James Katsuyuki Taenaka (妙中克之 Taenaka Katsuyuki; born November 27, 1964), better known as Jimmy T, is a Singapore-based American film and television actor. He starred opposite the late Brandon Lee in Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) as well as David Carradine and Daryl Hannah in Kung Fu Killer (2008).
Early life Taenaka was born in Fort Ord, California and raised in Monterey, California. His parents had immigrated from Osaka, Japan. He attended Monterey High School in Monterey, California. Taenaka was a USA Junior National Judo Champion, and represented California at USA Junior National Wrestling Championships.
Career Taenaka appears 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 about the Japanese occupation of Singapore, where he also received a nomination at the Asian Television Awards in 2002 for Best Drama Performance by an Actor.
Personal life Taenaka is married to Lim Li Li. He is also involved as the VP and coach of the Wrestling Federation of Singapore.
Filmography Film Year Title Studio 1991 Showdown in Little Tokyo Warner Brothers 1993 American Yazuka 1994 The Shadow Universal Pictures 1995 The Low Life 1997 Psycho Sushi 1998 Looking Italian 2001 Fatal Blade 2002 Tequila – the Movie 2004 The Second Singapore Short Story 2005 L'Empire du Tigre TF1 2008 Dance of the Dragon 2008 Ovunque Tu Sia RAI International 2010 Sony Pictures 2012 Dead Mine HBO Asia 2014 Banting 2014 Filial Party
Television Year Title Studio Notes 1993 Cop Files Fox TV 1997 JAG CBS 1998 Brooklyn South CBS 1999 Martial Law CBS 2000 Making Love MediaCorp TV 2001 A War Diary MediaCorp TV 2002 One Peep Too Many TV movie 2003 Amnesia MediaCorp TV TV movie 2004 Rouge MTV Asia 2004 Singapore Shakes TV movie 2004 Like My Own MediaCorp TV 2004 Machine TV movie 2004 Daddy's Girls MediaCorp TV 2004 The Second Singapore Short Story MediaCorp TV 2005 Shooting Stars MediaCorp TV 2005 First Mums MediaCorp TV 2008 En Bloc MediaCorp TV 2008 Calefare MediaCorp TV Guest star 2008 Kung Fu Killer RHI Entertainment TV miniseries 2010 The Pupil MediaCorp TV 2017 BRA MediaCorp TV 2017 Silo meWATCH meWATCH Original 2017 Halfworlds HBO Asia Season 2 (guest star) 2018 Grisse HBO Asia 2021 Glória Netflix Netflix Original
Hosting Get Drunk in China (2007) Channel News Asia TV Series
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