Frankie Sakai

Frankie Sakai (born Sakai Masatoshi) was a Japanese comedian, actor, and jazz musician. While in law school, Sakai dabbled in theater and dance, performing in a 1946 production of Swan Lake.

During the American occupation, he performed in a jazz band called "The Six Lemons" for US forces, at which time he adopted the stage name "Frankie." In 1954, he formed and headlined a group called "Frankie Sakai and the City Slickers," which specialized in humorous novelty songs similar to those of his American contemporary, Spike Jones.

From music, Sakai eventually branched out into film and television, appearing in a wide variety of genres, from dramas to comedies and sci-fi. He is most popular to global sci-fi fans for his lead roles in Mothra (1961) and The Last War (1961). He remained famous in Japan for starring in the popular comedy "Ekimae" film series alongside Morishige Hisaya and Ban Junzaburô.

Sakai was awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon in 1994 for his contributions to the arts. He died from liver failure in 1996, at the relatively young age of 67.