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James Shigeta

James Shigeta

Born: 1929-06-17 • Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, USA

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
Beam Me Up, Sulu poster
Beam Me Up, Sulu
2025 • Self
Yorktown: A Time to Heal poster
Yorktown: A Time to Heal
2022 • Admiral Heilachiro Nogura
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood poster
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood
2019 • (archive footage)
The People I've Slept With poster
The People I've Slept With
2009 • Charles Yang
Hollywood Chinese poster
Hollywood Chinese
2007 • Self
The Slanted Screen poster
The Slanted Screen
2006 • Himself
Brother poster
Brother
2000 • Sugimoto
No Image
Qigong: Ancient Chinese Healing for the 21st Century
1999 • Narrator
Mulan poster
Mulan
1998 • General Li (voice)
Drive poster
Drive
1997 • Mr. Lau
Space Marines poster
Space Marines
1996 • Ambassador Nakamura
Midnight Man poster
Midnight Man
1995 • Mao Mak
Cage II: The Arena of Death poster
Cage II: The Arena of Death
1994 • Tin Lum Yin
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die poster
Hart to Hart: Old Friends Never Die
1994 • Det. Whoo
China Cry poster
China Cry
1990 • Dr. Sung
No Image
Home from the Eastern Sea
1990 • Narrator
Cage poster
Cage
1989 • Tin Lum Yin
Slaying the Dragon poster
Slaying the Dragon
1988
Die Hard poster
Die Hard
1988 • Joseph Yoshinobu Takagi
The Renegades poster
The Renegades
1982 • Jimmy Lee
Tomorrow's Child poster
Tomorrow's Child
1982 • Donald Shibura
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb poster
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb
1980 • Field Marshal Abehata
Samurai poster
Samurai
1979 • Takeo Chisato
Midway poster
Midway
1976 • Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die poster
The Killer Who Wouldn't Die
1976 • David Lao
Matt Helm poster
Matt Helm
1975 • Tom McCauley
The Yakuza poster
The Yakuza
1974 • Goro
The Questor Tapes poster
The Questor Tapes
1974 • Dr. Chen
Lost Horizon poster
Lost Horizon
1973 • Brother To-Lenn
The Young Lawyers poster
The Young Lawyers
1969 • Lee Ahn
Operation Heartbeat poster
Operation Heartbeat
1969 • Chief Resident
Escape to Mindanao poster
Escape to Mindanao
1968 • Lt. Takahashi
Manila, Open City poster
Manila, Open City
1968 • Captain Murakami
Nobody's Perfect poster
Nobody's Perfect
1968 • Diver Toshi O'Hara
No Image
The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk
1967 • George Ti Ming
Death Walks in Laredo poster
Death Walks in Laredo
1967 • Lester Koto
Paradise, Hawaiian Style poster
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
1966 • Danny Kohana
Carol for Another Christmas poster
Carol for Another Christmas
1964 • Japanese Doctor
Flower Drum Song poster
Flower Drum Song
1961 • Wang Ta
Bridge to the Sun poster
Bridge to the Sun
1961 • Hidenari Terasaki
Cry for Happy poster
Cry for Happy
1961 • Suzuki
Walk Like a Dragon poster
Walk Like a Dragon
1960 • Cheng Lu
The Crimson Kimono poster
The Crimson Kimono
1959 • Detective Joe Kojaku