In the late teens and early i92os, one of Hollywood's leading stars was Sessue Hayakawa, whose performances were hailed by critics as "celebrated," "stellar" and "thrilling." He earned an astronomical $7,500 a week in some silent films. He and his actress wife, Tsuru Aoki, lived at a landmark Hollywood estate and owned a gold-plated Pierce-Arrow limousine, two Cadillacs and what Hayakawa described as "a car for shopping." Hayakawa was one of early Hollywood's most improbable stars. Not only was he among the few successful Asian actors in Hollywood films, but he had never intended to be an actor. The second son of a well-to-do family in Japan, he attended the University of Chicago because his father wanted him to become a banker. Following his graduation in 1913, Hayakawa made a fateful decision on his way back to Japan. He stopped in Los Angeles, where he became fascinated with live theater in the city's Little Tokyo district.
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