Pat Morita
| Pat Morita | |
|---|---|
Morita in a 1971 publicity photo
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|
| Born |
Noriyuki Morita June 28, 1932 Isleton, California, U.S. |
| Died | November 24, 2005 (aged 73) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Kidney failure |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1960–2005 (his death) |
| Spouse(s) |
Kathleen Yamachi (m. 1953–67) (divorced), Yukiye Kitahara (m. 1970–89) (divorced), Evelyn Guerrero (m. 1994–2005) (his death) |
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita (June 28, 1932 – November 24, 2005) was an American film and television actor who was well known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Kesuke Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1985. He's also known for portraying the Emperor of China in the Disney animated film Mulan and Ah Chew in Sanford and Son.
Morita was the series lead actor in the television program Mr. T and Tina, regarded as the first American sitcom centered on a person of Asian descent, and Ohara, a police-themed drama. Both made history for being some of the few TV shows to this day with an Asian American series lead. Both television shows were aired on ABC, but they were both short-lived.
Morita was born in Isleton, California. Morita's father Tamaru, born in 1897, had immigrated to California from Kumamoto Prefecture on the Japanese island of Kyushu in 1915. Tamaru's wife Momoe, born in 1903, had immigrated to California in 1913. Noriyuki, as Pat was named, had a brother named Hideo (Harry) who was twelve years older.
Morita developed spinal tuberculosis (Pott disease) at the age of two and spent the bulk of the next nine years in Northern Californian hospitals, including the Shriners Hospital in San Francisco. For long periods he was wrapped in a full-body cast and was told he would never walk. It was during his time at a sanitarium near Sacramento that he was given his stage name, "Pat". Released from the hospital at age 11 after undergoing extensive spinal surgery and learning how to walk, Morita was transported from the hospital directly to the Gila River camp in Arizona to join his interned family. After about a year and a half, he was transferred to the Tule Lake War Relocation Center.
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