style and roles in the hits Airport 1975 (1974) and Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986).

She studied acting with Ned Maderino, Lee Strasberg and Peggy Feury and attended Los Angeles City College,"Actress Irene Tsu, an LACC Alum, Talks to LACC Cinema Students About her Film Career" , Los Angeles City College News, December 1, 2006 UCLA Film School, and California State University, Los Angeles.Realtor: Irene Tsu – webpage

Tsu was active in television too. On November 21, 1963, the evening before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Tsu's only appearance on Perry Mason was aired on CBS, as she played the role of defendant Juli Eng in "The Case of the Floating Stones." She made guest appearances on many of the other popular '60s–70s television shows such as I Spy, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Family Affair, Mission: Impossible, My Three Sons, Wonder Woman, and The Wild Wild West. In the 1960s, Tsu met Frank Sinatra in Miami, Florida where she was filming the "Chevron Island" commercials and Sinatra was filming Tony Rome. They dated for over two years.

Tsu married director Iván Nagy in 1971, although they later separated.Cf. Lisanti & Paul (2002), p.295Beck, Marilyn, "Hollywood Hotline: Frank Sinatra Works on TV Special and Off-Beat Movie", Friday, September 26, 1969

Later career From 1978 until 1989, Tsu was chief operating officer and head designer for her own leisure apparel company, The IT Company/Irene Tsu Designs.

Since 1990 Tsu has been a realtor for Coldwell Banker in Beverly Hills, California.Irene Tsu: Salesperson License #00975925 issued 12/21/87, State of California, Department of Real Estate

A long-time yoga practitioner, Tsu studied with yoga master Bikram Choudhury and is featured in both of his books Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class. She taught at Bikram Yoga College in Encinitas, California.Bikram Yoga – Encinitas, California She teaches weekly yoga classes at the Bikram HQ in Los Angeles and for the Beverly Hills Department of Parks.

She is a single mother to her daughter, an adopted niece from China.Cf. Lisanti (2001), p.167

Selected filmography

Film

Flower Drum Song (1961) as Dancer (uncredited) The Horizontal Lieutenant (1962) as Oriental Spy (uncredited) Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963) as Suzy (uncredited) Take Her, She's Mine (1963) as Miss Wu John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965) as Harem Girl (uncredited) The Sword of Ali Baba (1965) as Nalu How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) as Native Girl Seven Women (1966) as Chinese Girl Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966) as Linda Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966) as Pua Caprice (1967) as Su Ling Island of the Lost (1967) as Judy Hawllani The Green Berets (1968) as Lin The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go (1970) as Tah-Ling Stand Up and Be Counted (1972) (uncredited) Three the Hard Way (1974) as Empress Airport 1975 (1974) as Carol Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders (1974, TV Movie) as Celestial Image Paper Tiger (1975) as Talah Deadly Hero (1975) Hot Potato (1976) as Detective Sgt. Pam Varaje Damien's Island (1976) as Momi Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) as Sheila Waltzberg Steele Justice (1987) as Xua Chan A Girl to Kill For (1990) as The Counselor Unbecoming Age (1992) as R.J. Mr. Jones (1993) as Mrs. Chang Snapdragon (1993) as Hua Comrades: Almost a Love Story (1996) as Aunt Rosie Golden Chicken (2002) as Kam's Aunt The Heart Specialist (2006) as Mrs. Olson Alibi (2007) as Chu Fan

Television

Perry Mason TV series, episode: The Case of the Floating Stones (November 21, 1963) as Juli Eng My Favorite Martian TV series, Season 2 Episode 9 – Double Trouble (1964) as Leilani The Man from U.N.C.L.E. TV series, episode: The Hong Kong Shilling Affair (March 15, 1965) as Jasmine I Spy TV series, episode: A Cup of Kindness (September 22, 1965) Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, episode: The Peacemaker (November 21, 1965) as Su Yin My Three Sons, TV series, episode: Robbie and the Slave Girl (January 20, 1966) as Terry The Man from U.N.C.L.E., episode: The Five Daughters Affair: Part II (April 7, 1967) – Reikko The Wild Wild West TV series, episode: The Night of the Samurai (October 13, 1967) – Reiko O'Hara Family Affair TV series, episode: Eastward Ho (1970) – Ming Lee Cannon TV series, episode: Bitter Legion (1972) Mission: Impossible TV series, episode: Double Dead (February 12, 1972) as Penyo Hawaii Five-O TV series, episode: Engaged to Be Buried (February 27, 1973) as Alia Future Cop TV series (1977) as Doctor Tingley The Rockford Files, TV series, episode: Irving the Explainer (November 18, 1977) as Daphne Ishawaharda Wonder Woman, TV series, episode: The Man Who Made Volcanoes (November 18, 1977) as Mei Ling Trapper John, M.D., TV series, episode: Heart and Seoul (January 28, 1986) as Dr. Julie Lok Noble House (1988) all four episodes Tell Me No Secrets, (1997) TV movie Star Trek: Voyager, TV series, episode: Author, Author (April 18, 2001) as Mary Kim Cold Case, TV series, episode: Chinatown (November 22, 2009) as Da Chun Lu Law & Order: LA TV series, episode: Angel's Knoll (May 25, 2011) as Christina Yu

Notes

References

Sources Lisanti, Tom, Fantasy femmes of sixties cinema: interviews with 20 actresses from biker, beach, and Elvis movies, McFarland Publishing, 2001. Cf. pp.158–169 for entry on Irene Tsu. Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis, Film fatales: women in espionage films and television, 1962–1973, McFarland Publishing, 2002. See pp.293–295 for the entry on Irene Tsu.

Further reading "My life: Irene Tsu", Post magazine, South China Morning Post, interview with Kate Whitehead, January 26, 2014

External links