Robert Dunham

Robert Dunham (July 6, 1931 - August 6, 2001) was an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as Antonio, Emperor of Seatopia in Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973); Dunham's most famous role would be that of Mark Jackson in the Japanese film, Dogora (1964). Dunham was an American living in Japan during most of the country's "Golden Age" of cinema, and was cast in several films. He spoke fluent Japanese, and his lines were never dubbed over by a Japanese actor during his career, Dunham was also a stunt driver, and lended his talents to Godzilla vs. Megalon, where Dunham played the Seatopia agent on a motorcycle, who gave chase to the protagonist of the film. Toho had big things planned for Robert Dunham, following his role in Dogora, and had actually proposed a series of movies featuring the Mark Jackson character. Toho even sent Dunham to Hollywood with a print of Dogora to try and sell the film to distributors, and to propose additional Mark Jackson based movies. Unfortunately for Dunham, who pitched the film to UPA, the Mark Jackson films were turned down, as UPA felt they couldn't gauge his acting ability from the film.

Robert Dunham grew up in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Born to an affluent family, his parents were Earl and Charlotte Dunham. He has a sister named Patricia June. He attended Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, Massachusetts. Dunham was later accepted into Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History.

After graduating college, Dunham joined the Unites States Marine Corps. He was stationed in Yokohama, Japan and served for two years as a Lieutenant. Later, he attended correspondence school to learn how to speak Japanese. After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps., Dunham decided to stay in Japan and opened up his own import/export business. Later, he starred in Japanese commercials. Dunham had many opportunities in Japan, because he was an American who could speak fluent Japanese.

Dunham lived in Tokyo for 20 years, with a Japanese wife Keiko, and their two children, Barbara Ann and Daniel. They later divorced. He met a Japanese model, Setsuko Sazawa, whom he married in 1969. They had two children, Emiko (Emmy) and Marcia. Dunham and his wife Setsuko, moved to Denenchofu, an affluent suburb of Tokyo, where they lived from 1970-75.

In 1975, Dunham decided to move his family to the United States and moved to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He became a freelance writer, often contributing material to magazines such as Car and Driver.