James Shigeta
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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
Credits
Die Hard (1988)
as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Mulan (1998)
as General Li (voice)
Midway (1976)
as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
The Yakuza (1974)
as Goro
Brother (2000)
as Sugimoto
Drive (1997)
as Mr. Lau
China Cry (1990)
as Dr. Sung
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980)
as Field Marshal Abehata
Lost Horizon (1973)
as Brother To-Lenn
Hollywood Chinese (2007)
as Self
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019)
as (archive footage)
Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966)
as Danny Kohana
Flower Drum Song (1961)
as Wang Ta
The Questor Tapes (1974)
as Dr. Chen
The Crimson Kimono (1959)
as Detective Joe Kojaku
Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
as Japanese Doctor
Nobody's Perfect (1968)
as Diver Toshi O'Hara
Space Marines (1996)
as Ambassador Nakamura
The People I've Slept With (2009)
as Charles Yang
Cry for Happy (1961)
as Suzuki
The Slanted Screen (2006)
as Himself
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die (1994)
as Det. Whoo
Cage (1989)
as Tin Lum Yin
The Renegades (1982)
as Jimmy Lee
The Young Lawyers (1969)
as Lee Ahn
Samurai (1979)
as Takeo Chisato
Bridge to the Sun (1961)
as Hidenari Terasaki
Midnight Man (1995)
as Mao Mak
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk (1967)
as George Ti Ming
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die (1976)
as David Lao
Death Walks in Laredo (1967)
as Lester Koto
Operation Heartbeat (1969)
as Chief Resident
Beam Me Up, Sulu (2025)
as Self
Cage II: The Arena of Death (1994)
as Tin Lum Yin
Slaying the Dragon (1988)
Actor
Escape to Mindanao (1968)
as Lt. Takahashi
Tomorrow's Child (1982)
as Donald Shibura
Walk Like a Dragon (1960)
as Cheng Lu
Matt Helm (1975)
as Tom McCauley
Yorktown: A Time to Heal (2022)
as Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
Manila, Open City (1968)
as Captain Murakami
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century (1999)
as Narrator
Home from the Eastern Sea (1990)
as Narrator