James Shigeta

James Shigeta

  • Birthday: 1929-06-17
  • Deathday: 2014-07-28
  • Place of birth: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
  • Also know as: James Saburo 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.

Filmography

Yorktown: A Time to Heal

2022

As Admiral Heilachiro Nogura

Home from the Eastern Sea

1990

As Narrator

Flower Drum Song

1961

As Wang Ta

Death Walks in Laredo

1967

As Lester Koto

Bridge to the Sun

1961

As Hidenari Terasaki

Manila, Open City

1968

As Captain Murakami

The Crimson Kimono

1959

As Detective Joe Kojaku

Paradise, Hawaiian Style

1966

As Danny Kohana

Cry for Happy

1961

As Harue

China Cry

1990

As Dr. Sung

Walk Like a Dragon

1960

As Cheng Lu

Escape to Mindanao

1968

As Lt. Takahashi

Cage II: The Arena of Death

1994

As Tin Lum Yin

Samurai

1979

As Takeo Chisato

The People I've Slept With

2009

As Charles Yang

The Questor Tapes

1974

As Dr. Chen

Midnight Man

1995

As Mao Mak

Nobody's Perfect

1968

As Diver Toshi O'Hara

The Killer Who Wouldn't Die

1976

As David Lao

Tomorrow's Child

1982

As Donald Shibura

Cage

1989

As Tin Lum Yin

The Yakuza

1974

As Goro

Lost Horizon

1973

As Brother To-Lenn

Brother

2000

As Sugimoto

The Slanted Screen

2006

As Himself

Die Hard

1988

As Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi

Carol for Another Christmas

1964

As Japanese Doctor

The Young Lawyers

1969

As Lee Ahn

Matt Helm

1975

As Tom McCauley

The Renegades

1982

As Jimmy Lee

Midway

1976

As Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo

Operation Heartbeat

1969

As Chief Resident

Space Marines

1996

As Ambassador Nakamura

Hollywood Chinese

2007

As Self

Mulan

1998

As General Li (voice)

Drive

1997

As Mr. Lau

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