Mimi Miyagi

Mimi Miyagi was born Melody Damayo in Davao City, Philippines, the second of four children. Her parents were strict Seventh Day Adventists, and when the family moved to California, Mimi stayed with them until she reached high-school age, at which time her parents sent her back to the Philippines to be educated in a Seventh Day Adventist school. She finished high school and enrolled in an Adventist college, but dropped out after a year. She had gotten involved in radio broadcasting at the college and decided that she wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She returned to Los Angeles and won a scholarship to a fashion merchandising school, but lost interest in the field and dropped out. While looking for a job she stumbled into the adult-film business--she answered an ad for "nude models"--and decided that this was a good way to make some extra money (she was almost broke). She began in the business by making a "amateur" video with the infamous Ed Powers under the name "Mimi Miyagi", Mimi being a nickname her grandmother had given her and Miyagi being the character from the "Karate Kid" film series. In addition to appearing in adult videos, she also became a magazine publisher--"Oriental Dolls"--and began running a string of sex-oriented websites. She also became a producer and talent scout for Metro Home Video and began a series of adult films with an Asian theme called "FantAsiany". She retired from the adult-film business, but came back in 2003 after having been through a messy divorce and needing to make some quick money. In 2006 she ran for Governor of Nevada on the Republican ticket (she lost) and then went back to making adult films.