James Shigeta

James Shigeta was an actor whose career included seveal acclaimed feature films and dozens of television appearances. He was  one of the first actors of Asian descent to have leading roles in Hollywood.

The son of Japanese immigrants, he was born in Hawaii and broke into show business at age 19, when he auditioned as a singer for Ted Mack’s The Original Amateur Hour talent show. After winning the show’s national competition in New York, he began singing in supper clubs in the United States.

Shigeta achieved his first major success as  an actor and singer in Japan, where he took language lessons while performing in the 1950s. His renown in Japan led to performances in Las Vegas, TV appearances and his first Hollywood movie, The Crimson Kimono, released in 1959.

In 1960, he shared a Golden Globe Award for most promising newcomer, and in 1961 he scored major roles in two films, Bridge to the Sun and Flower Drum Song.

In the years that followed, he continued to make movies, including Midway, Lost Horizon, The Yakuza and Die Hard.

But the majority of his work came in television. His numerous guest appearances included such series as Alcoa Premiere, Naked City, Dr. Kildare, I Spy, It Takes a Thief, Hawaii Five-O, Mission: Impossible, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, T.J.Hooker, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, Beverly Hills, 90210 and many others. He also had regular roles on Medical Center and Simon and Simon.

Shigeta died July 28, 2014, in Los Angeles. He was 85.