James Shigeta profile
Actor profile

James Shigeta

17th June 1929 Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA Acting

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.

43 Movies 43 TV Shows 86 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Brother poster
Brother 13th December 2000 as Sugimoto
Mulan poster
Mulan 18th June 1998 as General Li (voice)
Drive poster
Drive 6th August 1997 as Mr. Lau
Cage poster
Cage 1st September 1989 as Tin Lum Yin
Die Hard poster
Die Hard 15th July 1988 as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Samurai poster
Samurai 30th April 1979 as Takeo Chisato
Midway poster
Midway 18th June 1976 as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Cybill poster
Cybill 2nd January 1995 as Mr. Matsuzaki
Airwolf poster
Airwolf 22nd January 1984 as Colonel Tranh Van Zung
Kung Fu poster
Kung Fu 14th October 1972 as Col. Lin Pei