Yukari Ōshima (大島 ゆかり) is a Japanese actress and martial artist. She gained prominence in Hong Kong and became popular in the Philippines as Cynthia Luster. Due to Filipinos' interest in Jackie Chan, she became Chan's pseudo female equivalent.

Biography

Yukari Tsumura (津村 ゆかり) was born in Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, Japan, to a Japanese businessman and fashion designer and a Chinese mother. She began studying Gōjū-ryū Seigokan karate at Ennouji Dojo in junior high school. She was one of Japan's brightest female martial artists during the 1980s and a leading figure in the girls with guns fad of Hong Kong action cinema. Oshima portrayed "Farrah Cat" in Bioman, which aired not only in Japan originally but also worldwide. She is best known to Western audiences as Yomi in Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky. After her Hong Kong career dried up, she embarked on a new career in the Philippines in the 1990s with the stage name Cynthia Luster. Oshima now resides in Fukuoka, Japan, where she has promoted tourism in the city. She is commonly known to Western audiences as the actress in the Marlboro Lite commercials in the late 1990s.

Selected filmography

Television

Film

Citations

General sources