Thane Alexander Camus (/kəˈmu/; born November 27, 1970) is an American TV personality and actor in Japan.
Thane Camus | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thane Alexander Camus November 27, 1970 New York, U.S. |
| Education | Saint Maur International School |
| Occupation(s) | TV personality, Youtuber |
| Website | http://ameblo.jp/thane/ |
Biography
editCamus was born in New York on November 27, 1970. His mother remarried a Japanese manager of a Middle Eastern airline, and the family left the United States when Camus was 6 months old, living in the Bahamas, Greece, Lebanon, and Egypt before settling in Fujisawa around 1976 or 1977.[1] Camus also lived in Singapore for two years from fourth to sixth grade, where he took remedial English classes.[2]
Camus was the first male graduate of Saint Maur International School (est.1872) once it became coeducational.[3] He entered Hofstra University, Long Island, but dropped out before he graduated.
His great-uncle was Albert Camus.[4]
Camus has a younger sister with autism, and serves as a director of a non-profit organization promoting artistic opportunities for the disabled.[5]
Career in Japan
editShortly after returning from Hofstra in 1991, Camus made his first TV appearance on NHK, helping to present an English educational program. He starred as the alien character "Chanto Seijin" in a popular 1996 television commercial.[6]
Starting around this time, Camus was a regular on the Sanma Akashiya show Sanma's Super Karakuri TV for many years, in which he quizzed Japanese passers-by in English and foreigners in Japanese on the streets of Tokyo, and has appeared as a special guest on multiple variety shows.[citation needed]
During this phase of his career, Camus was affiliated with R&A Promotion, the talent agency of Motoko Inagawa, which employed many prominent foreign celebrities in Japan. He worked as both a staff "talent" and as a manager, but left the agency in December 2004 and founded his own agency, taking a significant pay cut in the process.[7] R&A then sued Camus, alleging that he breached a 10-year contract signed in 2002. According to journalist Yohei Hoshino, R&A also pressured television networks and advertising agencies to blacklist Camus in the wake of his departure. Camus won the lawsuit at both the District Court and High Court.[8]
Since leaving R&A, Camus has focused on drama and narration work as well as YouTube.[7] As of 2019, Camus is a co-host on J-Trip Plan, a travel show in English on the Japanese national broadcaster NHK.[citation needed]
Filmography
editCommercials
edit- Street Fighter II' Plus (1993) (Vega, Balrog in Japan)
Theatrical animation
editVideo games
edit- Valkyria Chronicles 4 (2018) (Xanthus)
Television
edit- Sakura (2002) (Robert Hoffman)
- Zero: Black Blood (2014) (Ring)
- Garo: Makai no Hana (2014) (Luke/Stellas)
- Kamen Rider Ghost (2016) (Steve Bills)
- Segodon (2018) (Harry Smith Parkes)[3]
References
edit- ^ "セイン・カミュ 世界各地で生活後、6歳で来日し45年「第二の故郷」日本語は堪能も「漢字はいまだに...」 - スポニチ Sponichi Annex 芸能". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ "asahi.com : Asahi Weekly - ENGLISH". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ a b Kwan, Yong-Lang (2019-09-05). "Thane Camus Ikeda, Class of 1989, Stars in NHK Taiga Drama, "Segodon"". Saint Maur International School. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ NHK高校講座 | 世界史 | 第24回 アメリカの独立とフランス革命
- ^ "セイン・カミュさん 自閉症の妹、絵の才能が開花...障害者アート支援「隠れた才能に歩み寄って」". ヨミドクター(読売新聞) (in Japanese). 2022-02-07. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ テレビ東京・BSテレ東. セイン・カミュの今に衝撃「ディズニーランドのアトラクションの中にいる人みたい」 | テレビ東京・BSテレ東の読んで見て感じるメディア テレ東プラス (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-08-16 – via www.tv-tokyo.co.jp.
- ^ a b "セイン・カミュ、事務所独立の真相を激白「当時の給料は...」". plus.tver.jp (in Japanese). 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
- ^ "セイン・カミュは事務所独立問題がこじれ芸能界から消えた|実録 芸能人はこうして干される". 日刊ゲンダイDIGITAL. 2019-09-20. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
External links
edit- Media International website
- Official blog (in Japanese)
- Thane Camus at IMDb