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I didn’t grow up watching Happy Days like my wife, and barely remember Karate Kid, but of course I know who Matsuo ‘Arnold’ Takahashi is and who could forget who Mr. Kesuke Miyagi is… Noriyuki “Pat” Morita just passed away on thanksgiving day. played a role in more than 100 films, and was one of the first Asian Americans to do stand-up comedy (…he called himself “the Hip Nip,” and he once told a group of Pearl Harbor survivors in a Waikiki nightclub that he was sorry about messing up their harbor… from NY Times), the first to have his own TV series - called Mr. T and Tina, only 5 episode was aired before canceled - and first Asian actor to be nominated for Oscar (Best Supporting Actor for Karate Kid’s Mr. Miyagi, 1984). But less known thing about him is that he had tuberculosis at age two and lived much of his pre-teen years in the hospital, then was a detainee at the Gila River Internment Camp in Arizona during WWII.

According to the fore mentioned NYtimes editorial by Lawence Downes, Morita has a role in an unreleased movie called “Only the Brave,” (imdb, review) about Japanese-American soldiers of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team by Lane Nishikawa. He plays a Buddhist priest who is imprisoned in Hawaii after Pearl Harbor and Downes say “Morita’s legacy may soon take a posthumous turn for the better” for his role in the movie. Sounds like the movie is in “Post Production” and will be released in 2006, but I have to see this movie. In the mean time, I’ve added Karate Kid in my netflix queue. Rest in peace, Pat Morita.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 1st, 2005 at 12/01/2005 @ 5:14 pm and is filed under Asian Issues, Movie and Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.