Remembering Anne Miyamoto for Calgon

December 16, 2013 in Actresses, Movies/Video/TV by CEC | 5 comments

Despite a career that encompassed the Broadway stage, writing award-winning fiction, and lecturing at universities, Japanese-American actress Anne Miyamoto will be best remembered by most, for her role as the laundry owner’s wife who revealed her husband’s “ancient Chinese secret” in the above TV commercial for Calgon water softener.

Anne passed away in September of this year. Her obituary in the New York Times wouldn’t have been complete without mentioning the line spoken during the 30-second spot, that became one of the most iconic US TV commercial phrases of the 1970s. Just too bad she didn’t wait until after the customer left before telling her husband they needed more Calgon, thus saving him embarrassment.

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  1. Avatar of French

    French on December 16, 2013 at 12:27 AM  Quote  Reply

    CEC: Thank you for posting this. I remember this television commercial. Anyone who grew up in the USA would know it- it had one of the most memorable tag lines. To this day, I still hear it from time to time- used in comedy clubs, and by children who never saw the advertisement or even heard of Calgon.

    Nice to know the name behind the tag line, and the actress/author/person.

    Interesting that she was of Japanese background- but until now I thought she was of Chinese background. I read her obit in the NY Times (thank you for the link) and judging by the names of her children and grandchildren, she truly lived an American dream.

    No doubt she brought “Asian Great Shame” to her TV husband when she mentioned Calgon!

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  2. CEC’s avatar

    CEC on December 16, 2013 at 3:44 AM  Quote  Reply

    French,

    Thank you for your comment, French. I knew this commercial would be very memorable to American readers who were around during its era.

    And yes, the Chinese couple in this commercial was actually played by a Japanese actress and a Korean actor.

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  3. Avatar of Bubalabobo

    Bubalabobo on December 16, 2013 at 4:36 AM  Quote  Reply

    Memorable for sure! That’s not one anyone here would forget. It seems like typecasting from another era, but I think still now there are a lot of Koreans, for example, in Hollywood who fill the increasing number of generic Asian roles. Or remember a few years ago Memoirs of a Geisha, which was peopled largely with Chinese actresses…

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  4. Avatar of fungusfarm

    fungusfarm on December 16, 2013 at 9:35 AM  Quote  Reply

    It looks like she had a good life and she was a smart cookie
    Great trip down memory lane. Thanks.

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  5. Avatar of Lapis

    Lapis on December 16, 2013 at 12:05 PM  Quote  Reply

    Truly nostalgic, sorry to hear about her passing away. However, her work in this ad will live on thanks to You Tube and the net! Anne Miyamoto R.I.P.

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