Michael Okada
‘The Man Who Loves To Hate ... You!’
Actor - director - screenwriter - producer
Born: Michael Tatsuya Okada, Tule Lake, California, September 7, 1942
Michael Okada in 1979 (set of 'Hell in Heaven'), age 36
Digital painting, glossy archival C-print, 10x8" / 25x20cm, 2000
Edition: 10 (+ 5 AP)
Michael Okada in 'Coup de Grace' (Bowling Alley)
Digital painting, cibachrome C-prints on pvc on pvc, 8x10" / 20x25cm, 1994
Part of two sets of 4 stills (8 stills in total)
Edition 5 (+ 1 AP). 1/5: private collecton, Amsterdam (NL); 2/5: collection Museum Helmond (NL); 3/5: collection Artoteek Den Haag (NL)
Michael Okada in 'A General Tragedy' (world in negative)
Also in the picture: Dustin Hoffman
Acrylic on canvas, 31.5x39.33" / 80x120 cm, 1989
Michael Okada and Marian Xiao in 'Hell in Heaven' (plane sex)
Also in the picture:
Robert DeNiro, Lou Gossett, Lino Ventura, Danielle Darrieux, Diahnne Abbott, Gérard Depardieu, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Duvall, Timothy Hutton, Nick Nolte and Roy Scheider
Digital painting, archival C-print, cibachrome, 25.5x37.5" / 65x95 cm, 1999
Edition 3 (+ 1 AP). 1/3: private collection, New York (USA)
Michael Okada in 'Try or Die' (gameshow)
Digital painting, archival C-print, cibachrome, 8x10" / 20x25cm, 1994
Part of a set of 4 stills
Edition 5 (+ 1 AP). 1/5: private collection, Rotterdam (NL)
Also: Archival C-print, cibachrome, 31.5x39.33" / 80x100 cm, 1994
Edition 1 (4 separate scenes)
Thomas Kirby, Michael Okada and Anita Carbajal 'A Fiery Tale' (conflagration)
Also in the picture: John Malkovich, Sigourney Weaver
Acrylic on canvas, 59x78.75" / 150x200 cm, 1990
Michael Okada in 'Suicide Notes' (Awakening)
Digital 3D animation/painting, size not yet known, 2006
Edition 3 (+ 1 AP)
Michael Okada in 'Suicide Notes' (Luminary)
Digital 3D animation/painting, size not yet known, 2006
Edition 3 (+ 1 AP)
Michael Okada and Pete Banich in 'The Moneymongers' (poster)
Digital 3D drawing, archival C-print, 40x30" / 102x76 cm, 2015
Graphic design: Liesbeth Nieuwenweg
Edition 3 (+ 1AP)
Controversy has surrounded Michael Tatsuya Okada all of his life. Michael Okada was born in an internment camp for Japanese Americans. After the war on a strawberry farm in Cantua Creek, California, Mike's father, Toshiro Okada. found out that Machiko Yamazaki, his wife and the mother of his 5 sons, was not Japanese at all, but a full-blooded Modoc Indian and expelled her from his home. In 1955 the unruly Mike himself was sent packing, which eventually would lead to the 13-year-old boy's brutal induction into the California Penal System. Okada's famous scar dates from that period. People never cease to be amazed by the sharp contrast between feral Mike's public persona, which seems to thrive on subversive behavior and radical invectives, and the private Michael Okada, who reportedly is as meek as a lamb. Of the many incidents which seem to follow Okada, the most renowned, of course, is the 1967 Oscar ceremony row; there is his assault conviction in 1980; the 1984 stabbing by a Muslim fundamentalist for the uncanny resemblance of Dr. Baruda character in The Locust Affair to Colonel Ghaddaffi; and the LAPD attempt at a murder rap in 1986. Michael Okada refuses to give interviews and to attend Hollywood functions.
From 1968 to 1976 Michael Okada was married to the famous Nicaraguan dancer/choreographer, Catherina Carbajal. They have a daughter, Anita Carbajal, who followed in her father's footsteps taking up an acting career. Michael Okada has a second daughter with actress Forough Amirshahi, with whom he had a brief marriage stint in 1989/90. He also has a son, who works in the gaming industry. Originally on course to be a professional fighter, Michael decided he had rather be an actor and enrolled in the Pasadena Playhouse, where he only attended 3 classes before he was removed for being untalented. In 1961 Mike moved to New York and it was not long before he took the theater and movie world by storm. Michael Okada's film debut came with his sensational performance of the frustrated kidnapper in Coup De Grace (1965). Much has been written about Okada's graceful acting style and his cracking genius is used to the full in his manifold interpretations of the evil demon. Over time Michael Okada seems to have turned his powerful skills more and more to directing.
Selected Filmography
1965: Coup De Grace
1965: No, No Boy
1965: Elsa, The Sardonic Vampire
1966: Lotte, The Looney
1966: Only The Bad Can Get Away With Murder
1967: El Matador
1968: Zoom Out
1968: Lava Beds
1969: Spunky Sue and Honest Orville
1966/1969: Where The Bad Boys End Up (+ director)
1969: Dog Town
1969: Dirty Living For A Priest
1970: A Matter of Honor
1972: Fatal Maneuver
1972: Rocky Mountains
1973: Whatever Happened To Johnny Kim
1974: Murder Plot
1976: Two Worlds, Two Wars
1977: A General Tragedy
1978: San Joaquin Valley
1978: Never To Act Again
1979: Hell In Heaven
1981: 110% Bogus
1982: Pent Up (+ director)
1983: The Locust Affair
1985: Rasputin
1986: Conundrum
1987: Try or Die
1990: A Fiery Tale (+ director)
1993: Crack On The Wall
1994: The Book Assassination
1995: Block Amok
1996: Stick It Up Your Ear (director only)
1996: The Mouse Museum
1997: Path of Fear (director only)
1998: A Pilgrim's Temptress
1999: Fall Upwards
2000: The National Inquiry
2001: The Pulitzer Boy (director only)
2002: Over The Hill
2003: Red Robbie: The Act behind the Scenes
2003: Boss of Shadows (+ director)
2006: Suicide Notes
2015: The Moneymongers