Katherine Ueda

Well known as the daughter of former power couple Eiko Ueda (known most famously for her roles as Hana in Lollipop Sunrise, Rinko in Geronimo!!!, and Sandra in the American film Blushing Sun Rising) and Latino-American director Cain Kowl (Gravely Beautiful, Lessons in Crying, and notably Blushing Sun Rising), Katherine Kowl-Ueda began to make a name for herself as early as six years old.

Her career began as a purely American one, starring in movies directed by her father or friends of her father, but the family connections didn’t negate her genuine talent and pure cute-factor present in all of her roles. Her first movie, The Christmas Keeper, was a heartwarming holiday film that went won multiple awards for the set integrity that had a very profitable fifteen minutes in the spotlight. She was a minor role, the daughter of a secondary character, but most reviews noted her as one of the most heartwarming parts of the film.

Rather than stagnating there as a purely holiday star, Katherine was soon cast in Thank You, Doctor which was a breakout horror film. The restricted budget allowed the actors and actresses to shine in their respective roles. Katherine served as a main character this time, and her cute-creepy vibes went over famously–she won Best Child Actor, and her career really began to grow.

She spent the next few years in a variety of genres, but she’s most notable in both the holiday and horror genres, keeping to her roots, as it seems. Other than a small child modeling gig after the movie Little Miss Snowie won awards for the costuming, she’s kept entirely to acting.

After hitting puberty, however, her mother and father had a huge and dramatic divorce, and Katherine moved to Japan with her mother, dropping her father’s name from hers. She was able to get small roles in television shows there, but her mother’s career was tanking, and so, it seemed, has Katherine’s.

While she’s been the second choice for a variety of films, Katherine hasn’t been in a movie in the last five years, and she’s hardly a recognizable face anymore. It seems she’s mostly dropped off the map, but her success as a child is definitely noteworthy. While she’s less known in Japan, her movies have made an international impact, and most people will remember her movies from when they were younger.