Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthdate
1929-06-17
Day of Death
2014-07-28
Place of Birth
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
James Shigeta
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 (43)
Beam Me Up, Sulu
2025
Yorktown: A Time to Heal
2022
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019
The People I've Slept With
2009
Hollywood Chinese
2007
The Slanted Screen
2006
Brother
2000Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
1999
Mulan
1998
Drive
1997
Space Marines
1996
Midnight Man
1995
Cage II: The Arena of Death
1994
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994
