James Shigeta
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1929-06-17
Day of Death
2014-07-28 (85 years old)
Place of Birth
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
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.
Acting
(2022)
Yorktown: A Time to Heal
as Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
(2019)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
as (archive footage)
(2009)
The People I've Slept With
as Charles Yang
(2007)
Hollywood Chinese
as Self
(2006)
The Slanted Screen
as Himself
(2000)
Brother
as Sugimoto
(1999)
(1998)
Mulan
as General Li (voice)
(1997)
Drive
as Mr. Lau
(1996)
Space Marines
as Ambassador Nakamura
(1995)
Midnight Man
as Mao Mak
(1994)
Cage II: The Arena of Death
as Tin Lum Yin
(1994)
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
as Det. Whoo
(1990)
China Cry
as Dr. Sung
(1990)
Home from the Eastern Sea
as Narrator
(1989)
Cage
as Tin Lum Yin
(1988)
Die Hard
as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
(1988)
(1982)
Tomorrow's Child
as Donald Shibura
(1982)
The Renegades
as Jimmy Lee
(1980)
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
as Field Marshal Abehata
(1979)
Samurai
as Takeo Chisato
(1976)
Midway
as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
(1976)
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
as David Lao
(1975)
Matt Helm
as Tom McCauley
(1974)
The Yakuza
as Goro
(1974)
The Questor Tapes
as Dr. Chen
(1973)
Lost Horizon
as Brother To-Lenn
(1969)
The Young Lawyers
as Lee Ahn
(1969)
Operation Heartbeat
as Chief Resident
(1968)
Nobody's Perfect
as Diver Toshi O'Hara
(1968)
Manila, Open City
as Captain Murakami
(1968)
Escape to Mindanao
as Lt. Takahashi
(1967)
Death Walks in Laredo
as Lester Koto
(1967)
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
as George Ti Ming
(1966)
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
as Danny Kohana
(1964)
Carol for Another Christmas
as Japanese Doctor
(1961)
Flower Drum Song
as Wang Ta
(1961)
Bridge to the Sun
as Hidenari Terasaki
(1961)
Cry for Happy
as Harue
(1960)
Walk Like a Dragon
as Cheng Lu
(1959)
The Crimson Kimono
as Detective Joe Kojaku