James Shigeta

Acting · Born 1929-06-17 in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA

Biography

James Saburo Shigeta (June 17, 1929 – July 28, 2014) was an American actor, singer, and musician of Japanese descent. He was noted for his roles in The Crimson Kimono (1959), Walk Like a Dragon (1960), Flower Drum Song (1961), Bridge to the Sun (1961), Die Hard (1988), and Mulan (1998). In 1960, he won the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, along with three other actors. In his early career, Shigeta often played romantic male lead roles, which were almost nonexistent for an actor of Asian descent during his time, making him a trailblazer in Asian American representation in media. The Goldsea Asian-American Daily magazine listed him as one of the "Most Inspiring Asian-Americans Of All Time". Before his Hollywood career he found success as a pop singer and performer…

Filmography

  • Brother as Sugimoto
  • Die Hard as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
  • Mulan as General Li (voice)
  • The Yakuza as Goro
  • Flower Drum Song as Wang Ta
  • Drive as Mr. Lau
  • The Crimson Kimono as Detective Joe Kojaku
  • The People I've Slept With as Charles Yang
  • The Questor Tapes as Dr. Chen
  • Paradise, Hawaiian Style as Danny Kohana

TV