Tomomi, in 1998. The turn of the millennium brought two tragic deaths in Okada's life. In 2000, his elder brother, Taibi, died of Parkinson's Disease in Sprecklesville, Maui Island, Hawaii. Then, on July 27, 2004, Okada's third son with Fujita was found hanged at his mother's home in the Denenchofu suburb of Tokyo. Shocked, Okada did not attend his son's private funeral the following day, but called a press conference a month later to refute allegations by the Shuukan Josei magazine that there had been bad blood between him and his 26-year-old son, who was an assistant stage designer with a theater company prior to his suicide. Okada said at the press conference, "I don't know why. It's been hard ....... and so sad when the child dies before the parent." Masumi Okada devoted his entire life to the entertainment industry and never retired from show business. In June 2005, he was diagnosed with throat (esophageal) cancer, and underwent surgery. Less than three months later, he was again in front of the cameras, hosting the Miss International 2005 beauty pageant in Tokyo, although his fatigue surfaced towards the end of the show when he apparently read out the names of the top 12 contestants—Miss Venezuela, Miss Philippines, Miss Brazil, Miss Japan, Miss Dominican Republic, Miss Colombia, Miss Turkey, Miss Finland, Miss France, Miss Ukraine, Miss Peru and Miss Serbia and Montenegro—in the space of 20 seconds. Nevertheless, the show was a huge success, with wide media coverage. Okada suffered a relapse of his malignancy and was re-hospitalized, but succumbed to his illness at a Tokyo hospital on May 29, 2006. Selected filmography Hatsukoi kanariya musume (1955) - Shinkichi Midori harukani (1955) - Prince of Moon Haru no yo no dekigoto (1955) - Tomio (Tommy) Ginza 24 chou (1955) - Mineo Akaishi Taiyo no kisetsu (1956) - Bandmaster Crazed Fruit (1956) - Hirosawa Frank Hungry Soul, Part II (1956) Gyûnyû ya Furankî (1956) Okinawa no Tami (1956) Otemba san'nin shimai: Odoru taiyô (1957) - Tetsuo Izumi Watashi wa zenkamono de aru (1957) Madamu (1957) Nikutai no hankô (1957) - Billy Sun in the Last Days of the Shogunate (幕末太陽伝 Bakumatsu taiyōden) (1957) - Kisuke Frankie Bûchan no zoku aa gunkaki: Nyogo ga-shima funsenki (1957) Arashi wo Yobu Otoko (1957) - Shinsuke, Miyako's brother Tokyo yaro to onna-domo (1958) Yoru no kiba (1958) - Santa, a pickpocket Yogiri no dai-ni kokudô (1958)