Mimi Miyagi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Photo courtesy of Mimi Miyagi. |
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| Birthdate | July 3, 1973 |
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| Birth location | Davao City, Philippines |
| Birth name | Melody Damayo |
| Measurements | 36DD-23-35 |
| Height | 5'3" |
| Eye colour | Brown |
| Hair colour | Black |
| Ethnicity | Filipina |
| Alias(es) | Mimi Miyagi |
| Official web site | |
| Mimi Miyagi at IMDb | |
| Mimi Miyagi at IAFD | |
| Mimi Miyagi at AFDB | |
Melody Damayo (born July 3, 1973) is a Filipina porn star best known as Mimi Miyagi.
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[edit] Early life and education
Damayo was born in Davao City, the second of four children to conservative Roman Catholic parents. When she was six, she moved to the United States with her parents, and grew up in California.[1]
Damayo was sent back to Mindanao for high school, and her family enrolled her in a Seventh Day Adventist academy in remote Bukidnon province, hoping she would absorb Filipino values.[1]
After finishing high school, she enrolled in an Adventist college, but dropped out in her second year. She says she had been a disc jockey on the college radio station and had decided on a career in show business.[1]
Damayo returned to Los Angeles and obtained a scholarship to the American College for Fashion Merchandising, but college once again she dropped out without graduating[2], when she'd run out of money and begun looking for jobs.
As she was now of legal age, she began performing as a pornographic actress, starting with Ed Powers[2].
[edit] Adult film career
Damayo says she saw an advertisement for nude models and answered it. She took the name "Mimi", the childhood nickname given by her grandmother. "Miyagi" was derived from the character Mr. Miyagi in the film The Karate Kid. She says she cloaked her actual nationality in Asian mysticism.[1]
Miyagi began publishing magazines and running Web sites — all sex oriented.[1] She created the men's magazine, Oriental Dolls, (now known as Asian Hotties).
Damayo created a website her own in January 2000.[citation needed] A previous website, launched in the 1990s, had been taken over by her hired webmaster, so she created a new one, doing the coding herself.[citation needed] When "Mimi" first went online, she performed live nude chat daily and had scheduled events. It is now served by 12 multi-ethnic women performing chat in rotating shifts.[2] A run for governor of California helped propel her web enterprise. She says that after an appearance on an MSNBC talk show to discuss her candidacy with conservative host Tucker Carlson, the response was so overwhelming that her Web server crashed for several hours.[1] Now with access to a global public audience, she continued to expand the market for Asian adult films. In 1999, Damayo began doing movie production and talent scouting for Metro Home Video and produced the series she entitled FantAsiany, of which there are now three sequels.
[edit] Mainstream films
Nearly bankrupted by her divorce, in September 2003, "Mimi" came out of retirement, and appeared in the adult film Happy Ending (not to be confused with Happy Endings later released by Lions Gate Entertainment).
In May 2005, Damayo began work in her first bit role in a mainstream comedy, Come Again.
In December 2006, "Mimi" returned to adult films with great fanfare after her failed run on the Republican ticket for Governor of the State of Nevada.
[edit] Political career
On May 12, 2006, she filed as a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state of Nevada, under her birth name, Melody Damayo. "I have nothing left to hide, everybody has seen all of me already." she said. One of her slogan was "I'm bare and honest at all times.[3]" On May 16, 2006, her campaign was endorsed by Wonkette.[4]
She was criticized for running for such a position, given her past profession[citation needed]. She faced four other Republican candidates in the primary held on August 15, 2006, and was defeated by a wide margin by Jim Gibbons. With counted votes of 1600.[5] After her loss in the primaries, she joined the Libertarian Party.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f Neumann, A Lin (July 1, 2006). "The Melody and Mimi show". Hong Kong Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/weekend_news_detail.asp?pp_cat=31&art_id=21931&sid=8584445&con_type=3&d_str=20060701. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ a b c Rampell, Ed (July 1, 2001). "Mimi Miyagi, P.I. (Philippine Islander, That Is)". AVN Online. http://www.avnonline.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Editorial&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=187917. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ "Filing draws to a close". Las Vegas Review-Journal. May 13, 2006. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-13-Sat-2006/news/7389806.html. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ "Official Wonkette Endorsement: Melody "Mimi Miyagi" Damayo". Wonkette. May 16, 2006. http://www.wonkette.com/politics/endorsements/official-wonkette-endorsement-melody-mimi-miyagi-damayo-174187.php. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
- ^ "Jimmy Carter's son wins primary". MSNBC. August 16, 2006. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14358246/. Retrieved 2007-03-28.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mimi Miyagi |
- Mimi Miyagi's Homepage
- Campaign website
- Melody Damayo collected Wonkette articles and interviews about her gubernatorial campaign
- Mimi Miyagi video interview on burntwire.tv
