James Shigeta
Actor
Born June 17, 1929 in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
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".
Filmography
Beam Me Up, Sulu
Self
Yorktown: A Time to Heal
Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
(archive footage)
The People I've Slept With
Charles Yang
Hollywood Chinese
Self
The Slanted Screen
Himself
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Old Wanderer (voice)
Threat Matrix
Kang Sok-Joo
Brother
Sugimoto
Mulan
General Li (voice)
Drive
Mr. Lau
The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest
Inspector Mantjur (voice)
Space Marines
Ambassador Nakamura
Midnight Man
Mao Mak
Cybill
Mr. Matsuzaki
Cage II: The Arena of Death
Tin Lum Yin
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
Det. Whoo
Babylon 5
Taro Isogi
seaQuest DSV
Vietnamese President Chi
Renegade
China Cry
Dr. Sung
Beverly Hills, 90210
Ben Sosna
Cage
Tin Lum Yin
Slaying the Dragon
Die Hard
Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Jake and the Fatman
Mr. Koso Nakasone
Murder, She Wrote
John Sukahara
Airwolf
Colonel Tranh Van Zung
Masquerade
Makko
The Hitchhiker
Nishi
Matt Houston
Lin Ha
The Renegades
Jimmy Lee
Tomorrow's Child
Donald Shibura
T. J. Hooker
Chow Duc Khan
Simon & Simon
Magnum, P.I.
Richard Enoka
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
Field Marshal Abehata
Samurai
Takeo Chisato
The Love Boat
Bud's Father
The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
Once an Eagle
Lin Tso-Han
Midway
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
David Lao
Ellery Queen
Stephen Yang
Matt Helm
Tom McCauley
S.W.A.T.
The Yakuza
Goro
Police Woman
The Rockford Files
Clement Chin
Little House on the Prairie
Sam Wing
The Questor Tapes
Dr. Chen
Lost Horizon
Brother To-Lenn
Kung Fu
Master Kwan Li
The Streets of San Francisco
Emergency!
The Young Lawyers
Lee Ahn
Medical Center
Dr. Osaka
Operation Heartbeat
Chief Resident
Escape to Mindanao
Lt. Takahashi
Hawaii Five-O
Joseph Matsukino
Manila, Open City
Captain Murakami
Nobody's Perfect
Diver Toshi O'Hara
Ironside
Death Walks in Laredo
Lester Koto
Mission: Impossible
Shiki
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Danny Kohana
Carol for Another Christmas
Japanese Doctor
The Bing Crosby Show
Burke's Law
Sidney Ying
The Outer Limits
Maj. Jong
The Lieutenant
Flower Drum Song
Wang Ta
Bridge to the Sun
Hidenari Terasaki
Ben Casey
Dr. Kildare
Dr. Roy Shigera
Kraft Mystery Theatre
Cry for Happy
Suzuki
Walk Like a Dragon
Cheng Lu
The Crimson Kimono
Detective Joe Kojaku
Naked City
James Kam
Perry Mason
Ward Toyama
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Audience Member