James Shigeta
Born: 1929-06-17 in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
Died: 2014-07-28
Known For: Acting
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
2025
- Beam Me Up, Sulu as Self
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
2005
- Avatar: The Last Airbender as Old Wanderer (voice)
2003
- Threat Matrix as Kang Sok-Joo
2000
- Brother as Sugimoto
1999
1998
- Mulan as General Li (voice)
1997
- Drive as Mr. Lau
1996
- The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest as Inspector Mantjur (voice)
- Space Marines as Ambassador Nakamura
1995
- Cybill as Mr. Matsuzaki
- Midnight Man as Mao Mak
1994
- Babylon 5 as Taro Isogi
- Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die as Det. Whoo
- Cage II: The Arena of Death as Tin Lum Yin
1993
- seaQuest DSV as Vietnamese President Chi
1992
1990
- Beverly Hills, 90210 as Ben Sosna
- China Cry as Dr. Sung
- Home from the Eastern Sea as Narrator
1989
- Cage as Tin Lum Yin
1988
- Die Hard as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
- Slaying the Dragon
1987
- Jake and the Fatman as Mr. Koso Nakasone
1984
- Murder, She Wrote as John Sukahara
- Airwolf as Colonel Tranh Van Zung
1983
- The Hitchhiker as Nishi
- Masquerade as Makko
1982
- T. J. Hooker as Chow Duc Khan
- Matt Houston as Lin Ha
- The Renegades as Jimmy Lee
- Tomorrow's Child as Donald Shibura
1981
1980
- Magnum, P.I. as Richard Enoka
- Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb as Field Marshal Abehata
1979
- Samurai as Takeo Chisato
1977
- The Love Boat as Bud's Father
- The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries
1976
- Midway as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
- Once an Eagle as Lin Tso-Han
- The Killer Who Wouldn't Die as David Lao
1975
- Ellery Queen as Stephen Yang
- S.W.A.T.
- Matt Helm as Tom McCauley
1974
- Little House on the Prairie as Sam Wing
- The Rockford Files as Clement Chin
- Police Woman
- The Yakuza as Goro
- The Questor Tapes as Dr. Chen
1973
- Lost Horizon as Brother To-Lenn
1972
- Emergency!
- The Streets of San Francisco
- Kung Fu as Master Kwan Li
1969
- Medical Center as Dr. Osaka
- The Young Lawyers as Lee Ahn
- Operation Heartbeat as Chief Resident
1968
- Hawaii Five-O as Joseph Matsukino
- Nobody's Perfect as Diver Toshi O'Hara
- Manila, Open City as Captain Murakami
- Escape to Mindanao as Lt. Takahashi
1967
- Ironside
- Death Walks in Laredo as Lester Koto
- The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk as George Ti Ming
1966
- Mission: Impossible as Shiki
- Paradise, Hawaiian Style as Danny Kohana
1964
- The Bing Crosby Show
- Carol for Another Christmas as Japanese Doctor
1963
- The Outer Limits as Maj. Jong
- Burke's Law as Sidney Ying
- The Lieutenant
1961
- Ben Casey
- Dr. Kildare as Dr. Roy Shigera
- Kraft Mystery Theatre
- Flower Drum Song as Wang Ta
- Bridge to the Sun as Hidenari Terasaki
- Cry for Happy as Suzuki
1960
- Walk Like a Dragon as Cheng Lu
1959
- The Crimson Kimono as Detective Joe Kojaku
1958
- Naked City as James Kam
1957
- Perry Mason as Ward Toyama
1956
- The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
1944
- Golden Globe Awards as Self - Audience Member