Dave Spector
Dave Spector (*anese: デーブ・スペクター; ) is an American gaijin tarento, television producer, author, and actor based in *an. Originally from Chicago, he moved to *an in 1983 after visiting as a producer with the American television program Ripley's Believe It or Not!. He appears regularly as a commentator on several different *anese television programs, including a Wednesday spot on Fuji TV's daily morning news program Tokudane!, and TBS's weekly Sunday *on.
Contents
- 1 Early life and education
- 2 Career
- 3 Personal life
- 4 Filmography
- 5 Regular TV appearances
- 6 Books
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Early life and education
As a child, Dave Spector appeared in American TV commercials, including one for cereal manufacturer Kellogg Company. He says that he first became interested in things *anese in the fifth grade at elementary school when he made friends with an immigrant cl*mate from *an, Michael Sugano. As a gesture of friendship, he tried to speak *anese to him by saying "Where is the post office?" in *anese. His friend was impressed and moved by that gesture and particularly praised Dave's *anese pronunciation. He soon became interested in *anese manga which his friend owned. As he desired to understand *anese manga, he began taking *anese lessons once a week at the *anese school his friend attended every Sunday. He stated in his autobiography that he learned 50 new *anese words every day, eventually becoming capable of comprehending serialized *anese manga such as Obake no Q-tarō and A*a no Joe. He later joined *anese weekend cl*es with other *anese children, eventually becoming the cl* president of the graduating cl*. He astonished the *anese-American community by winning the Chicago *anese speech contest hosted by the Chicago *anese community, the first person of non-*anese descent to do so. The *le of his speech was "The Life and Suicide of Yukio Mishima". Spector studied at Sophia University in Tokyo, before returning to America a year later. After returning to Chicago, he enrolled at the Ins*ute of Broadcast Arts.
Career
He moved to *an in 1983 to research exotic film clips from *anese television to be used on the American TV show Ripley's Believe It or Not!. While this work continued until Ripley's Believe It or Not! ended in 1986, Spector became well known in *an after becoming a regular guest on Fuji TV's lunchtime TV variety show Waratte Iitomo! in 1984, alongside other foreign personalities such as Canadian Kent Derricott, American Kent Gilbert, and Guinean Ousmane Sankhon:. He described his work as "oing things like the lowest Bozo, circus kind of stuff. But it doesn't bother me at all. A lot of times the foreigners on TV, models and what-not, are compared to pandas. They use that term here—pandas—because they're cuddly, you can go and have fun with them, and throw a marshmallow and that's about it. And you don't get involved any more deeper than that. But ... since I'm making half a million dollars a year, I'm very happy to be a panda."
However, due to his fluency in *anese, he also developed career as a serious commentator of Anglo American culture and events. He is a regular and sought after commentator on foreign news. He also established the Tokyo-based company Spector Communications in 1988, which he used to obtain clippings or video grabs from foreign media, which he used for his commentary role. He is ranked as one of the most, and in some years the most, well regarded commentator in *an for all age groups according to Oricon survey. In reference to his success in *an, he stated that "I set a goal early on to be different from other gaijin tarento by trying to compete with *anese rather than with other foreigners."
Personal life
Spector is married to Kyoko Spector (京子スペクター, Kyōko Supekutā), a native of Chiba Prefecture, whom he met in the US.
Filmography
- Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu (2006)
- Handsome Suit: (2008)
- One Missed Call (2008)
Regular TV appearances
- Waratte Iitomo! (Fuji TV, 1984 –:?)
- Tokudane! (Fuji TV, 1999 – present)
- Wide! Scramble (ワイド!スクランブル) (NTV, July 2001 – present)
- Sunday *on (サンデージャポン) (TBS, October 2002 – present)
- Jōhō Live Miyaneya (情報ライブ ミヤネ屋) (NTV, April 2008 – present)
- J-Melo (NHK World)
Books
Spector has written a number of books published in *an, including the following:
- Kore wa Jōku no Gohon desu (これはジョークのご本です, "This Is a Joke Book") (Shueisha, June 1986, ISBN:978-4086108546)
- Nihonjin wa Eigo ga Tokui - Hanasenai to Omoikondeiru Anata e (日本人は英語が得意―話せないと思い込んでいるあなたへ) (Goma Shobo, September 1986, ISBN:978-4341013967)
- Dēbu Supekutā no Amerika Daigimon (デーブ・スペクターのアメリカ大ギモン) (Heibonsha, November 1986, ISBN:978-4582610116)
- Bunmeitaika no Oto ga suru (文明退化の音がする) (Shinchosha, April 1987, ISBN:978-4103656012)
- Eigo de Gaijin o Warawaseru Hō (英語で外人を笑わせる法, "How to Make Foreigners Laugh in English") (Shinchosha, December 1988, ISBN:978-4108015012)
- Amerikan Sunakku Geitaikai (全米スナック芸大会―道具・練習いらずで、大ウケ・大モテ) (Goma Shobo, December 1988, ISBN:978-4341030728)
- Dēbu Supekutā no Tōkyō Saiban (デーブ・スペクターの東京裁判, "Dave Spector's Tokyo Trials") (Nesco, October 1989, ISBN:978-4890367771)
- Eigo wa "Nagashima-ryū" de Ike (英語は"ナガシマ流"でいけ, "Nagashima-style English Is Fine") (Goma Shobo, November 1997, ISBN:978-4341018054)
- Boku wa kō *e Nihongo o oboeta (僕はこうして日本語を覚えた, "This Is How I Learned *anese") (Dobunshoin, September 1998, ISBN:978-4810375404)
- Itsumo Kokoro ni Kūru Gyaggu o (いつも心にクールギャグを) (Gentosha, June 2011, ISBN:978-4344020047)
His wife, Kyoko, wrote the following book about him:
- How To Make Dave Spector (デーブ・スペクターの作り方, Dēbu Supekutā no Tsukurikata) (Tokyo Shoseki, July 2013, ISBN:978-4487807222)
References
External links
- Spector Communications official website