James Shigeta
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.
Known For
Sugimoto
Brother
Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Die Hard
General Li (voice)
Mulan
Wang Ta
Flower Drum Song
Mr. Lau
Drive
Detective Joe Kojaku
The Crimson Kimono
Goro
The Yakuza
Charles Yang
The People I've Slept With
Dr. Chen
The Questor Tapes
Lt. Takahashi
Escape to Mindanao
Danny Kohana
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Narrator
Home from the Eastern Sea
Tom McCauley
Matt Helm
Donald Shibura
Tomorrow's Child
Japanese Doctor
Carol for Another Christmas
Brother To-Lenn
Lost Horizon
Lester Koto
3 pistole contro Cesare
Harue
Cry for Happy
Hidenari Terasaki
Bridge to the Sun
(archive footage)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
Diver Toshi O'Hara
Nobody's Perfect
Jimmy Lee
The Renegades
Det. Whoo
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
Dr. Sung
China Cry
Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Midway
Narrator
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
Himself
The Slanted Screen
Chief Resident
Operation Heartbeat
Captain Murakami
Manila, Open City
Mao Mak
Midnight Man
Cheng Lu
Walk Like a Dragon
Self
Hollywood Chinese
Lee Ahn
The Young Lawyers
Slaying the Dragon
Field Marshal Abehata
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
Tin Lum Yin
Cage II
Ambassador Nakamura
Space Marines
Takeo Chisato
Samurai
Tin Lum Yin
Cage
David Lao
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
Yorktown: A Time to Heal
George Ti Ming
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
Self
Beam Me Up, Sulu
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
43
Gender
Male
Birthday
1929-06-17
Place of Birth
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
Also Known As
James Saburo Shigeta