James Shigeta

Born: 1929-06-17

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.


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Mulan

as General Li (voice)
Released: 1998-06-18

To save her father from certain death in the army, a young woman secretly enlists in his place...

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as Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
Released: 1988-07-15

NYPD cop John McClane's plan to reconcile with his estranged wife is thrown for a serious loop...

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See!

Midway

as Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
Released: 1976-06-18

This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became...

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Brother

as Sugimoto
Released: 2000-12-13

A Japanese Yakuza gangster's deadly existence in his homeland gets him exiled to Los Angeles,...

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Drive

as Mr. Lau
Released: 1997-08-06

A prototype enhanced human, on the run from Chinese-hired hit men, hooks up with a dread-locked...

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Lost Horizon

as Brother To-Lenn
Released: 1973-03-14

While escaping war-torn China, a group of Europeans crash in the Himalayas, where they are...

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The Yakuza

as Goro
Released: 1974-12-21

Harry Kilmer returns to Japan after several years in order to rescue his friend George's...

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Flower Drum Song

as Wang Ta
Released: 1961-11-09

A young woman arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown from Hong Kong with the intention of marrying...

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Paradise, Hawaiian Style

as Danny Kohana
Released: 1966-06-15

Blacklisted by the major airlines for endlessly chasing female staff, pilot Rick Richards...

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Cage II: The Arena of Death

as Tin Lum Yin
Released: 1994-12-14

After being tricked into thinking his best friend, and caretaker is dead, Vietnam Vet, and...

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China Cry

as Dr. Sung
Released: 1990-11-02

Young Sung Neng Yee, who is brought as part of a wealthy Chinese family. She is eager to become...

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Midnight Man

as Mao Mak
Released: 1995-05-09

When the police start a crackdown on Yakuza activities, a killer starts killing the cops forcing...

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Carol for Another Christmas

as Japanese Doctor
Released: 1964-12-28

Daniel Grudge, a wealthy industrialist and fierce isolationist long embittered by the loss of...

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Cage

as Tin Lum Yin
Released: 1989-09-01

A GI in Vietnam saves his buddy's life, but in the process is shot in the head. The injury...

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The Crimson Kimono

as Detective Joe Kojaku
Released: 1959-10-21

A Los Angeles detective and his Japanese partner woo an artist while solving a stripper's murder.

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The Questor Tapes

as Dr. Chen
Released: 1974-01-23

Project Questor is brainchild of the genius Dr. Vaslovik: he developed plans to build an android...

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Samurai

as Takeo Chisato
Released: 1979-04-30

Lee Cantrell, a young San Francisco attorney by day, at night becomes a samurai warrior, and...

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Matt Helm

as Tom McCauley
Released: 1975-05-07

In this pilot film for the later series, a former secret agent, now a private investigator, is...

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The People I've Slept With

as Charles Yang
Released: 2009-08-13

The People I've Slept With - a promiscuous woman who finds herself with an unplanned pregnancy...

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Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb

as Field Marshal Abehata
Released: 1980-11-23

The story of Col. Paul Tibbets and his crew who flew the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the...

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Space Marines

as Ambassador Nakamura
Released: 1996-01-01

Space pirates, led by diabolical Colonel Fraser, take over a cargo ship carrying anti-matter...

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Walk Like a Dragon

as Cheng Lu
Released: 1960-06-01

California, 1870s. The cowboy Lincoln 'Linc' Bartlett finds out there's a slave auction of...

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The Renegades

as Jimmy Lee
Released: 1982-08-11

In this drama, undercover investigators are recruited from the streets to prevent arms smugglers...

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Hollywood Chinese

as Self
Released: 2007-03-18

Hollywood Chinese is a captivating look at cinema history through the lens of the Chinese...

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Tomorrow's Child

as Donald Shibura
Released: 1982-03-22

The wife of a research geneticist agrees to the experimental procedure of a 'test-tube baby' by...

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Death Walks in Laredo

as Lester Koto
Released: 1967-02-18

Whitaker Selby, Lester Kato, and Etienne Devereaux, three eccentric gunmen, discover they are...

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Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

as (archive footage)
Released: 2019-10-13

A history of anti-Asian racism and yellowface in Hollywood after the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack.

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Operation Heartbeat

as Chief Resident
Released: 1969-04-17

Lawsuits fly when a widow believes a gifted surgeon allowed her husband to die so his heart...

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Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die

as Det. Whoo
Released: 1994-05-06

The Harts find themselves in the middle of a dangerous murder plot, but it isn't clear if the...

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The Slanted Screen

as Himself
Released: 2006-01-03

From silent film star Sessue Hayakawa to Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, the Slanted Screen...

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Escape to Mindanao

as Lt. Takahashi
Released: 1968-12-07

Two American POWs break out of a Japanese jungle prison camp with their captors' secret decoding...

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The Young Lawyers

as Lee Ahn
Released: 1969-10-28

Attorney Michael Cannon leaves his Boston law firm to become director of the Neighborhood Law...

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The Killer Who Wouldn't Die

as David Lao
Released: 1976-04-04

After his wife is killed in a mysterious bomb explosion, a cop leaves the department and starts...

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Bridge to the Sun

as Hidenari Terasaki
Released: 1961-10-17

Tells the true story of Gwen Terasaki, who falls in love with, then marries a Japanese diplomat....

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Cry for Happy

as Harue
Released: 1961-03-03

Army photographers on leave in Japan take over a geisha house.

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Slaying the Dragon

as uncredited
Released: 1988-11-04

A highly critical documentary about the history of Asian-American actresses in Hollywood....

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Nobody's Perfect

as Diver Toshi O'Hara
Released: 1968-01-12

This military service comedy chronicles the misadventures of the U.S.S. Bustard in Japan. The...

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Manila, Open City

as Captain Murakami
Released: 1968-01-13

War drama set in the closing stages of World War Two. As Allied Forces are nearing the defeat of...

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Yorktown: A Time to Heal

as Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
Released: 2022-04-05

Having escaped capture by the Klingons, a damaged Starfleet reconnaissance probe crashes...

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Ironside

as uncredited
First aired: 1967-03-28

When an assassin's bullet confines him to a wheelchair for life ending his career as Chief of...

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Renegade

as uncredited
First aired: 1992-09-19

Framed for murder, Detective Reno Raines becomes a fugitive bounty hunter who fights crime while...

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Mission: Impossible

as uncredited
First aired: 1966-09-17

Mission: Impossible is an American television series that was created and initially produced by...

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Perry Mason

as Ward Toyama
First aired: 1957-09-21

The cases of master criminal defense attorney Perry Mason and his staff who handled the most...

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Hawaii Five-O

as Joseph Matsukino
First aired: 1968-09-20

Hawaii Five-O is an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and...

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The Rockford Files

as Clement Chin
First aired: 1974-09-13

Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con...

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Beverly Hills, 90210

as uncredited
First aired: 1990-10-04

Follow the lives of a group of teenagers living in the upscale, star-studded community of...

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Babylon 5

as Taro Isogi
First aired: 1994-01-26

Babylon 5 is a five-mile long space station located in neutral space. Built by the Earth...

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Magnum, P.I.

as uncredited
First aired: 1980-12-11

A private investigator who works when he wants, lives in a beachfront estate in Hawaii, drives a...

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Little House on the Prairie

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-11

Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael...

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Burke's Law

as Sidney Ying
First aired: 1963-09-20

Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on...

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The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

as Self
First aired: 1956-10-05

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on...

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Murder, She Wrote

as John Sukahara
First aired: 1984-09-30

An unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life...

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Airwolf

as uncredited
First aired: 1984-01-22

As part of a deal with an intelligence agency to look for his missing brother, a renegade pilot...

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T. J. Hooker

as Chow Duc Khan
First aired: 1982-03-13

Sergeant Thomas Jefferson Hooker is a tough-as-nails veteran police officer with the LCPD who...

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Jake and the Fatman

as Mr. Koso Nakasone
First aired: 1987-09-26

Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L....

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The Outer Limits

as Maj. Jong
First aired: 1963-09-16

The Outer Limits is an anthology tv series of self-contained sci-fi-horror stories, sometimes...

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The Outer Limits

as AIO Captain Newa
First aired: 1963-09-16

The Outer Limits is an anthology tv series of self-contained sci-fi-horror stories, sometimes...

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seaQuest DSV

as Vietnamese President Chi
First aired: 1993-09-12

In the early 21st century, mankind has colonized the oceans. The United Earth Oceans...

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Dr. Kildare

as Dr. Roy Shigera
First aired: 1961-09-27

The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession,...

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Avatar: The Last Airbender

as uncredited
First aired: 2005-02-21

In a war-torn world of elemental magic, a young boy reawakens to undertake a dangerous mystic...

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The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries

as uncredited
First aired: 1977-01-30

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is a television series which aired for three seasons on ABC....

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The Streets of San Francisco

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-09-23

Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate...

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The Streets of San Francisco

as Prosecutor
First aired: 1972-09-23

Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate...

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Naked City

as James Kam
First aired: 1958-09-30

Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network....

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

as Inspector Mantjur (voice)
First aired: 1996-08-26

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is an American animated action-adventure television series.

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

as Dr. Yamashiro (voice)
First aired: 1996-08-26

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is an American animated action-adventure television series.

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Ben Casey

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-10-02

Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was...

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Emergency!

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-01-22

The crew of Los Angeles County Fire Department Station 51, particularly the paramedic team, and...

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Simon & Simon

as uncredited
First aired: 1981-11-24

Simon & Simon is an American detective television series that originally ran from November 24,...

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Medical Center

as Dr. Osaka
First aired: 1969-09-24

Medical Center is a medical drama series which aired on CBS from 1969 to 1976. It was produced...

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Police Woman

as uncredited
First aired: 1974-09-13

Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los...

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Matt Houston

as uncredited
First aired: 1982-09-26

Matt Houston is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1985. Created by...

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The Hitchhiker

as Nishi
First aired: 1983-11-01

A young hitchhiker introduces characters who are about to experience a frightening and sometimes...

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The Bing Crosby Show

as uncredited
First aired: 1964-09-14

The Bing Crosby Show is a 28-episode situation comedy television program starring crooner, film...

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Ellery Queen

as Stephen Yang
First aired: 1975-09-11

Ellery Queen is an American television detective mystery series based on the fictional character...

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The Lieutenant

as uncredited
First aired: 1963-09-14

The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired...

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S.W.A.T.

as uncredited
First aired: 1975-02-24

S.W.A.T. is an American action/crime drama series about the adventures of a Special Weapons And...

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Masquerade

as Makko
First aired: 1983-12-15

Masquerade is an American espionage television series that aired for a few months on ABC in the...

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Threat Matrix

as uncredited
First aired: 2003-09-18

Against the rising threat, the Homeland Security Agency has created a highly specialized, elite...

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Kung Fu

as uncredited
First aired: 1972-10-14

The adventures of a Shaolin Monk as he wanders the American West armed only with his skill in...

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