James Shigeta
Actor
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 abroad, especially in Japan and Australia.
Filmography
Mulan
as General Li (voice) 1998
Brother
as Sugimoto 2000
Midway
as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo 1976
The Yakuza
as Goro 1974
Drive
as Mr. Lau 1997
The Crimson Kimono
as Detective Joe Kojaku 1959
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
as Danny Kohana 1966
Lost Horizon
as Brother To-Lenn 1973
Flower Drum Song
as Wang Ta 1961
Carol for Another Christmas
as Japanese Doctor 1964
The People I've Slept With
as Charles Yang 2009
The Questor Tapes
as Dr. Chen 1974
Bridge to the Sun
as Hidenari Terasaki 1961
Space Marines
as Ambassador Nakamura 1996
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
as Det. Whoo 1994
Cage II: The Arena of Death
as Tin Lum Yin 1994