Mickey Curtis

Mickey Curtis (ミッキー・カーチス, Mikkī Kāchisu; born Michael Brian Curtis (マイケル・ブライアン・カーティス, Maikeru Buraian Kātisu), later 加千須 ブライアン (Kāchisu Buraian), real name after naturalization in Japan, 23 July 1938) is a Japanese actor, singer and media personality. He was born to English-Japanese parents. A pivotal figure in Japanese popular music, Curtis is considered one of the three big Japanese names in rock music, helping to popularize the genre in the 1950s where he began as a rockabilly singer. In 1967, he became internationally known for his psychedelic rock band "Mickey Curtis & The Samurai". After five years, Curtis disbanded the group and returned to Japan in 1972, where he began producing other musicians. As an actor his first role was as a rock singer in the 1958 film All About Marriage by Kihachi Okamoto and he has since gone on to star in more than 70 feature films. Apart from his entertainment career he has also been a race car driver and owns a motorcycle shop in Meguro, Tokyo. He speaks Japanese, English, French, German, Italian and Thai.