Eiji Wentz
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Eiji Wentz (ウエンツ瑛士 Uentsu Eiji?, born October 8, 1985) is a singer, entertainer, and actor from Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. He is well-known as a member of the singer-songwriter duo WaT, and belongs to the production company "Burning Productions."
Eiji Wentz was the youngest and the second son born to a German-American father and a Japanese mother[citation needed]. Due to the family's American background, his father and his brother are fluent in English; however, he is monolingual, only fluent in Japanese, and rightfully considers himself Japanese. Because both of his parents worked to support the family, Eiji lived with his grandmother as a child. As a teenager, he graduated from Nihon University Sakuragaoka High School.
He became involved in the entertainment industry at a very young age. Wentz initially started as a model at age 4, and made his acting debut as the role of Chip in the Four Seasons Musical Troupe Production of Beauty and the Beast. He became famous as a child actor as a regular on the NHK television show Tensai Terebi-kun (天才テレビくん?) where he played bass guitar and piano at age 10. During live performances, he played the acoustic bass as well as the keyboard. He started learning the guitar from age 17.
After departing from Tensai Terebi-kun, Wentz was scouted by Johnny's Entertainment but he rejected the company's offer, because he "doesn't like dancing" and "likes comedy." He later entered Burning Productions after the recommendation of Hiromi Gō.
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[edit] Comedy career
He doesn't like to use his looks to achieve success as a comedian, but if it's for the sake of comedy, Eiji will show off his backside. Because of his spirited attitude many consider him to be one of the best upcoming young comedians. Eiji says he absolutely loves Housei Yamazaki, a famous comedian, because of the times they starred together on Tensai Terebi-kun. In fact, on the November 21, 2005 episode of Fuji Television's HEY!HEY!HEY! MUSIC CHAMP, Yamasaki told one of hosts "He was the first guy to ever respect me." Though Yamazaki is his "god of comedy," he also draws influence from Kouji Imada, Hiroyuki Miyasako, and Hiroshi Shinagawa among others.
[edit] Musical career
After Tensai Terebi-kun ended, Eiji continued to play music and started the band WaT with Teppei Koike. They started in 2002 with street performances. In February 2004, they released an indies CD. In August 2005, they signed with Universal Music and had their major debut in November 2005. While he had once remained awkward relationship with Teppei Koike, they are now very close. Eiji has spent at least the last four Christmas holidays with Teppei. (The first year they took purikura together in Shinjuku, the second year they ran a marathon for the shooting of their first music video, the third year they ate together at a salisbury steak restaurant, the fourth year they had a WaT event as well as shooting for Love Com.) Eiji's musical influence comes from Mr. Children and The Yellow Monkey. In particular, he admires the lead singer of The Yellow Monkey, Kazuya Yoshii who happens to share his birthday (October 8). On the radio, Yoshii told Eiji, "Some day I want to write you an erotic song to sing."
[edit] Body of works
[edit] Variety television (Regular)
- Hayami English Network (1994–1995)
- Tensai Terebi-kun / Tensai Terebi-kun Wide (April 1995–March 2000)
- Chikara no Kagiri Go Go Go!! (October 2001–February 2002)
- Shūkan Tokudane Kazoku!! (October 2002–December 2002)
- F2/F2-X (October 2002–September 2004)
- Pretty Kids (October 2004–March 2005, as host)
- Hanataka Tengu (April 2005–September 2005)
- Barioku! (October 2005–March 2006, as host)
- Ame nimo Makezu (April 2006–September 2006, as host)
- Ponkikki (April 2006–March 2007, as host)
- D no Gekijō (September 2006–September 2007)
- Nōnai Esthe IQ Supli (May 2004–present)
- Ainori (April 2006–present, as host)
- Dokusen! Kinyōbi no Kokuhaku (October 2007–present)
[edit] Television dramas
- Kyūmei Senshi Nano Seibaa (1995), a drama within the NHK show Tensai Terebi-kun
- Toshiie Tomatsu (2002) as Mori Ranmaru
- Tentei Kazoku (2002) as Tomoda Yūki
- Gokusen, part 6 guest star (2002) as Yūki Masato
- Raion Sensei (2003) as Furuta Takumi
- Fujiko Hemingu no Kiseki (2003) as Ōtsuki Urufu
- Aa, Tantei Jimusho, part 3 guest star (2004) as Inaba Yusuke
- Tadashii Renai no Susume (2005) as Takeda Hiroaki
- Rondo, part 1-2 guest star (2006) as Toda Masato
- Kirakira Kenshūi (2007) as Tachioka Ken
- Nodame Cantabile in Europe Lesson 1 & 2 (2008) as Franck
[edit] Movies
- Kamen Rider The First (2005) Mitamura Haruhiko
- Animation movie Brave Story (2006) Ashikawa Mitsuru
- Lovely Complex (2006) Dancing Yoshiko
- Captain Tokio (2007) Furuta
- Gegege no Kitarō (2007) Kitarō
- Gegege no Kitarō ~Sennen Noroi Uta~ (2008) Kitarō
[edit] Solo Single
- Kimi ni Okuru Uta / Lucky de Happy (February 14, 2007)
- Awaking Emotion 8/5 / my brand new day (April 27, 2007)
[edit] External links
- ★★★ ウエンツ 瑛士 ★★★ - (Personal Official Site) (Japanese)
- WaT公式ホームページ - (WaT's Official Site) (Japanese)
