Reiko Ike

Reiko Ike was still in her late teens when she was "discovered" by Japan's Toei Studios (stories of her "discovery" are inconsistent, ranging from being scouted in a nightclub to being spotted as a model). Along with Miki Sugimoto she was Toei's top sex star throughout the 1970s, and the focus of the "sukeban" or female girl boss phenomenon of 1970s Japanese cinema. Beginning with "Girl Boss Guerilla" (Sukeban gerira (1972)), Ike made 12 films, almost all in the Pinky Violence/Yakuza Girl genre. Despite real-life trouble with the law--she was arrested once for drugs and once for illegal gambling--she worked throughout the decade, appearing in at least two of Kinji Fukasaku's "Battles Without Honor & Humanity" (Battles Without Honour and Humanity (1973) series (1973-79). Her last film before disappearing from the public eye was "The Golden Dog" (Ôgon no inu (1979)).