27 Facts About James Shigeta

James Saburo Shigeta was an American actor and singer.

James Shigeta was known for his roles in The Crimson Kimono, Walk Like a Dragon, Flower Drum Song, Bridge to the Sun, Midway, Die Hard, and Mulan.

James Shigeta served for two-and-a-half years, and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant.

James Shigeta entered and won first prize on Ted Mack's television talent show, The Original Amateur Hour in 1950.

James Shigeta did not speak Japanese until Toho Studios in Tokyo invited him to be a musical star under his real name in Japan.

James Shigeta returned to the United States to sing on The Dinah Shore Show.

In 1969, James Shigeta toured the United States in the lead role of The King and I, with Melva Niles and Pam Cavan co-starring in the production.

When movies began to open up for him, James Shigeta took acting lessons from seasoned dialogue coach Leon Charles.

James Shigeta first came on screen in the US, in 1959 as Detective Joe Kojaku in The Crimson Kimono, a detective story that featured an interracial romantic triangle between Kojaku, his partner Sgt.

James Shigeta's character was groundbreaking for the 1950s, an Asian American detective played by an Asian American actor with regular American speech patterns, rather than a non-Asian made up to pass as Asian who speaks in broken English.

Paramount Pictures and James Clavell cast Shigeta in the 1960 release Walk Like a Dragon, as Cheng Lu, a young Chinese man in the American old west who resents that Chinese must be subservient to white people.

When filming began, James Shigeta was still starring in Holiday in Japan in Las Vegas.

The 1961 romantic comedy Cry for Happy had James Shigeta co-starring with Glenn Ford, Donald O'Connor and Miyoshi Umeki in a tale about Korean War era United States Navy photographers in Japan.

In 1961, James Shigeta was cast as Wang Ta, a role originated by Ed Kenney on Broadway, in the Academy Award-nominated movie version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song with Nancy Kwan and Miyoshi Umeki playing the love interests.

James Shigeta was cast as World War II Japanese diplomat Hidenari Terasaki opposite Carroll Baker as Gwen Terasaki in the 1961 biographical movie Bridge to the Sun.

James Shigeta guest starred in many television shows, beginning with Alcoa Premiere in 1961, as a Korean War era Chinese Communist who tortured star Lloyd Bridges.

James Shigeta continued to act in television up through Avatar: The Last Airbender in 2005.

In 1965, James Shigeta starred in Paradise, Hawaiian Style with Elvis Presley.

In 1965, James Shigeta worked with Raymond Burr in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Wrongful Writ", cast as lawyer Ward Toyama who finds himself as the defendant.

James Shigeta worked with Raymond Burr two more times, in the 1969 Ironside episode "Love My Enemy", and the 1971 episode "No Motive for Murder" of the same series.

From 1969 to 1972, James Shigeta had recurring appearances on the TV hospital drama Medical Center, in which he alternately appeared as the Resident Doctor and Doctor Osaka, for seven episodes.

James Shigeta lent his voice to Disney's 1998 animated film Mulan.

James Shigeta shared the 1960 Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Male Newcomer with actors George Hamilton, Troy Donahue and Barry Coe.

In 2005, James Shigeta received a "Visionary Award" from the Asian-American theatre organization, East West Players, at their annual anniversary gala in Los Angeles.

In 2006, James Shigeta was among the actors, producers and directors interviewed in the documentary The Slanted Screen, directed by Jeff Adachi, about the representation of Asian and Asian American men in Hollywood.

James Shigeta died in his sleep on July 28,2014, at age 85 in West Hollywood, California.

James Shigeta's funeral was held at the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and he was interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.