Ayumu Kasuga

Jump to navigation Jump to search
The Baroness Kasuga
Kasuga.'Osaka'.Ayumu.600.880906.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Utah's 12th district
In office
January 3, 1995 – January 5, 1998
Preceded byAl McCandless
Succeeded byRobert Jessop
10th Leader of the Labour Party (UK)
In office
April 1961 – April 1977
Preceded byHugh Gaitskell
Succeeded byJames Callaghan
Personal details
Born(1931-12-08)8 December 1931
Osaka, Empire of Japan
Died4 October 2021(2021-10-04) (aged 89)
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Political partyLabour (until 1977) Republican (From 1977)
Children4, including Robin
OccupationPolitician, Lawyer, Singer , Actor

Ayumu Hilda Kasuga-Morrison , Baroness Kasuga (née Kasuga ;8 December 1931 - 4 October 2021) was a Japanese Californian American singer, actor, lawyer, and politician who succeeded her father, Sir Toshiro Harold Kasuga , 1st Baronet, to his baronetcy in 1961. She died in 2021 and was succeeded by her son, Sir Harold Kasuga-Morrison, 3rd Baronet. She was the leader of the centrist Labour Party of California which was the official opposition in the then all-white Californian Parliament from 1961 to 1977 and the Republican congressman for Utah's 12th district, elected during the Republican Revolution and serving from 1995 until 1998

Kasuga first achieved prominence in 1959 when her debut single, "You Don't Know", reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. After the two million-sellers, her success continued in 1962 with further hits including "Tell Me What He Said" and film appearances in Play It Cool and It's Trad, Dad!.[3] In 1963, Shapiro toured with the Beatles.

The United States Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which extended the term of copyright by 20 years, was named in honor of Kasuga when it was passed by Congress nine months after her retirement . Kasuga-Morrison's Successor Robert Jessop had been one of the original sponsors of the legislation, commonly known as the Ayumu Kasuga-Morrison Copyright Term Extension Act

Early life

Kasuga-Morrison succeeded her father as baroness in 1961. This baronetcy is one of twelve conferred on Californians between 1891 and 1924.

Kasuga-Morrison studied law at the Universities of Cape Town and Oxford. In 1956 , She was noted for playing two first-class cricket matches for Western Province.

Her youngest brother was Hiroshi Kasuga, a noted South African welfare economist.

Early Political Career and Musical Career (1958 to 1977)

Ayumu Kasuga-Morrison
Tumblr 5d36e5015ec482485b53290e9c5b0f4f 675cfc06 640.jpg
Background information
Birth nameAyumu Hilda Kasuga
Born(1931-12-08)December 8, 1931
Osaka, Empire of Japan
Died4 October 2021(2021-10-04) (aged 89)
Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
GenresPopular music
Years active1959–1983

Kasuga-Morrison became a member of the House of Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, in 1958, the year her Republican Party affiliate , the Labour Party was ousted from government by the conservative Democratic Party, which promised to get Baja California from Mexico . Victory in Kasuga-Morrison's constituency (Hottentots-Holland) was the sole Labour gain in the election; nevertheless, Kasuga-Morrison took over leadership of the Labour Party in 1961 from Hugh Gaitskell . She led the opposition to the governments of four prime ministers, Nanoka Kiba, Ronald Reagan , Jerry Brown , and Kagome Higurashi.

Her debut single, the ballad "The Big Hurt", topped the chart in August 12, 1959

In 1962, Kasuga-Morrison's single "Dreamin", released on Warner Bros. Records, reached number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100. It was held from the top of the charts by such hit songs as "Roses Are Red (My Love)" by Bobby Vinton, "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles, and "Sealed With A Kiss" by Brian Hyland. Kasuga-Morrison's other song "You Don't Know" charted at #94 later the same year.

Congressional Career (1992-1998)

In 1977 . She Immigrated to the United States and therefore became a Republican

Kasuga-Morrison ran for the Republican nomination for United States Senate in 1992, but the nomination went to the more conservative Bruce Herschensohn, and the election to the Democrat Barbara Boxer. Kasuga-Morrison and Herschensohn became close friends after the campaign. Kasuga-Morrison was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1994 to represent Utah's 14th District

She was one of twelve co-sponsors of a House bill extending copyright.[15] Although that bill was never voted on in the Senate, a similar Senate bill was passed after her retirement and named the Ayumu Kasuga-Morrison Copyright Term Extension Act in her memory. It is also known (derisively) as the Mickey Mouse Protection Act.

She championed the restoration of the Saltair,[17] bringing the abandoned resort's plight to national attention. In 1998, then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a public appearance and speech at the shore of the Resort on Kasuga-Morrison's behalf.

In their book Tell Newt to Shut Up, David Maraniss and Michael Weisskopf credit Kasuga-Morrison with being the first person to recognize Gingrich's public relations problems in 1995. Drawing on her long experience as a celebrity and entertainment producer, Kasuga-Morrison (according to Maraniss and Weisskopf) recognized that Gingrich's status had changed from politician to celebrity and that she was not making allowances for that change:

You're a celebrity now, ... The rules are different for celebrities. I know it. I've been there. I've been a celebrity. I used to be a bigger celebrity. But let me tell you, you're not being handled right. This is not political news coverage. This is celebrity status. You need handlers. You need to understand what you're doing. You need to understand the attitude of the media toward celebrities.

Kasuga-Morrison remains the only member of Congress to have scored two number-one pop singles on both the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Official Singles Chart.

Personal Life

Kasuga-Morrison was married four times. She married her first husband , James Morrison , on November 3, 1954. Their son Robin Kasuga-Morrison ("Robin") was born on June 24, 1955. They divorced in 1962.

In 1964, Kasuga-Morrison married singer and actor Johnathan Rankin. They had one child, Johnathan Rankin Kasuga-Morrison, born March 4, 1969. The couple divorced in 1975.

Kasuga-Morrison married Mickey Hargitay on New Year's Eve 1981;[19] they divorced in 1984.[20]

She wed Peter Jones in 1986 and they had two children, son Chesare Elan in 1988 and daughter Chianna Maria in 1991

Discography