17. Masako Natsume earned fame in the west from the TV series Monkey
Masako Natsume was a Japanese actress whose first big break occurred when she appeared in commercials for a sunscreen product, in the role of “Kooky Face”. The ads proved so popular that she recorded a song which became a minor hit in Japan, using a play on the preceding character name in the title Oh! Cookie Face. A celebrity in Japan, she achieved international acclaim when the BBC broadcast the television series known in Japan as Saiyuki. English dialogue was overdubbed and the program broadcast on BBC 4 under the title Monkey. Eventually the program was broadcast in South America, Europe, and the United States, though as of 2019 the English dubbed version had yet to be seen in America. Japanese language versions have been broadcast in California.
By the mid-1980s Masako was in demand as an actress in Japan, and was a cult heroine in several English speaking countries due to the BBC version of Monkey. In 1985 the young star died, of complications from leukemia, but not before having uttered several lines in Japanese films which became popular catchphrases in her home country. She was 27, and her popularity in Japan, England, and Western Europe led to her inclusion in the 27 Club. She is not the only actor to be a member, Anton Yelchin of Star Trek fame (the reboot version of Pavel Chekov), Jonathan Brandis, and Joseph Merrick – who gained worldwide fame as the Elephant Man – are among others.