Brian Tochi
Encyclopedia
Brian Keith Tochihara better known as Brian Tochi, is a U.S.
actor
, screen-writer, movie director and producer
. He was widely recognized as the most popular East Asian child actor
working in U.S. television during the late 1960s through much of the 1970s having appeared in various T.V. series and nearly a hundred televisual advertisements. He is best known for his more famous characters Takashi from the Revenge of the Nerds
film franchise, as Cadet (later Officer) Tomoko Nogata from the third and fourth films in the Police Academy film series, and as the voice of Leonardo in the first three live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
movie franchise.
, California, the son of Joe Isao Tochihara (A.K.A. ‘Tochi’), a well known Beverly Hills celebrity hair salon owner, and Jane Yaeko (née Harada), both Japanese, and former detainees (along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and U.S.-born Japanese people) of Japanese Internment camps during World War II
. While Tochi was still young, the family moved from Los Angeles to Orange County
, California, where he divided his education between local public schools and studio tutors (for child actors) on movie studio
lots. After graduation from high school, Tochi also attended U.S.C.
, UCLA, and U.C.I.
, Chinese
, or of other East Asian genes, adopting the appropriate accent as needed. (His primary language is English
, and his off-stage speech is "fluent American".) Early in his professional life, being one of the only East Asian faces in television, many credit him with breaking the barriers and opening doors for East Asian people in entertainment in the U.S., and advancing the perception that “Oriental” actors have the ability to portray more “mainstream
” roles.
Tochi’s introduction into the entertainment industry came as a toddler. His father’s beauty salon, Tochi Coiffure of Beverly Hills, was a popular haunt for many famous clients, including Lana Turner
, Hedy Lamarr
, Lucille Ball
, Judy Garland
, Petula Clark
and Patty Duke
. One of his father’s customers, a top child agent, spotted the young Tochi running around the salon, and quickly signed to represent him.
A beginning role for Tochi was a guest-starring appearance in the short-lived television series He & She
(1967–68, with real married couple Richard Benjamin
and Paula Prentiss
) as their newly adopted son. Produced by Leonard Stern
and cowritten by Chris Hayward
and Allan Burns
, it also starred Jack Cassidy
as an egomaniacal actor, Kenneth Mars
and Hamilton Camp
. That same year saw Tochi appearing in "And the Children Shall Lead", a classic third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
. Other roles followed, including guest appearances on such popular shows as The Brady Bunch
, The Partridge Family
and Adam-12
.
Tochi’s debut as a T.V. series regular was as Yul Brynner
’s oldest son and heir, Crown Prince
Chulalongkorn, in Anna and the King
on CBS
, it was based on the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein
's The King and I
and also starred Samantha Eggar
and Keye Luke
. Although the series was short lived, Tochi and Brynner remained friends until his death in 1985. Concurrent with the series, Tochi was cast with fellow actor Luke in his first animated television series The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
, also in the series was a young Jodie Foster
, who played his sister.
After both series ended, guest-starring roles followed, including The Streets of San Francisco
with Karl Malden
and Michael Douglas
; and Kung Fu, with David Carradine
, who made his directing debut on the episode, “The Demon God” (which was Tochi's largest guest role of three Kung Fu episodes he appeared in). Tochi also played an undercover informant, and was ultimately beaten and killed in a gritty two-part episode of Police Story on NBC
; and nearly died on the Robert Young
medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D.
until the show's heroic James Brolin
and new best friend Vincent Van Patten
came to his rescue.
During the mid-1970s, Tochi spent time in the theatre, this time reprising his role as Crown Prince Chulalongkorn
in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
’s revival of the musical The King and I
at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
. There he co-starred with the renowned Latin Lover, Ricardo Montalbán
, as the King of Siam, to which they would later accompany the show as it went on tour. When the show ended its run, the two remained dear to one another, with Tochi and Montalbán rendezvousing regularly for lunch during the run of Fantasy Island
.
Tochi returned to star in another TV series Space Academy
(1977-1979) with veteran actor Jonathan Harris
(best remembered as Dr. Smith from Lost in Space
). This Academy brought together the world’s best young minds, and those with special skills, to learn and prepare for the unknown, as Earth people continued to branch out into space. His character, Tee Gar Soom, had super-strength and continued the martial arts
traditions of his Asian ancestors. During hiatus
of the show, Tochi was asked to shoot a 20 minute promotional “behind-the-scenes” visit to the Space Academy for a popular daytime series, Razzmatazz
, on CBS. Razzmatazz was a highly regarded news magazine show produced by Don Hewitt
and the same production team as CBS's primetime news show, 60 Minutes
. It starred Barry Bostwick
, who opted to leave the show for a career in features, to capitalize on his recently released cult
classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show
. Searching for a new host, the television network
persuaded Tochi to accept their offer of his own daytime show, which aired on the network for 4 more years into the early 1980s.
Other appearances include a guest stint on Wonder Woman
, a recurring character in the tropically set Hawaii Five-O
, starring actor Jack Lord
, a 2 hour TV movie “We’re Fighting Back” (with Ellen Barkin
and Stephen Lang
), and regular television roles in the TV dramas St. Elsewhere
and Santa Barbara
. He later played featured characters in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation
(making him one of only a handful of living actors to ever have appeared in the Original Star Trek
series and a subsequent spin-off), and "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
," the ninth episode from the first season of the television series The New Twilight Zone
. The episode is based on the short story "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium", by William F. Wu
, first published in Amazing Stories
. This episode was stretched into a half-hour run time for syndication, as recently shown on the Chiller TV network.
In the short lived ABC
TV series The Renegades
, he starred with his friend, Patrick Swayze
, as the martial arts expert and former gang leader known as Dragon. Then, exercising his journalistic prowess, Tochi later became part of the core team that created and developed the cutting edge educational news program Channel One News
. During his two-and-a-half-year association, his responsibilities grew to include Hosting and Narrating duties, utilizing his talents as a writer, producer and segment director. He was later named Chief Foreign correspondent for the show.
comedy casting several of his friends in lead roles, it included fellow actors Roscoe Lee Browne
, Revenge of the Nerds co-star Curtis Armstrong
and Police Academy 3: Back in Training
co-star Leslie Easterbrook
. In 2005, he was one of the winners of the Hollywood Film Festival
’s Hollywood Screenplay Awards, taking home top honors for co-writing the screenplay, “In the Heat of the Light.” He continues with his directing, producing, and screenwriting careers.
series, including the Bionic Six
(all 65 episodes), Challenge of the GoBots
, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, What's New, Scooby-Doo?
, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
, and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
(as its main star Liu Kang
). He performed the voice of Leonardo in the first three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
series of movies in the early 1990s, he also is the voice of the Chinese soldier who runs the Great Wall in Disney's Mulan
, and more recently had recurring roles in Batman Beyond
, As Told by Ginger
, Kim Possible
, Johnny Bravo
, Static Shock
, Family Guy
and Avatar: The Last Airbender
on Nickelodeon
.
and charitable
endeavors predominantly aimed at various children
’s causes.
Like so many in the film industry, he had been a victim of a fraud
ulent investment
fund manager. He spent years in court attempting to recover some of his losses.
He is a devoted environmental
advocate, pursuing projects meant to benefit the needs of the planet and the world around us. He is diligently working toward solutions for third world countries to sustain and preserve life.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, screen-writer, movie director and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. He was widely recognized as the most popular East Asian child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
working in U.S. television during the late 1960s through much of the 1970s having appeared in various T.V. series and nearly a hundred televisual advertisements. He is best known for his more famous characters Takashi from the Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
film franchise, as Cadet (later Officer) Tomoko Nogata from the third and fourth films in the Police Academy film series, and as the voice of Leonardo in the first three live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a film franchise based on the comic book series of the same name by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles :...
movie franchise.
Early life
Tochi's full name is Brian Keith Tochihara, born in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California, the son of Joe Isao Tochihara (A.K.A. ‘Tochi’), a well known Beverly Hills celebrity hair salon owner, and Jane Yaeko (née Harada), both Japanese, and former detainees (along with thousands of other Japanese immigrants and U.S.-born Japanese people) of Japanese Internment camps during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. While Tochi was still young, the family moved from Los Angeles to Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, California, where he divided his education between local public schools and studio tutors (for child actors) on movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
lots. After graduation from high school, Tochi also attended U.S.C.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, UCLA, and U.C.I.
Career
Being of Japanese descent, Tochi frequently plays characters who are JapaneseJapanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
, Chinese
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
, or of other East Asian genes, adopting the appropriate accent as needed. (His primary language is English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, and his off-stage speech is "fluent American".) Early in his professional life, being one of the only East Asian faces in television, many credit him with breaking the barriers and opening doors for East Asian people in entertainment in the U.S., and advancing the perception that “Oriental” actors have the ability to portray more “mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
” roles.
Tochi’s introduction into the entertainment industry came as a toddler. His father’s beauty salon, Tochi Coiffure of Beverly Hills, was a popular haunt for many famous clients, including Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr
Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-American actress celebrated for her great beauty who was a major contract star of MGM's "Golden Age".Lamarr also co-invented – with composer George Antheil – an early technique for spread spectrum communications and frequency hopping, necessary to wireless...
, Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
, Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
and Patty Duke
Patty Duke
Anna Marie "Patty" Duke is an American actress of stage, film, and television. First becoming famous as a child star, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at age 16, and later starring in her eponymous sitcom for three years, she progressed to more mature roles upon playing Neely...
. One of his father’s customers, a top child agent, spotted the young Tochi running around the salon, and quickly signed to represent him.
A beginning role for Tochi was a guest-starring appearance in the short-lived television series He & She
He & She
He & She is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network as part of its 1967-68 lineup, originally sponsored by General Foods and Lever Brothers. This landmark sitcom is widely considered to be ahead of its time by broadcast historians...
(1967–68, with real married couple Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin
Richard Benjamin is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of productions, including Goodbye, Columbus , based on the novella by Philip Roth, and Westworld .-Life and career:...
and Paula Prentiss
Paula Prentiss
Paula Ragusa , better known by her stage name Paula Prentiss, is an American actress well-known for her film roles in Where the Boys Are, Man's Favorite Sport?, The Stepford Wives, What's New Pussycat?, The Black Marble, and The Parallax View and her co-starring role in the television situation...
) as their newly adopted son. Produced by Leonard Stern
Leonard B. Stern
Leonard Bernard Stern was an American screenwriter, film and television producer, director, and one of the creators, with Roger Price, of the classic word game Mad Libs.-Life and career:...
and cowritten by Chris Hayward
Chris Hayward
Chris Hayward was an American television writer and producer. He was the co-creator, with Allan Burns, of the 1960s television show The Munsters and the creator of Dudley Do-Right....
and Allan Burns
Allan Burns
Allan Burns is an American screenwriter and television producer. Burns is best known for, alongside James L. Brooks, creating and writing for the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda.-Early life:...
, it also starred Jack Cassidy
Jack Cassidy
John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...
as an egomaniacal actor, Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars
Kenneth Mars was an American television, movie, and voice actor. He may be best-remembered for his roles in several Mel Brooks films: the insane Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in 1968's The Producers, and the relentless Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Fredrich Kemp in 1974's Young Frankenstein...
and Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
. That same year saw Tochi appearing in "And the Children Shall Lead", a classic third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
. Other roles followed, including guest appearances on such popular shows as The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch
The Brady Bunch is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, and Ann B. Davis. The series revolved around a large blended family...
, The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family
The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embark on a music career. The series originally ran from September 25, 1970 until August 31, 1974, the last new episode airing on March 23, 1974, on the ABC network, as part of a Friday-night lineup...
and Adam-12
Adam-12
Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
.
Tochi’s debut as a T.V. series regular was as Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor of stage and film. He was best known for his portrayal of Mongkut, king of Siam, in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the film version; he also played the role more than 4,500 times on...
’s oldest son and heir, Crown Prince
Crown Prince
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir or heiress apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a crown prince is also titled crown princess....
Chulalongkorn, in Anna and the King
Anna and the King
Anna and the King is a 1999 biographical drama film loosely based on Anna and the King of Siam, the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam, now Thailand, in the 19th century...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, it was based on the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
's The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
and also starred Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
and Keye Luke
Keye Luke
Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed with RKO, Universal and, later, MGM and is generally acknowledged as the leading Asian-American actor of this era of American cinema.-Background:...
. Although the series was short lived, Tochi and Brynner remained friends until his death in 1985. Concurrent with the series, Tochi was cast with fellow actor Luke in his first animated television series The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan The voice of Mr...
, also in the series was a young Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, who played his sister.
After both series ended, guest-starring roles followed, including The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco
The Streets of San Francisco is a 1970s television police drama filmed on location in San Francisco, California, and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros...
with Karl Malden
Karl Malden
Karl Malden was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than seven decades, he performed in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront and One-Eyed Jacks...
and Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
; and Kung Fu, with David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
, who made his directing debut on the episode, “The Demon God” (which was Tochi's largest guest role of three Kung Fu episodes he appeared in). Tochi also played an undercover informant, and was ultimately beaten and killed in a gritty two-part episode of Police Story on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
; and nearly died on the Robert Young
Robert Young (actor)
Robert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
medical drama Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
until the show's heroic James Brolin
James Brolin
James Brolin is an American actor, producer and director, best known for his roles in soap operas, movies, sitcoms, and television. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin and husband of singer/actress Barbra Streisand.-Early life:...
and new best friend Vincent Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten
Vincent Van Patten is an American actor and former tour professional tennis player.-Personal life:Van Patten was born in Bellerose, New York. He is the youngest son of actor Dick Van Patten and his wife, Pat, née Poole, a former June Taylor dancer. He is of Dutch and Italian descent...
came to his rescue.
During the mid-1970s, Tochi spent time in the theatre, this time reprising his role as Crown Prince Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
Los Angeles Civic Light Opera
The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera was an American theatre/opera company in Los Angeles, California. Founded under the motto "Light Opera in the Grand Opera manner" in 1938 by impresario Edwin Lester, the organization presented fifty seasons of theatre before closing due to financial reasons in...
’s revival of the musical The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is one of the halls in the Los Angeles Music Center . The Music Center's other halls include the Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, and Walt Disney Concert Hall.The Pavilion has 3,197 seats spread over four tiers, with chandeliers, wide curving stairways and rich décor...
. There he co-starred with the renowned Latin Lover, Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
, as the King of Siam, to which they would later accompany the show as it went on tour. When the show ended its run, the two remained dear to one another, with Tochi and Montalbán rendezvousing regularly for lunch during the run of Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
.
Tochi returned to star in another TV series Space Academy
Space Academy
Space Academy was a live-action sci-fi children's television program produced by Filmation that originally aired Saturday mornings on the CBS television network, from September 10, 1977, to December 17, 1977. A total of fifteen half-hour episodes were made.-Cast:The program starred veteran actor...
(1977-1979) with veteran actor Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris
Jonathan Harris was an American stage and film character actor. Two of his best-known roles were as the timid accountant Bradford Webster in the TV version of The Third Man, and the comic villain Dr. Zachary Smith, in the 1960s sci-fi television series, Lost in Space...
(best remembered as Dr. Smith from Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
). This Academy brought together the world’s best young minds, and those with special skills, to learn and prepare for the unknown, as Earth people continued to branch out into space. His character, Tee Gar Soom, had super-strength and continued the martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
traditions of his Asian ancestors. During hiatus
Hiatus (television)
In television scheduling, a hiatus refers to a break of at least several weeks in the normal schedule of a broadcast programming. It can occur during a season of a television program, or can be between television seasons .- Planned hiatus :Many times television stations will implement a hiatus...
of the show, Tochi was asked to shoot a 20 minute promotional “behind-the-scenes” visit to the Space Academy for a popular daytime series, Razzmatazz
Razzmatazz (US TV series)
Razzmatazz was a News and Entertainment program aimed primarily for teen and young adult audiences. Airing in the U.S. on the CBS television network, it starred entertainment personality Brian Tochi, who replaced the show's original host, Barry Bostwick, after the first season...
, on CBS. Razzmatazz was a highly regarded news magazine show produced by Don Hewitt
Don Hewitt
Donald Shepard "Don" Hewitt was an American television news producer and executive, best known for creating 60 Minutes, the CBS television news magazine, in 1968, which at the time of his death, was the longest-running prime-time broadcast on American television...
and the same production team as CBS's primetime news show, 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
. It starred Barry Bostwick
Barry Bostwick
Barry Knapp Bostwick is an American actor and singer. He is known for playing Brad Majors in the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, replacing Peter Scolari as Mr. Tyler in the sitcom What I Like About You, and playing mayor Randall Winston in the sitcom Spin City...
, who opted to leave the show for a career in features, to capitalize on his recently released cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the 1975 film adaptation of the British rock musical stageplay, The Rocky Horror Show, written by Richard O'Brien. The film is a parody of B-movie, science fiction and horror films of the late 1940s through early 1970s. Director Jim Sharman collaborated on the...
. Searching for a new host, the television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
persuaded Tochi to accept their offer of his own daytime show, which aired on the network for 4 more years into the early 1980s.
Other appearances include a guest stint on Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
, a recurring character in the tropically set Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for twelve seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. The show featured a fictional state police unit run by Detective Steve McGarrett,...
, starring actor Jack Lord
Jack Lord
John Joseph Patrick Ryan , best known by his stage name Jack Lord, was an American television, film, and Broadway actor. He was known for his starring role as Steve McGarrett in the American television program Hawaii Five-O from 1968 to 1980. Lord appeared in feature films earlier in his career,...
, a 2 hour TV movie “We’re Fighting Back” (with Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...
and Stephen Lang
Stephen Lang (actor)
Stephen Lang is an American actor and playwright. He started in theatre on Broadway but is well known for his film portrayals of Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals and George Pickett in Gettysburg , as well as for his 2009 roles as Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar and as Texan lawman Charles...
), and regular television roles in the TV dramas St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
and Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...
. He later played featured characters in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
(making him one of only a handful of living actors to ever have appeared in the Original Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series and a subsequent spin-off), and "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
Wong's Lost and Found Emporium
"Wong's Lost and Found Emporium" is the second segment of the ninth episode from the first season of the television series The New Twilight Zone. The episode is based on the short story "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium", by William F...
," the ninth episode from the first season of the television series The New Twilight Zone
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
. The episode is based on the short story "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium", by William F. Wu
William F. Wu
William F. Wu is a Chinese-American science fiction author. He published his first story in 1977. Since then, Wu has written thirteen published novels, one scholarly work, and a collection of short stories...
, first published in Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
. This episode was stretched into a half-hour run time for syndication, as recently shown on the Chiller TV network.
In the short lived ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
TV series The Renegades
The Renegades
The Renegades was a short-lived ABC TV show from 1982 about a gang that is given the option of going to jail for their crimes or becoming a special police undercover unit. The star of The Renegades, and leader of the gang, was The Bandit played by Patrick Swayze. The gang's police handler is...
, he starred with his friend, Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
, as the martial arts expert and former gang leader known as Dragon. Then, exercising his journalistic prowess, Tochi later became part of the core team that created and developed the cutting edge educational news program Channel One News
Channel One News
Channel One News is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States. Channel One is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing and based in New York City.-Program History:...
. During his two-and-a-half-year association, his responsibilities grew to include Hosting and Narrating duties, utilizing his talents as a writer, producer and segment director. He was later named Chief Foreign correspondent for the show.
Other work
In 2004, Tochi co-wrote, produced and directed "Tales of a Fly on the Wall", a live actionLive action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
comedy casting several of his friends in lead roles, it included fellow actors Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne
Roscoe Lee Browne was an American actor and director, known for his rich voice and dignified bearing.-Biography:Browne was the fourth son of a Baptist minister, Sylvanus S. Browne, and his wife Lovie...
, Revenge of the Nerds co-star Curtis Armstrong
Curtis Armstrong
Curtis Armstrong is an American actor best known for his portrayal as Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, and as famed record producer Ahmet Ertegün in the film Ray.-Early life:...
and Police Academy 3: Back in Training
Police Academy 3: Back in Training
Police Academy 3: Back in Training is the third film in the Police Academy film series, released on March 21, 1986.-Plot:The film begins in a large garage structure, where Lt. Proctor and Commandant Mauser meet up with former Police Academy cadets, Chad Copeland and Kyle Blankes...
co-star Leslie Easterbrook
Leslie Easterbrook
-Early life:Easterbrook was born in Los Angeles and adopted by a family in rural Nebraska, where she was raised. Her father later earned a Ph.D and became a voice/trumpet professor at University of Nebraska at Kearney...
. In 2005, he was one of the winners of the Hollywood Film Festival
Hollywood Film Festival
The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington....
’s Hollywood Screenplay Awards, taking home top honors for co-writing the screenplay, “In the Heat of the Light.” He continues with his directing, producing, and screenwriting careers.
Voice acting
As a voice actor, Tochi has provided voices for numerous animated films, computer games and animated cartoonAnimated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
series, including the Bionic Six
Bionic Six
Bionic Six is an American/Japanese animated television series from 1987, produced by TMS Entertainment and distributed by MCA TV...
(all 65 episodes), Challenge of the GoBots
Challenge of the GoBots
Challenge of the GoBots is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the Gobots toy-line released from Tonka. Most of the toys were imported from the Japanese Machine Robo toy line. The show originally debuted in animated form as a five-part miniseries, which aired in...
, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, What's New, Scooby-Doo?
What's New, Scooby-Doo?
What's New, Scooby-Doo? is the ninth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo, and a revival of the original show Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. It was the first time the franchise was revived in over a decade. The animated series was developed and produced by Warner Bros....
, The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is an animated action-adventure television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and broadcast on Cartoon Network from August 26, 1996 to April 16, 1997. A revival of the 1960s Jonny Quest franchise, it features teenage adventurers Jonny Quest, Hadji Singh,...
, and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, also known as Mortal Kombat: The Animated Series, is a cartoon series based on the popular Mortal Kombat video game series...
(as its main star Liu Kang
Liu Kang
Liu Kang is a video game character in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. First appearing in the series' first title, Liu Kang is portrayed as a Shaolin monk who enters the Mortal Kombat tournament to save his world, Earthrealm, from being destroyed due to having lost nine consecutive...
). He performed the voice of Leonardo in the first three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
series of movies in the early 1990s, he also is the voice of the Chinese soldier who runs the Great Wall in Disney's Mulan
Mulan
Mulan is a 1998 American animated film directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney...
, and more recently had recurring roles in Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond
Batman Beyond is an American animated television series created by Warner Bros. Animation in collaboration with DC Comics as a continuation of the Batman legacy...
, As Told by Ginger
As Told by Ginger
As Told by Ginger is an American teen drama animated series that was produced by Klasky-Csupo and aired on Nickelodeon from 2000 to 2009. The series focuses on a middle schooler Ginger Foutley who, with her friends, tries to become more than a social geek. There are many subplots that focus on...
, Kim Possible
Kim Possible
Kim Possible is an American animated television series about a teenage crime fighter who has the task of dealing with worldwide, family, and school issues every day. The show is action-oriented, but also has a light-hearted atmosphere and often lampoons the conventions and clichés of the...
, Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo
Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The series stars a muscular beefcake young man named Johnny Bravo who dons a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis Presley-like voice and has a forward, woman-chasing personality...
, Static Shock
Static Shock
Static Shock is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered in September 2000 on the Kids' WB! block and ran for four seasons, with a total of 52 half-hour episodes....
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
and Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
.
Personal life
For decades, Tochi has dedicated much of his time helping to facilitate and support humanitarianHumanitarianism
In its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
and charitable
Charity (practice)
The practice of charity means the voluntary giving of help to those in need who are not related to the giver.- Etymology :The word "charity" entered the English language through the Old French word "charité" which was derived from the Latin "caritas".Originally in Latin the word caritas meant...
endeavors predominantly aimed at various children
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
’s causes.
Like so many in the film industry, he had been a victim of a fraud
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
ulent investment
Investment
Investment has different meanings in finance and economics. Finance investment is putting money into something with the expectation of gain, that upon thorough analysis, has a high degree of security for the principal amount, as well as security of return, within an expected period of time...
fund manager. He spent years in court attempting to recover some of his losses.
He is a devoted environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
advocate, pursuing projects meant to benefit the needs of the planet and the world around us. He is diligently working toward solutions for third world countries to sustain and preserve life.