When they walk into a room, heads turn, tongues wag, fingers point. They've got something no one can define but everyone recognizes. If anybody's got it, it's gaikokujin tarento Joan Shepherd.
A singer, actress and writer, Shepherd carved out a glittering career by being different where difference wasn't accepted, fighting for women's rights in a country that had never heard of them, breaking the rules and surviving -- with the celebrity photos, gold records and an ivy-covered house in Hiroo to prove it.
Shepherd came onto the scene in 1971 with "Summer Creation," originally a simple English jingle for Max Factor makeup. "It was played everywhere -- elevators, supermarkets, poolside," Shepherd recalls. Since it was in such easy English, people demanded to know where they could buy it. "Summer Creation" became the first song from a commercial to make it as a hit record in Japan, and Shepherd's first gold record.