James Shigeta | WatchedThis

James Shigeta

James Shigeta

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 Movies

Acting

Poster for Brother
MOVIE

Brother

7.1(0.5K)
Brother
Sugimoto
Poster for Die Hard
MOVIE

Die Hard

7.8(12.2K)
Die Hard
Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Poster for Mulan
MOVIE

Mulan

7.9(10.4K)
Mulan
General Li (voice)
Poster for Flower Drum Song
MOVIE

Flower Drum Song

6.3(0.0K)
Flower Drum Song
Wang Ta
Poster for Drive
MOVIE

Drive

6.1(0.2K)
Drive
Mr. Lau
Poster for The Crimson Kimono
MOVIE

The Crimson Kimono

6.6(0.1K)
The Crimson Kimono
Detective Joe Kojaku
Poster for The Yakuza
MOVIE

The Yakuza

7.2(0.2K)
The Yakuza
Goro
Poster for The People I've Slept With
MOVIE

The People I've Slept With

4.5(0.0K)
The People I've Slept With
Charles Yang
Poster for The Questor Tapes
MOVIE

The Questor Tapes

5.9(0.0K)
The Questor Tapes
Dr. Chen
Poster for Escape to Mindanao
MOVIE

Escape to Mindanao

9.0(0.0K)
Escape to Mindanao
Lt. Takahashi

Gallery

James Shigeta portrait
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