Takayo Fischer (née Tsubouchi; born 1932) is an American stage, film and television actress, as well as voice-over actress.

Takayo Fischer
Born
Takayo Doris Tsubouchi

1932 (age 91–92)
OccupationActress
Years active1979–present
Spouse
Sy Fischer
(m. 1980)

Personal life

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Fischer is the youngest of four daughters of Japanese immigrants Chukuro, a farm laborer, and Kinko Tsubouchi.[1] During World War II, at age 10, she and her family were forcibly removed from the West Coast following the signing of Executive Order 9066. They spent time in the Fresno Assembly Center before being relocated to the Jerome and Rohwer incarceration camps.[2]

After their release, the Tsubouchi family went to Chicago, Illinois, where, as a young adult, Tsubouchi won the crown of "Miss Nisei Queen." She graduated from Hyde Park High School in Chicago in 1950 and attended Rollins College from 1951 to 1953, where she was a cheerleader and member of Phi Beta, a performing arts fraternity.[3] She resides in Los Angeles.

In 1980, she married Sy Fischer, an entertainment executive and Hanna-Barbera agent.

Career

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Fischer appeared in the stage production of The World of Suzie Wong in New York in 1958. She won a Drama-Logue Award for ensemble performance for Tea at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. She has also appeared in many productions with East West Players in Los Angeles, including Into The Woods. Fischer was an honoree at East West Players' 2019 gala for her work in raising "the visibility of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community through [her] craft."[4] She toured the U.S. and Europe in The Peony Pavilion in 1997.

Fischer has appeared in many big-budget films, including Moneyball, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) as Mistress Ching, The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) as Mrs. Chu, Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and War of the Worlds (2005). She has also worked on many independent Asian American films including Americanese (2009), Only the Brave (2005), Stand Up for Justice: The Ralph Lazo Story (2004) and Strawberry Fields (1997).

Fischer has had numerous guest-starring roles on network television including FX's It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia and Walden Media's The Baby-Sitter's Club. She is sometimes credited as Takayo Doran.

Voice work

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Fischer has also done voices in several animated series. Some of her well-known roles include Mister T, Battle of the Planets, Rubik the Amazing Cube, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Saturday Supercade, The Flintstone Kids, Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, The Karate Kid, Capitol Critters, The Centurions, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show, Super Friends, Thundarr the Barbarian, Rambo, Wildfire, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Teen Titans, Justice League Unlimited, The Wild Thornberrys, Avatar: The Last Airbender and Justice League.

She also reprised her role as Mistress Ching in the video game version of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Filmography

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Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Beverly Hills, 90210 Driving Tester Episode: "Leading from the Heart"
1992 Batman: The Animated Series Dr. Wu (voice) Episode: "Dreams in Darkness"[5]
1994 Baby Brokers Emily Weiss Television film
2000 The Wild Thornberrys Red Panda (voice) Episode: "Happy Campers"[5]
2001 Batman Beyond Kairi Tanaga (voice) Episode: "Curse of the Kobra"[5]
2005 Teen Titans Chu-hui (voice) Episode: "The Quest"[5]
2005 Justice League Unlimited Mairzey (voice) Episode: "I Am Legion"[5]
2006–2008 Avatar: The Last Airbender Lo, Li (voice) 4 episodes[5]
2007 It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Mr. Kim Episode: "The Gang Solves the North Korea Situation"
2011 Silent but Deadly Wang Television film
2020–2021 The Baby-Sitters Club Mimi Yamamoto 7 episodes

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1989 Dad Jake's Nurse
1990 Pacific Heights Bank Teller
1991 Showdown in Little Tokyo Mama Yamaguchi
1995 The Dangerous Mrs. Seki
1997 Strawberry Fields Takayo
2005 War of the Worlds Older Woman
2005 Memoirs of a Geisha Tanizato Teahouse Owner
2006 Only the Brave Mrs. Nakajo
2006 Americanese Keiko Crane
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Mistress Ching
2008 The Pursuit of Happyness Mrs. Chu
2008 Uncross the Stars Tina
2008 Immigrants Japanese Woman (voice) English dub
2009 Love 10 to 1 Grandma
2011 Moneyball Suzanne
2012 Model Minority Reiko Tanaka
2013 Cavemen Japanese Woman
2016 The Watcher Gladys

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2008 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Gillian Hewley [5]

References

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  1. ^ "1940 United States Federal Census, Hanford, Kings, California, page 19B, Enumeration District 16-15, C. Tsubouchi Family". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  2. ^ "U.S., Final Accountability Rosters of Evacuees at Relocation Centers, 1942-1946, Rohwer, November 1945, Number 10147, Takayo Doris Tsubouchi". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999, Rollins College, 1953". Ancestry.com. Retrieved August 28, 2020.
  4. ^ Wood, Ximón. "East West Players' 53rd Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner and Silent Auction". East West Players. Archived from the original on 2018-12-24. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Takayo Fischer (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved June 4, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
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