San Francisco Film Society Oral History Project Interview with ...

JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: And it was really something. I didn’t meet him that year, because you
had to be at venues, taking care of different places. I remember what a huge deal that was.
SHEILA CADIGAN: Somebody said he would only drive in a Japanese car, so it was hard to
figure out who was going to drive him around.
JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: I know his son was with him. And there were a couple of people that
came with him.
JEANNETTE ETHEREDGE: And that translator, remember? What was her name?
JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: Audie Bock.
SHEILA CADIGAN: Right. She ran for state senate, didn’t she?
JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: She was very, very educated in Asian culture and film.
JEANNETTE ETHEREDGE: But also very protective of him. It was kind of that thing where,
unless you were at the Coppolas’ house or somewhere where—
JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: Right. And if you remember, a few years later, he was given an
honorary Oscar and George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were on stage with him. He was such a
legend.
JEANNETTE ETHEREDGE: Because they helped—Francis and George were the ones who
were instrumental in raising the money to have him. Is it Kagemusha? His film. Because the
Japanese didn’t want to have anything to do with him, and they helped finance his film.
MIGUEL PENDÁS: And so we showed that and he came and they were on stage. That was
1980.
JEANNETTE SHAHEEN: So he came in ’80?
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